Beware of APC presidential aspirants, ex-General tells Buhari

A retired Brigadier-General, Ayodele Ojo, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to be cautious of some ambitious leaders in the All Progressives Congress, especially those who contested the APC presidential primary.

Ojo said this in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

He said, “There are two things President Buhari needs to be cautious of. The first are the powerful and corrupt Nigerians who are going to kick against his war against corruption. The second are those members of the APC who contested the presidential primary with him.

“What is playing out in the National Assembly over the election of its principal officers is an evidence of what I am saying. Ambition is hard to kill. Some of these members with presidential ambitions need to be watched as they are capable of rocking the boat once their ambition is not accommodated or threatened.”

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The retired general also criticised the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, for disobeying their party’s directives following the APC’s shadow elections held before the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly.

He said, “What baffled me most was the audacity and the impunity with which they dared their party. The party will be making a mistake if nothing is done about that. It could spell the beginning of the end for the APC. I am happy the whole crisis is happening in the early part of this administration. The lesson to be learnt is that the party must remain vigilant because not all its members believe in change. The APC should take the issue of Aminu Tambuwal as a case study.

“He defied the Peoples Democratic Party’s directive and his party did not do anything about it. The result was his defection to the APC, which was a huge blow to the PDP. It is, therefore, an irony when the APC called on the same person to head its mediation committee to resolve the National Assembly crisis. The APC should take note of all its members that defied its directives with a view to rendering them irrelevant in the scheme of things both at the state and national levels.

Ojo stressed that the ruling party must ensure that the supremacy of the party is respected.

He added, “It is, therefore, morally wrong for an elected candidate of a party to disobey his party’s directives. It means biting the finger that feeds you. The party is expected to be interested in the selection of its principal officers in the National Assembly. They should not expect the party to leave them on their own like a prodigal son. Those who are now kicking against their party’s directives, after being elected on the platform of the party, are not only undisciplined, they are also political ingrates.”