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An ongoing battle between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu for the soul of the party ahead of the 2023 presidential election led to Kachikwu’s suspension, SahareReporters has learnt.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The suspension of the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, by its National Working Committee (NWC) last Friday, is part of the fallout of a crisis within the party.
An ongoing battle between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu for the soul of the party ahead of the 2023 presidential election led to Kachikwu’s suspension, SahareReporters has learnt.
Obasanjo still has a great deal of influence in the ADC since a political pressure group he founded ahead of the 2019 general elections, Coalition for Nigerian Movement (CNM), adopted and fused into the ADC.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, the former President had disclosed that the “leadership of the Movement (CNM), after detailed examination, wide consultation and bearing in mind the orientation, policies, and direction of the Movement, have agreed to adopt ADC as its platform to work with others for bringing about desirable change in the Nigeria polity and governance”.
Though his plan to prevent President Muhammadu Buhari’s return to the office for a second term in 2019 using the ADC failed, Obasanjo still maintains a tight grip on the party.
ADC had in a statement by its Deputy National Chairman (Politics), Dr. Bamidele Ajadi explained that Kachikwu was suspended after an emergency National Working Committee (NWC) meeting which was held on Friday, September 2, 2022.
The party accused Kachikwu of making a misguided and defamatory video that “smacks of crass irresponsibility, gross indiscipline, disingenuous scandalization and blackmail, and completely unfit of someone who wants to be President of Nigeria.”
“The NWC viewed with great concern the baseless and defamatory video made, published and circulated by Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, which was intended to disparage and impugn the integrity and image of a peaceful and transformation-oriented African Democratic Congress and its national officers,” Ajadi had added
“The NWC also noted that since the 9th of June 2022 when he was elected the presidential candidate, he has failed, neglected and/or refused to share with the party any meaningful, constructive or reasonable presidential campaign roadmap for the forthcoming presidential election.
“His negative actions and/or inactions so far, have put in jeopardy the fate and prospects of all our candidates contesting for various offices across the country.”
However, sources told SaharaReporters on Monday that Kachikwu’s suspension has to do with the battle between Obasanjo and Tinubu for the soul of the party.
It was learnt that Obasanjo had planned all along that the ADC would work for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, hence the emergence of Kachikwu as its presidential candidate after a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was schemed out.
It was learnt that Moghalu was schemed out during the party’s presidential primary election in favour of Kachikwu as Obasanjo believed the former might refuse to step down later for the party to support Peter Obi
However, it was learnt that the favoured candidate, Kachikwu, whom Obasanjo had believed would step down for Obi at the right time, suddenly stopped answering calls from the former President after winning the party’s ticket.
“It is about a war between Tinubu and Obasanjo,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters.
“Tinubu has bought the party to support him and they’ve agreed but Obasanjo too, who is believed to control the party wants Dumebi Kachikwu to step down for Peter Obi.
“Since their convention that was used to scheme out Kingsley Moghalu, which was orchestrated by Obasanjo because he believed Kingsley might refuse to step down, Dumebi Kachikwu has refused to answer calls from Obasanjo.”
“Dumebi Kachikwu refused to pick up Obasanjo calls after he won the primaries. Obasanjo called ADC leaders to a meeting to get rid of Dumebi and Tinubu people too decided same,” another source said.
Meanwhile, Kachikwu has rejected the suspension notice issued by the party’s executives.
According to Kachikwu, the tenure of the party’s chairman, Ralph Nwosu, has elapsed, therefore he lacked the power to suspend him from the party.
He also described all decisions taken by Nwosu since August 28 as illegal and null and void.
Kachikwu had supported the call of the party’s state chairmen on Nwosu to resign after 17 years in office.
