Oshiomhole, Okorocha, Keyamo rebuff claims of APC govs’ beef with Buhari

Ahead of tomorrow’s flag-off of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign rallies, the President was, yesterday, locked in a strategy meeting with his Presidential Campaign Council. The absence of all 24 All Progressives Congress, APC, governors at the meeting, however, prompted mutterings of disharmony in the campaign.

The claims of muttering arose from President Buhari’s charge on the electorate not to re-elect any governor found to be owing salaries during the inauguration of the council last Monday.

That claim was, however, rebuffed by several APC operatives, including the party’s national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Governor Rochas Okorocha, chairman of APC Governors Forum, APC national publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu and APC presidential campaign spokesman, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN. Yesterday’s meeting of APC presidential campaign council was graced by Buhari, the co-chairman, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Director-General, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and other officials of the council.

The meeting was called to strategise on operations for the APC presidential rallies flagging off tomorrow in Bauchi. Speaking at the meeting yesterday, President Buhari charged those who were present to uphold the virtues of the party as he said there was no political challenge that they cannot conquer.

“You are the cream of the party, and I assure you that with unity of purpose and effective harmony and communication, there is no political opponent you cannot overcome,” he said before the meeting went into closed doors. A senior campaign official present at the meeting told Vanguard, yesterday, that Buhari would attend the rallies in all 36 states beginning with the one in Bauchi tomorrow. However, particularly missing at the meeting were all 24 governors of the party who are members of the council and at the same time state coordinators of the Buhari campaign.

However, that insinuation was pooh-poohed, yesterday, by the APC national chairman, Oshiomhole who said the governors stayed back in their states to attend to governance issues. He said: “Don’t forget that elections are not defined in Abuja, it will take place in the 36 states, and I am sure there are APC members who are campaigning for the House of Assembly, various federal House and Senate constituencies, governorship constituencies.

“The achievements of Mr. President are all there for people to see and I think the entire country is quite excited quite unlike our colleagues in the PDP who do not seem to have anything except to criticize, attempt to run campaigns of calumny and false accusations against us in the APC.

“Today (Thursday) we are meeting to restrategize and conclude, dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s in the campaign structure so that we can come out with not just a formidable campaigns across the country but also sensitive our people in terms of voter education, we are ready for it.”