Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kogi State have threatened to cut down the influence and power accorded to a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the north central part of the country.
The party leaders also vowed to reject James Faleke if nominated as a replacement for the late Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi, who died in March last year in an accident along Kaduna – Abuja road.
According to them, if President Muhammadu Buhari accepts Faleke’s nomination, it would lead to unrest in the party.
A statement jointly signed by the leaders of the party from Kogi West, Alhaji Suleiman Ejibunu and Chief Richard Asaje said the party would not accept Faleke as Ocholi’s replacement.
The statement read in part, “Faleke and his godfather, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu do not deserve any ministerial slot in Kogi State. Such a move may lead to the exit of every prominent, loyal and committed member of the party, while aggravating the fractionalisation of the party along many divides.
“We are also unequivocally resolute to stop Tinubu’s expansion into Kogi State or any state in the North-Central; we are determined to push out all his cohorts from Kogi come 2018/2019. It is a task that must be done through all legal/political means. They have failed and they will continue to fail.”
The statement further noted that James Faleke representing Lagos State in the National Assembly was known to Kogi State APC only during the governorship struggle, when Tinubu allegedly imposed him on APC in Kogi as the deputy governorship candidate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu.
The statement also added, “This generated a lot of discomfort to the founding members of APC who built the party, fought the then sitting government in all national elections and won.
“Giving him such an appointment will amount to providing him fuel to the breakup of APC in the state.
“Faleke alongside Honourable Buba Jibril in the West Senatorial Area of Kogi State have formed illegal party structures and lay claim to stakeholder structure for which a petition is already before the national leadership of the party.”