For Alhaji Buba Galadima, one of the close allies of President Muhammadu Buhari who worked with him in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 general elections, the governing APC has become like an orphan because nobody is there to take responsibility for its current crisis.
Galadima has declared that Buhari’s lack of interest in party politics, especially in resolving the APC crisis, may lead to its disintegration, thereby leaving him (Buhari) with no political platform on which to run for a second term in 2019 if he decides to seek re-election.
“The APC has been raped aground, and it is only claiming to be in government because it is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that is actually controlling power,” Galadima told Daily Trust on Sunday, adding that by his utterances, Buhari was not interested in party politics; hence the rancour within the APC.
“Definitely, I know that General Muhammadu Buhari will not want to run on the platform of any party because he has already cast aspersion on party politics and politicians. So we would try to find out on what platform he would contest if he wants to be president in 2019. On what vehicle he would ride, but definitely not on a political party,” he said.
Galadima said certain people were undermining the party; hence the difficulties in having a solid house, pointing out that several meetings of the party were aborted.
“The party had shared invitation letters for Board of Trustees (BoT) meetings and it was aborted. You now have to find out who aborted those meetings. We only met once as the national caucus of the party. Let’s assume that the president doesn’t like the party executive, he’s now the president, he can find a way of easing them out.
“Have you ever seen in the history of Nigeria, where in the secretariat of the ruling party, water is disconnected, electricity is disconnected, salaries of aides and workers are not paid for six months? It’s shameful, it’s disgraceful and we claim to be in government. We are not saints,” he said.
He also disclaimed insinuations that members of President Buhari’s former party, the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) are being favoured so that even if the APC disappears before 2019, he (Buhari) would have something to fall onto.
“Can there be CPC without Buba Galadima and Sule Hamma and AVM Mukhtar Mohammed? What appointment do they have? Have we ever seen the president since he became one?
“Who are the CPC people? Even the national chairman of the party, Chief Odigie-Oyegun, told me that the president only appointed CPC people. Can you count five people that were CPC and are in this government? I hope you know that the CPC was formed on this desk (referring to his office at Zone 4, Abuja) without even Buhari’s knowledge. So, if they appoint CPC people and I don’t know them, who else would know them?” he asked.
Galadima said those fighting for the presidency ticket of the APC would realise their mistakes when they found themselves in prison.
“For those of us who had worked with the head of this government (Buhari) in the last 14 years, we are not surprised that this is happening. In fact, our view is that the nation is yet to see the better part or the worst part of this government,” he said.
“We never expected any magic to happen; and even while we were there, we took initiatives and responsibilities. This is why people saw things moving in the movement; people saw things being done in the party (defunct APP, ANPP, CPC and APC) in the campaign because there were those who would make initiatives and take responsibility, whether wrong or right.
“For now, there isn’t such kind of group or people within the system. I know that people accuse certain individuals who are close to Mr President, but I consider them innocent,” he said.
Asked if the problem bedevilling the government and the APC as a party was because there was no adequate preparation in terms of blueprint and manpower to take over from the PDP, Galadima said: “Well, I wish when he was running for 14 years as candidate he had certain people in mind, because from what’s happening, which we all know, is that the president has not appointed more than three people he actually knew.
“Apart from his personal domestic staff that were being paid salaries to work for him as a former head of state, any other person was brought by somebody else. He doesn’t even know them; he doesn’t even have a background check on them because if he knew, or those around him knew, certain people would never have been appointed into some of these sensitive positions,” he said.
