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Adamu’s days as APC boss numbered, as Tinubu’s men dig in *Set to move at Monday’s NEC meeting
Abdullahi Adamu, embattled National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), seems to have his days numbered as the helmsman at the 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse, Abuja headquarters of the party, following signals emanating that he might be shown the way to the exit door by a tendency in the party, who see him as a stumbling block to President Bolat Tinubu.
Adamu, believed to be against the President since the days of the APC primaries, where her once unilaterally announce Ahmad Lawan as the party’s choice, before he was countered and Tinubu eventually prevailed, is reported to have continued to engaged in a cold war, regardless the emergence of the former Governor of Lagos State and the party’s National Leader.
The latest indication to the said war, was last week’s nomination of the principal officers of the National Assembly party caucus, which though reportedly backed by the President, was denounced by the party chairman, who said those named were not the APC candidates and therefore dismissed the development as a rumour.
The Sun, reports that party leaders and members who have not hidden their desire to see the chairman vacate his office at the party, are mapping out fresh strategies to launch their offensive to sack him at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting holding at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.
Adamu, who was elected last year, barely a few weeks before the presidential primaries of the APC, has since been engrossed in one crisis or the other, with some members of party’s National Working Committee (NWC), which he heads, openly calling for his sack.
Adamu’s latest troubles, it was gathered, are being fuelled by aggrieved members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC, predominantly drawn from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and some South West leaders of the party who have yet to forgive him over his failed attempt to frustrate the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the candidate of the APC in June 2022.
Trouble actually started for the APC chairman a few weeks before the inauguration of Tinubu as President. Contrary to the established practice, where the NWC of APC zoned the different leadership positions in the National Assembly, Tinubu took charge of the role and openly endorsed those he wanted.
Playing a second fiddle, Adamu-led NWC hurriedly released a statement, aligning with the position of the then president-elect.
Again, as soon as Tinubu took over as President, Adamu was reportedly snubbed in the selection of presidential aides and appointment of members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Instead, the new alternative leaders of APC from the ACN bloc were said to have assumed the responsibilities of the party’s chairman.
The last straw was the appointment of principal officers of both chambers of the National Assembly, which is the established responsibility of NWC of the political parties.
Instead, APC leaders in the Senate and In the House of Representatives, were reportedly picked by the Presidency and without recourse to APC’s NWC. They were announced on the floor of both chambers.
Apparently embarrassed at the development, the Adamu-led NWC released a statement, disowning the action taken by the leadership of the National Assembly in alleged connivance with the Presidency.
Since the latest incident, a clear evidence of Adamu’s waning influence within the party, the APC chairman has reportedly been scouting for support ahead of the NEC meeting of APC, holding at the Presidential Villa on Monday.
Adamu’s meeting with President Tinubu on Wednesday, where he had reportedly gone to solicit understanding, might not have gone according to plan, sources familiar with the development told Saturday Sun.
Instead, some members of APC NWC have reportedly moved against the chairman and asking for his ouster. The aggrieved NWC members are mobilising ahead of the NEC meeting, where Adamu’s fate might be decided by the highest organ of the APC.
With a divided National Working Committee, and with Adamu’s allies out of office, it is unclear if the former governor of Nasarawa State will survive the coming tsunami that had long been predicted.
Though APC spokesman, Felix Morka, said he would not comment on the issue when Saturday Sun contacted him on Friday, Adamu’s harshest critic, National Vice Chairman, North West, Salihu Lukman, who is said to be insisting on his ouster, listed so many sins against him, including deliberate refusal to convene meetings of relevant organs, especially NEC for over one year.
Lukman, while claiming that the APC boss had contravened and violated the ruling party’s Constitution, said: “The sad reality is that the APC as constituted today is only a shadow of itself with a National Chairman that is highly unaccountable and running affairs of the party more as a garrison commander. He relates with his colleagues in the NWC just like his appointees. In their name, he meets other leaders of the party and seeks to manipulate the party’s decisions to suit personal vested interests that is only known to him.”
The report, which claimed that Tinubu might not have taken a position on Adamu’s issue, though his allies were mounting pressure on the him to take charge of the party, ahead of key governorship elections coming up later in the year, quoted sources as saying though it was difficult to predict Tinubu’s position, the days of the party boss was numbered.
It was another day of misery in Kwara State, when daredevil terrorists reportedly stormed Yashikira Community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, and as has been the case in many of the attacks, abducting scores of residents including women and children.
But, apparently to register their authority, the gunmen, who were said to have operated for hours without challenge from the security operatives, were said to have torched the palace of the Emir.
The attackers, which reportedly occurred late Sunday night were said to have announced their presence through heavy firing and after storming the palace of the monarch during the period, set it on fire before whisking away their victims, but a similar attempt at the police station in the community, was repelled.
While some of the residents, narrated how the spent hours without resistance, leaving behind destruction and fear in the border community, another account said the villagers were caught unawares as the gunmen invaded the town under the cover of darkness.
However operatives made up of the police and military personnel, were said to have launched a manhunt immediately for the immediate rescue of the victims, including throwing a cordon in the area as part of the mission.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
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