Chidi Nnadi, Enugu
Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has expressed confidence in the ability of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconcile those aggrieved in the party.
On February 6, the president appointed Tinubu to lead the consultation, reconciliation and confidence-building committee, as a measure towards improving cohesion within the APC, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Tinubu’s assignment will involve resolving disagreements among party members, party leadership and political office holders in some states of the Federation.
Okechukwu, who is also a chieftain of the APC said Tinubu’s appointment is the right step in the right direction, as well as a milestone for the ruling party in the country.
“It is a milestone. I salute Mr. President for appointing our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to head such a crucial committee. It is timely and a welcome development.
“He was one of the core architects of the merger which gave birth to the APC and has the Midas touch to stitch the torn parts. Let’s be honest; there are intra-disputes which need a man of Asiwaju’s calibre to fix.”
The VON DG also explained further: “It is not crisis per se but intra-feuds which normally occur in every human association. Some of them are ego-based, some are ancient grudges and some are frictions which could be traced to the fact that APC is a polygamous household, with many mothers and one father.”
Okechukwu also expressed optimism that Tinubu would mend fences with the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“Oyegun belongs to his motherhood of APC and did his utmost best in the circumstance he found himself.
“My happiness is that Asiwaju, as a veteran, stands in good stead to reconcile the feuding parties and different tendencies, more so, when Mr. President has mandated him to select his team.”
On whether Tinubu would be able to reconcile the friction between the executive and members of the National Assembly, he replied: “Asiwaju, more than any other leader of our great party, knows the imperative of mending all fences, on the eve of an election.
“He knows the faux pas. I remember vividly how Asiwaju, with General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, of blessed memory, and host of others, reconciled similar impasse in the 1990’s, with Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola at Alhaji Kwande’s residence in Jos, Plateau State, during the Social Democracy Party (SDP) primaries.
“Without such fence-mending, Chief Abiola, and by extension, the progressives couldn’t have won the 1993 presidential election.”
For those who still believe that president Buhari is not a democrat, the VON DG noted: “No doubt ,Mr. President is truly a converted democrat and, like most converts, he is passionate about reconciliation, which is the only missing link to the 2019 presidential victory, that most pundits posit is ours.
“The peace process has commenced with Asiwaju as the Grand-Trouble-Shooter (GTS).”
The Tinubu committee is expected to reconcile APC members in Kaduna, Zamfara, Oyo, Kogi, Kano and other states of the Federation.