Critical stakeholders, former presidential aspirants, and senators who lost out in the just-concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have vowed to punish the party, ahead of the 2023 presidential elections.
They claimed Tinubu and Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s national chairman, have isolated critical stakeholders of the party.
A northern ranking senator alleged that Adamu, who was supported by lawmakers when governors did not want him betrayed them during the primaries.
The lawmaker said the presidential candidate has refused to reach out to aggrieved aspirants who ran against him.
“As soon as the primaries were over, Tinubu visited all the key aspirants. Commitments were made that they’ll be involved before, during, and after the elections.
“I attended one of the meetings where Tinubu told one of the former presidential aspirants that he will play an active role. That promise has turned out to be false.
“Tinubu has since gone ahead to announce the choice of his running mate without consulting any of them. The aspirants have also decided to ignore him.
“Tinubu and Adamu are busy organizing events. They’re leaving out the real issue. They’re behaving as of they’ve won the elections. For them, aggrieved members and stakeholders can go to hell.
“They believe only governors and President Muhammadu will deliver votes for them. Unfortunately, many APC senators didn’t get return tickets and they’ve no stakes in the upcoming elections. They won’t take it seriously. The President Buhari they’re banking on won’t campaign for anybody. Let’s see who will campaign for them at the grassroots level.”
The senator said ahead of the conduct of the 2023 presidential elections, the two leading political parties, APC and the opposition PDP, were fretting over the unpredictable demographics, occasioned by the surge in the popularity of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
The lawmaker, who is vehemently opposed to a Muslim-Muslim ticket, said if Obi’s surging popularity does not dwindle, APC may not win Lagos State.
He said the same thing goes for the PDP in the South East and South-South- two geopolitical zones hitherto considered as its strongholds.
He said APC’s dilemma is severe. “APC may lose the entire South as a result of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. APC today can’t win any state in the South East or South South. If elections are held today, APC will not win Lagos State. If the party is lucky, it may win in Ekiti and Ogun. In Osun, Ondo, and Oyo, the PDP will battle the APC. That leaves the APC with limited options.
