A foundation member of the All Progressives Comgress(APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against being misled by “few pretender governors(FPGs)” in his party who no longer have political relevance.
He sounded the note of warning following the escalating war of political relevance the Progressives Governors Forum(PGF) is waging against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Nyesom Wike, in orders to minimise his influence on Tinubu.
The PGF under the leadership of Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma has made it known that Wike’s Rainbow Coalition constituted a distraction in their strategy to ensure the success of President Tinubu’s re-election bid. The APC governors, therefore, want Tinubu to discountenance the FCT Minister’s political alliance since his loyalty is doubtful, being a member of an opposition party.
But in a press release made available to the media Wednesday September 16 in Enugu, advised Mr. President not to listen to the FPGs in his ruling party, who feel threatened by Wike’s political profile and could no longer tolerate his relationship with Tinubu.
He wondered why the Progressive Governors would create a storm in a tea cup over an “elementary political matter such as the coalition being put together by a Minister serving in Tinubu’s cabinet.
“In my 48 years of participation in Nigerian party politics, I have never seen where such an elementary issue was pretentiously thrown open,” he said.
According to him, instead of making a fuss around Wike’s political coalition, the PGF should have addressed the issue “through the appropriate party mechanism” if they regard the FCT Minister as a threat.
Okechukwu said that the FPGs had lost their political relevance in their respective states having used and dumped the electorates, noting that were assuming powers they don’t currently have. He stated that it would be a political miscalculation for Tinubu to dump Wike because of the grumbling governors.
“To the best of my knowledge, some of these FPGs have wittingly or unwittingly used their electorates and recklessly abandoned them, and now want Mr. President to dump Wike”.
He asked the APC governors that see Wike as a threat to utilise their unfettered access to Mr. President to raise their concerns unless they don’t know what “the proverbial caucus is meant for”.
“My summation is simple: Mr. President, beware of pretenders,” Okechukwu stated.
The party chieftain further cautioned Mr. President against falling into the “booby trap” arising from the political inheritance of few states where, according to him, few APC Governors had failed to adequately deliver the dividends of democracy to their people.
He argued that there was nothing inherently wrong with President Tinubu maintaining his political relationship with Wike, particularly given Wike’s role in the 2023 presidential election.
“Mr. President has never overlooked the governors. All he wants is supplementary votes from Wike, especially in states where the electorate is angry and where some of the FPGs have alienated the people.
“The governors should therefore concentrate on strengthening their relationship with the electorate rather than asking Mr. President to abandon a political alliance that could broaden the APC’s electoral reach,” Okechukwu said.
He insisted that it would not be “improper for Mr. President to dump Wike after we harvested the Wike masquerade, which not only boosted our great party’s votes in 2023, but also denied His Excellency Atiku Abubakar substantial votes”.
The former Managing Director, Voice of Nigeria said that it’s certain that the FCT Minister “will mobilise voters in states where the FPGs had alienated the electorate by personalising power.”
On the declaration by the Progressive Governors that they would lead the campaign for President Tinubu, Okechukwu said the President had never overlooked the governors or denied them their role in the his campaigns for second term.
He pointed out that what President Tinubu needs is supplementary votes, particularly from political structures and constituencies where the electorate were ignobly marginalised.
