South-West politicians from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are set to lose out at the national convention following their rejection by governors in the region, Punch is reporting.
The defunct CPC bloc is made up of politicians who joined President Muhammadu Buhari to merge with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to form the APC in 2013 before he won the 2015 presidential election.
A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, who is running for the national secretary of the APC; and the Executive Director, Niger Delta Power Holding, Ife Oyedele, were being resisted by the APC governors in the South-West.
It was also learnt that a former Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Iyiola Omisore, might be endorsed as the national secretary ahead of a former Oyo State Commissioner for Finance, Zaccheus Adedeji.
Also, Dayo Israel was tipped to emerge as the national youth leader of the APC. Sources say the ‘unity list’ of the South-West governors should be released in the coming days.
“There are attempts by some people in Abuja to impose some of the CPC elements on the South-West. Let me restate that the governors are the leaders of the party. We have met and have micro-zoned the positions given to our region,” Punch quoted a top source to have said.
“We will not tolerate any interference from outside. Shittu, Oyedele and others have lost out completely.”
In a statement on Sunday, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman, South-West Governors’ Forum, said the governors had agreed on micro-zoning, adding that those scheming from outside the region were only trying to cause confusion.
