A new group known as ‘Reformed APC’ has emerged from the aggrieved group within the ruling APC, Thisday reports.
The group, led by former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and other top members of the APC, especially at the National Assembly, will formally announce its departure from the ruling party by Friday.
“It appears Baraje and Senate President Bukola Saraki and their group are tied down by their endless discussion with APC’, Thisday quoted a member of the group as saying.
According to the source, one of the leaders of Kwakwansiyya, a political group of Kwankwaso, “I don’t think many of us are comfortable with the slow pace of their political activities. So we have decided to move on. We have less than seven months to the general election and we cannot engage in an endless talk with APC.
“The new group, the Reformed APC being led by Kwankwaso and others, has decided to set up an interim committee with representatives from other parties like the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and other smaller parties to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PDP.’’
He disclosed that the emerging political group has completed the constitution of its interim committee and would be announced before Friday and early next week.
Asked whether the Baraje-led group has backed out of the conversation to form a coalition against APC or not, the close political associate of the former Kano State governor said, “I do not think so; we just noticed that they are too slow. And we do not have time on our side. They might still come to negotiation table with us and PDP, under the platform of nPDP.
“At the end of the day, we will all end up in PDP, with a strong understanding on how we should relate to defeat APC in the 2019 general election. But on our part, we have gone far with PDP, and the outcome of our discussion will be made known in the next few days.’’
Kwankwaso was in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital last week, to inform Governor Ayo Fayose about his resolve to return to PDP.
He also met with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on the same issue.
Members of the former nPDP bloc within the APC had addressed a letter dated April 27, 2018 to the then Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, where they informed the party of their grievances and expectations from both the party and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Following the development, the party invited them and they met with the leadership of the party.
But following the escalation of hostility by the federal government against leading members of the bloc, including Saraki, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Senator Jonah Jang and Senator Peter Nwaboshi, who were confronted with criminal allegations by state security agencies, the nPDP pulled out of the peace initiatives.
Last week, Baraje said in a statement that the bloc would make its decision on its future with the APC known this week.
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