Battle for control of APC intensifies •As Tinubu, govs, Buhari, Atiku test might

THE battle for the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears to be taking a fresh dimension following what sources said is the widening gulf among the contending forces in the build- up to the 2015 general election.

As things stand in the party, the forces of former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari on one hand, are pitted against the progressive governors and the forces of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

It was learnt that the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party held on May 23 further divided the party  and that the gulf appears to be widening  among the stakeholders.

Sources confirmed that the camp of Senator Tinubu and that of General Buhari were jolted by the outcome of the NEC, which sidelined their preferred chairman for the National Convention committee, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

Buhari and Tinubu were said to have given indication that Baraje is the choice for the chairman of the convention, but a plot by the governors saw to the emergence of Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto.

That plot is now said to be the source of tension that is building in the APC.

A source said that loyalists of Buhari and Tinubu have described the decision of the governors as a plot against the founding fathers and a scheme to hijack the party through the back door.

“The Buhari and Tinubu camps are angry that the governors are trying to play the type of game they played in the PDP by moving against the interests of the founding fathers,” a source said.

The two camps of the APC leaders are, however, said to be insisting on retaining the presidential ticket notwithstanding the antics of the governors.

It was also said that the Atiku camp is standing by the corner to see through the emergence of Chief Tom Ikimi as the National Chairman of the APC.

Atiku is said to believe that should Ikimi emerge the National Chairman, he [Atiku] would be in a good position to clinch the presidential ticket of the party.

A source said that the two party leaders have actually kept silent to give the governors the opportunity to save the party, adding that the governors risk total collapse of the party if they attempt to undo the presidential ambition of Tinubu and Buhari.

It was gathered that the duo of Tinubu and Buhari actually wanted to protest the outcome of the last NEC but decided to give the young turks another chance.

“Anything that will threaten the interest of General Buhari and that of Senator Tinubu is actually aimed at the jugular of the APC and we hope the governors will not allow that to happen,” a source said.