Intra-party Crisis: Time for LP to Mock Tinubu, APC

Signs that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is not insulated from intra-party crises currently bedeviling the main opposition parties – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) – emerged recently with the attack on the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, at the meeting of the stakeholders of the party from the North-east in Gombe State.    

Referring to the crises in PDP and LP, President Bola Tinubu had recently mocked the opposition parties, gleefully declaring his joy at what he described as their “moment of disarray”.

But at the APC North-east stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe State, Ganduje was attacked by the supporters of the party for endorsing President Tinubu for reelection without endorsing Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is from the North-east, as his running mate.

Security agents escorted Ganduje out of the venue to prevent harm from befalling him.

In her reaction, the acting National Chairman of the LP, Senator Nenadi Usman, mocked President Tinubu and the APC over the fracas in Gombe.

In a statement in Abuja, Usman argued that a president who celebrates the weakening of opposition is celebrating the weakening of democracy itself.

“Today, we witness the irony of history in motion. Just days after the President’s unguarded and undemocratic remarks, his own party, the APC, has descended into a public crisis in the North-east.

“In their reckless bid to enforce a one-man agenda without regard for process, respect, or even the dignity of their own vice president, the APC has exposed the rot at the core of their politics.

“The people of the North-east rejected the charade, and the fallout is now visible for all to see smuggled party officials, a fractured house, and a nation watching.

“This is not poetic justice. It is political karma. What President Tinubu wished for others has turned to plague his own political household.

“The attempt to undermine Vice President Kashim Shettima in his own region is not just a sign of internal decay, but a dangerous signal to the nation that loyalty, dignity, and truth are traded cheaply in the corridors of power,” she explained.

The crisis that erupted in Gombe is an indication that the ruling APC is not insulated from internal crisis.