The ruling party is currently suffering internal crisis, according to a prominent party chieftain that recently spoke to the press.
Despite repeated denials by party officials and members, the All Progressives Congress, APC, is now divided into two factions.
Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Timi Frank, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja, yesterday.
Frank, who was reacting to allegations that APC chieftain and former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva “sold” the state’s ministerial slot to Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, lamented the inability of the national leadership of the party to steer it from troubled waters.
He said: “I spoke in Bayelsa (about the impending crisis) but they did not take me seriously. Very soon, it (crisis) will happen at the national level too. If anyone tells you that there is no crisis in the national APC, it is a lie.
“The party is now divided into two. The issue of the Senate president is still there and the party is not talking. So, there is crisis in the party. We have so much divisions and they are keeping quiet. If care is not taking, we are soon going to lose our popularity as a party.”
He however, didn’t give identities of leaders of the two factions.
Meanwhile, the National Secretary of the party, Mai Mala Buni, last night dismissed the claims about division in the party, saying: “The bogus and misleading allegations are unnecessary distractions to the party’s resolve to fully support the President Muhammadu Buhari administration deliver on the motley promises made by our great party to the electorate.”
Vanguard understands that while the ACN, CPC and ANPP are largely doing things in common, the new PDP seems to be on its own.
On claims by Bayelsa State chapter chairman of the party, Chief Timipa Orunimighe, that Sylva collected money from the Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri, to nominate the latter for a ministerial slot, Frank challenged the party to rise to the occasion and get to the root of the matter.
According to him, the allegations are too weighty for the leaders of the party to remain quiet, and such posturing will impact negatively on the image of the administration at the centre.