Ezekiel Meshach
The All Progressive Congress, APC has fixed Friday 20th January for its presidential rally but with the current realities, it is crystal clear that the event might end up bloody and disastrous. The height of internal wrangling within the state level of the party is a big threat to the success of the event.
Trouble started when the embattled governorship candidate of Taraba, Emmanuel Bwacha, was said to have gone behind the minister of Transportation who’s also the state coordinator for the Tinubu/Shettima campaign council to hijack the funds meant for the presidential rally. The minister as at that time was out of the country to Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser hajj. Emmanuel Bwacha and his cronies were initially against the appointment of the minister as the state coordinator and have vowed not to lose any opportunity to rubbish the image of the minister.
It is more troubling and a thing of national disgrace to the APC with what played out behind the scenes and the facts surrounding why the N200m budgeted for the presidential campaign council for Taraba was handed over to someone other than the appointed coordinator. Sources have revealed that the National Secretary of the campaign council, Hon James Abiodun Faleke, had a deal wherein Emmanuel Bwacha gave him a kickback of N35m out the N200m released. This is a grave indictment on James Faleke even as allegations are on Sen Mrs Remi Tinubu also for being in support of the aberration.
Emmanuel Bwacha and his camp are also said to be on a mission of coercing the minister to resign his position as the coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign council for Taraba. They believe the minister should resign or they keep causing more troubles for the success of the presidential campaign council in Taraba.
It behoves the national body of the party and top stakeholders of the presidential campaign council to interrogate the whereabouts of how even the remaining N165m of the initial N200m funds for Taraba presidential rally was spent. This is because, committees were set up with different tasks to ensure the smooth success of the rally only for Emmanuel Bwacha who’s in possession of the money, to boycott the various committees and quickly shared the money to his political associates and cronies who are not even part of the PCC in Taraba State. So how can the committees function without the necessary fund to carry out their duties? How should money allocated for a presidential rally be diverted to his personal pockets to advance his own self interest?
The attention of the national body of the party, the DG of the Presidential campaign council, H.E Simon Bako Lalong and also the presidential candidate of the party, Sen Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate should as a matter of urgency be brought to this issue and to address it forthwith. So also, this is also to make the public be in the know, that the consequences of this issue if unresolved would be that the presidential campaign rally might end in chaos, disaster and crisis.
The APC is advised to shun any activity in Taraba and put on hold the presidential rally for now until these matters are resolved and dusted. This is to also remind that, the party has lingering cases in court hanging on the self acclaimed governorship candidate, Emmanuel Bwacha. So, fresh issues of financial theft and misappropriation like this would only aggravate the existing problems within the local level of the party in the state. The party from all rational point of view should postpone the presidential rally, and or any of such activity in the state until all matters are ironed out.
. Meshach Ezekiel writes from Abuja and can be reached through Meshach90@yahoo.com
