2019: APC Senators, Reps Divided over Buhari
There are strong indications that the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the National Assembly is currently divided over the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It was gathered that a lot of the APC lawmakers are not favourably disposed to the idea of President Buhari seeking a second term in office in the 2019 general election.
A reliable source disclosed that this was as a result of the less than cordial relationship that has existed between the executive arm of government and the legislature.
President Buhari declared his intention to run for a second term in next year’s general election last Monday at a meeting of the ruling party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
An APC member of the House of Representatives, from one of the Northern states, who pleaded anonymity, said that there is division in the APC caucus on account of the President’s 2019 re-election project.
According to the lawmaker, most members of the ruling party in the National Assembly are not happy by the decision of the president to contest next year’s presidential election.
He said they had expected him to bow out after the completion of his tenure in 2019.
“We are not together it (Buhari’s re-election bid). We are divided. Most of us think he should have done the honourable thing and not seek re-election because of the fact that the party under his watch has not been united.
“Even in terms of the ways the government has been run, there have been too much rancour between the executive and the legislature and these have affected a lot of things. Again, because of his health, a lot of things are done by his cronies and he is even not aware of a lot of decisions he has taken,” the lawmaker said.
He added that members of the APC caucus opposed to President Buhari’s re-election cut across the country, noting that most of those in support are majorly from the North-West geo-political zones.
“If you look at it across the country, there is a higher number against; even in the North. Most of his support is from the North-West. But even in the North-West, they are divided. In the other zones, he has no support practically,” he stated.
However, the Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, said that President Buhari’s Monday declaration of his second term bid saved the APC from disintegration.
The Katsina South lawmaker said that there was no doubt that the President Buhari’s announcement would go a long way to douse what could have created an unmanageable crisis of confidence in the APC.
Ibrahim spoke to reporters in Abuja in reaction to President Buhari’s announcement of his intention to seek re-election during the 2019 elections.
Ibrahim said that he was “joyous, elated and delighted” at the decision of President Buhari to seek re-election.
“If Buhari decided not to contest, the NEC meeting would have ended up in combative situation. The meeting would have turned into explosive uncontrollable situation. Who will emerge as APC flag bearer: is it from the North or the South. It would have led to a serious situation that would have been difficult to manage and control.”
“I think that it (seeking re-election) is also the right thing for him to do,” he said, adding that if Buhari decided not to contest, “it would likely have led to the disintegration of the APC. That declaration saved us that confusion. I am joyous.”
