The present administration, which came into being 47 months ago has only four weeks to wind up after a tortuous campaign and re election.
Though, it has more than four weeks to it’s swearing in, what is unknown to outsiders and many players outside the ruling party is that the race as to who takes what and real power players in the party and the candidates for the 2023 election have started in earnest.
This is because, barely three weeks after his re election, President Muhammadu Buhari, has subtly raised the stakes and probably about to prove political pundits right on his likely preference for who takes over from him at the end of his tenure.
While the rumoured ambition of the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is an open book to close watchers of the nations politics, the open treachery and backstabbing going on in the ruling party occasioned by the politics of who takes what in 2023 is known only to the wary.
First in March this year, the shifting of the yearly colloquium to mark Tinubu’s birthday to Abuja’s International Conference Centre was ostensibly done, Newdawn sources gathered, was to enable President Buhari attend, but after all, the president only sent a representative.
Secondly, it is instructive that the president had attended previous colloquiums held in Lagos in previous years both before and after he assumed power. So, why was he absent this year in spite of its being shifted to Abuja by its organisers.
Reasons our reporter gathered are known only to those close to the political arrowheads of the duo.
It is not impossible that this may be a clear signal that the taciturn general may want to distant himself from Asiwaju s political moves ahead 2023.
However sources close to the duo informed us that the refusal of Tinubu and his close acolytes to interfere in the Ogun and Kano elections triggered the conspiracy from the cabals in the presidency who had other motives for the strange instructions to the Jagaban.
6
Besides,the Jagaban who has an ally in secretary to the federal government, Mr Boss Mustapha, rumoured to be Asiwaju’s potential running mate for 2023, is also accused of not doing enough for APC to capture Rivers State during the last election. While Asiwaju attitude on this regard was informed by his avoiding any clash with Governor Nyesom Wike for both his business and future political interests.
Read also: The vandalization/killing in Ifo local government area is barbaric and evil
For this, Mustapha is said to be facing ostracisation by the Aso players who saw in him a direct threat to their 2023 plan to have a northern candidate as against power shifting to South West.
Indeed, both Asiwaju and PMB are said to be aware of this and are said to be silently pursuing their cold war.
Another instance of this is PMBs latest cold attitude to emergence of Senator Ahmed Lawan as Senate President.
This is seen as subtle moves to curtail Asiwaju’s hold on APC in the north through subtle control of Lawan’s office after his emergencies as Senate President.
Indeed, the intensive campaign for the two offices -Senate President and Speaker in spite or APC’s support, is seen as moves by forces outside Aso Rock to checkmate inside forces who have ostensibly dissuaded PMB from supporting the duo on account of checkmating Asiwaju and thus affecting their game plan to pocket the party after inauguration and checkmate its politics towards 2023.
Another obstacle on the path of Asiwaju and South West ambition is the decision to divide the rank of six leading governors in the South West among whom a successor is being groomed to upstage his influence in the region when the race gets hotter. For now, Mustapha’s influence and movement is being curtailed and checkmated by the Aso cabal who are bent on installing a northerner in 2023.
Governors from Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and outgoing Lagos governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who got the President to commission some uncompleted projects in Lagos on Wednesday as part of moves to get a club of governors led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun to divide the South West votes when the primaries comes if incumbent national chairman, Adams Oshiomole, is still able to hold the party together in the light of growing schisms that may rupture the APC ahead of 2023. Again,the absence of Asiwaju from the series of commissioning of projects in Lagos yesterday wascacdign that a dangerous cold war is on going between Asiwaju and the President who is seen as bent in using his presence in Lagos to endorse Governor Ambode in spite of the latter’s failure to clinch the party’s second term ticket of the party against the former’s pleadings.
While the position and standing of the Vice President in 2023 is not yet clear, Newdawn sources reveal a subtle agenda by Aso Rock cabal to clip his wings to prevent him being sympathetic to moves to curtail Asiwaju Tinubu’s influence when push comes to shove in APC.
This new bitter but concealed politics in South West APC as the region with swing votes for APC may actually be a repeat of the 1964 general elections if the cabal succeeded in getting PMB to discountenance the core north and South West gentleman agreement it had before the 2015 elections.
It is ostensibly to forestall this scenario that the Aso cabal is keen on getting any of the South West governors to play the spoilers role but whether they, the South West governors are amenable to stopping Tinubu or any of their own to please the Northern power brokers, can tilt South West votes or get their loyalty will be determined by their performance in the high wire politics of survival and relevance that will dominate PMBs second term to the point of jettisoning peoples centred programmes.
Only time will tell based on unfolding and unpredictable emerging scenario in the race towards 2023 which yesterdays politics and PMB’s Lagos visit may be all about.
