.Kaduna APC declares war against governor
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Acting News Editor
The Villa is whittling the political base of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, turning his loyalists against him, especially those in the state All Progressives Congress (APC). This may be preparing the ground to impeach him or deny him re-election in 2019.
El-Rufai’s letter to Buhari
His offence was that he wrote a letter reprimanding President MuhammaduBuhari for sleeping on the job. He pointed out to Buhari that his government “has not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected overnight ‘change’ but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance outside of our successes in fighting Boko Haram insurgency and corruption.
“Overall, the feeling even among our supporters today is that the APC government is not doing well.” On March 17, APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, and National Publicity Secretary, BolajiAbdullahi, both said the party was studying the letter and would make a pronouncement shortly. “We will study it and comment later publicly. We thought it was a private memo to the president, but we will look at it and if we have any suggestions to make, we will make them later,” Oyegun said.
Abdullahi added: “We are just studying it and we will respond very soon. It is a 30 -page memo, therefore we have to study it conclusively.” The APC has yet to make a public pronouncement on the matter. Abdullahidid not respond to a text message TheNiche sent to him on Friday, March 24.
Aso Rock mum
Buhari’s Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, said he had no information on the matter. Asked if the Presidency is keeping an eye on El-Rufai, Adesina simply replied: “No information on it, cheers!” Another Media Adviser, GarbaShehu, added: “We are not commenting on that.” El-Rufai’s letter is too delicate for Aso Rock to handle. Sources in the Villa recalled that during the formation of the APC in 2013, he was overtly ambitious for the presidential ticket. They said Buhari was aware of his move at the time but simply ignored him because he was no threat. Besides, Buhari was instrumental to his joining the governorship race in Kaduna.
State APC reacts
Buhari’s Chief of Staff, AbbaKyari; and Principal Adviser, MammanDaura; now see El-Rufai as a major threat, the source said. “They have propped up the Chairman of APC caucus in Kaduna State, TijaniRamalan, to begin the process of ensuring that either El-Rufai is impeached before 2019 or loses the control of the party ahead of the election,” a source confided in TheNiche. The source disclosed thatKyari and Daura are not taking El-Rufai’s letter lying down, especially as he named them as reaping from where they never sowed. On March 20, Ramalan delivered an open memo to El-Rufai, accusing him of a worse leadership style. “Most of the concerns raised in your memo are actually the very same concerns that some, if not most stakeholders in Kaduna, have over your leadership,” the memo reads.
He said El-Rufai has made the state’s party docile in its statutory duties and activities as a political party.
According to Ramalan,most stakeholders in the state APC are feeling used and dumped as critical matters are run through one man, Jimi Lawal, the governor’s special adviser on investment and promotion.
“[In] your memo to the president, you claimed that the Chief of Staff (Abba Kyari) was not part of the APC formation, campaign or elections. “One wonders if your powerful Special Adviser, Jimi Lawal, played any role during the APC formation and subsequently; if yes, at what capacity or disposition.
“Yet he is at Government House in Kaduna State; no decision, policy or their implementation is ever taken without his approval or blessings, and were he to be part of Kaduna APC chapter, perhaps there would not have been the feeling of neglect by the APC family in Kaduna State as a whole.”
Ramalan alleged that “Jimi Lawal, a former managing director of the failed Alpha Merchant Bank who was convicted in absentia in Nigeria for criminal acts of the distressed Alpha Merchant Bank, abandoned thousands of devastated investors and depositors while he ran into exile.
“Today he is the one calling the shots in the APC-controlled government of Kaduna as a friend of El-Rufai. “The fear of Jimi Lawal is the beginning of wisdom in Kaduna State APC administration. “He is alleged to be the most powerful official and the closest to the governor and most feared, with his hands into all aspects of governance from procurement negotiations to projects executions, without following the provisions of the procurement act and due process.”
According to informed Aso Rock sources, most of Buhari’s close aides also see El-Rufai as an arrogant person who does not know when to draw a line when dealing with people old enough to be his father. His recent attack on former Vice President,AtikuAbubakar, was cited as one of the numerous ways he over reaches himself. What the presidential spokespersons are careful to comment about include that Aso Rock has put Buhari’s security apparatus on El-Rufai to monitor his every political action.