By Dapo Akinrefon

Indications emerged that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to back the All Progressives Congress, APC, NEC meeting called by the Victor Giadom faction was to enable the APC governors take over the party structure.

A close aide of one of the APC governors from the South-West told Vanguard in confidence that the governors, elected on the party’s platform, decided to hijack the party from its leaders, who had sidelined the governors.

The source, familiar with the crisis rocking the party, said: “Our governor is in Abuja for the APC NEC meeting.

ALSO READ: APC crisis: President Buhari backs Victor Giadom

“Those in charge of the party think they are the only ones who have power, but we all saw how the President shocked them.

“The governors own the party. Who can mobilise 2,000 delegates? Let us say the leader can mobilise 5,000 delegates, but can he mobilise it in Jigawa, Taraba, Ekiti or in Osun? It is only the governors that have the capacity to do this.

“Who has the security when it is time for the convention? If the police decide not to cooperate, every governor can decide to come with their security outfit.

“Those former governors know this and they know how it works. You want to pocket the governors thinking they do not matter?

“Interest is politics and every politics is local.

“You have to canvass your own interest, but for you to think you have planted the Chairman and Secretary so that they can do your bidding; you have got it wrong.

“When the chips are down, the Secretary you are banking on is also somebody’s candidate.”

Meanwhile, Vanguard was reliably informed that another South-West governor elected on the party’s platform was not at the Abuja meeting.

A close aide of the governor told Vanguard: “The governor is in his home town. He is not in Abuja.”

A core stakeholder in the party leadership structure had told Vanguard, on Wednesday, that earth-shaking decisions would be taken at today’s NEC meeting.

Vanguard