[size=14pt]IBB, Tinubu, Shekarau battle over ANPP [/size]
•Lobbyists force postponement of party convention
•IBB says ambition intact
Written by Taiwo Adisa, Abuja
Thursday, 15 July 2010

A fierce battle for the control of  the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has ensued, following the unusual interest being shown in the outcome of its national convention  by forces outside the party.

It was learnt in Abuja, on Wednesday, that non-members  of the party, including former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida and a former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu,  have been manipulated as main sponsors of some chairmanship candidates.

Sources close to the party told the Nigerian Tribune that General Babangida’s camp wanted to gain control of the ANPP so that the former military president could use it as a platform for his 2011 bid, if  he failed to clinch the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Sources said that IBB was working on a returnee to the party, Chief George Moghalu, as a possible chairmanship candidate that could facilitate his entry into the ANPP, if the PDP decided to review its zoning formula in favour of the South-South.

Moghalu recently returned to the ANPP after his sojourn in the PDP and promptly declared his intention to contest the chairmanship election.

Another  source, however, stated that IBB was not relying on only one candidate in his calculations for the  ANPP.

A source also linked the chairman, Board of Trustees of the party, who is also in the race for chairmanship, Alhaji Abubakar Mogaji, with the IBB project.

It was learnt that the former leader intended to open formal talks with either of the two candidates to facilitate easy entry into the party and his eventual emergence as the presidential standard-bearer of the party.

It  was, however, gathered that IBB did not intend to leave the PDP without a fight and that he would leave the party with some aggrieved members, if  he  lost the party’s ticket at the national convention.

A source said that some of those who just defected to the PDP from the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) and the Progressive Peoples Alliance(PPA) might team up with Babangida to fight the party if the former military president lost the primaries.

But another source said that Babangida was already incurring the wrath of another staunch leader of the party, the governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who is said to have endorsed one of the two leading candidates, Chief Harry Akande and Chief John Odigie Oyegun for the chairmanship.

Shekarau is eyeing the party’s presidential ticket and the coast appeared clear for him when the former presidential candidate of the ANPP, General Mohammadu Buhari, left the party for the Congress for progressive Change(CPC).

Loyalists of the Kano State governor were said to have declared war on Buhari in Kano, following his reluctance to endorse the governor’s second term bid in 2007. The rift eventually led to Buhari’s defection from the party to form his own structure.

“Governor Shekarau has not hidden his intention to contest the 2011 elections, but the alleged moves by IBB run contrary to that. The governor’s men are not going to yield  to whatever pressure, because he has laboured to sustain the party,” a source close to the ANPP told the Nigerian Tribune.

Besides the looming Shekarau-IBB face-off, the role of the Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sherif,  is, so far, hazy, as a source said that he was yet to make up his mind on the contestants as of Wednesday. It was learnt that he was talking with all the contenders and leaving his options open.

One of the party leaders told the Nigerian Tribune that the approach adopted by Alhaji Sherrif was  that a governor should not be seen as promoting a particular candidate.

“The Borno governor has reached out to most contenders and we see his disposition to the candidates as complimentary. It is close to a consensus option. He is not flaunting his support for anyone,” a source said.

Sources also linked the former governor of Lagos State, Senator Tinubu, to the battle for the soul of ANPP. It was learnt that the Action Congress (AC) chieftain, whose party held  merger talks with the ANPP last year was still not ruling out the merger opinion, provided that party produce a favourable candidate during the election.

The AC has already announced its intention to merge with the DPP and it is believed that some peace moves are already in place to resolve the crisis that originally tore the Alliance for Democracy(AD) apart, leading to the formation of the AC.

“The AC leaders are moving to cement the fronts and Tinubu is playing the leading role. He is eyeing the outcome of the ANPP convention to see if a merger will still be possible,” a source said, on Wednesday.

It was gathered in Abuja on Wednesday that the two leading candidates for the ANPP top post are a former presidential aspirant of the party, Chief Akande, and the former governor of Edo state, Chief Oyegun. This may lead to a big clash between the South-West and South-South forces within the party. It was, however, gathered that Mallam Shekarau had indicated his intention to back Chief Akande for the top post during the convention.

But the leaders of the party have announced a two-week postponement of the convention originally billed for Saturday.

Investigations revealed that some lobbyists were on the neck of the leaders, especially in view of the moves from the IBB and Tinubu camps.

Spokesman for the IBB campaign, Mr Kashim Afe-gbua, on Wednesday, said he was not aware of move by IBB to hijack the ANPP machinery.

Sources, on Wednesday, said the camp of the outgoing chairman, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, was  also  not losing sight of the possibility that it could swing the slot in favour of  the  national publicity secretary of the party, Mr Emma Eneukwu,  at the convention.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/8288-ibb-tinubu-shekarau-battle-over-anpp-lobbyists-force-postponement-of-party-convention-ibb-says-ambition-intact

Another attempt to further tear my beloved party apart! Sources said that IBB was working on a returnee to the party, Chief George Moghalu, as a possible chairmanship I so much respected Moghalu's commitment to the party as a national secretary,governorship candidate, but his defection to PDP stained all of'em. Now, with the national convention arround the corner, he has made a come back-heading for national chairmanship.

The forces (Yerima) that produced Umezoke as the chairman was the most undoings of the party, I thought Buhari's Mike Ahamba would hav been the best option the, but Yeriman Bakura proved though. Umezoke's chairmanship reduced the party to mess.

Tinubu's interest may be genuine,but IBB,Umezoke,Moghalu, should all leave the coast for either Akande or Oyegun as they have showed solidarity and unfettered convinction on the party.

When I rise to hold a national position there, no defector (within 2 years) will be given even a council caretaker position. That will strenghten opposition.