 President Muhammad Buhari breaks his silence on the APC's leadership crisis and insists the convention must hold on March 26th and the administration led by President Buhari is being knocked by for prosecuting Namdi Khan while ignoring Bandit Kuki Milo. For this cross politics, I am Mary Anna Hope. As the APC crisis deepens, President Muhammad Buhari has broken his silence over the crisis, rocking the all-progressive Congress. In a statement by his senior special assistant on media, Garba Shehu, the president warned the leaders and members of the APC to desist from name-calling and back-stabbing. He reiterated that the party's national convention would on March 26th. The president also asked members of the party to learn from the failure of the People's Democratic Party PDP as regards disunity, mismanagement and corruption. He said the PDP had failed in 16 years in power and a failure as an opposition. The president also blamed the role of the media in the crisis rocking the party, saying that focusing on the internal divisions of the party was a waste of everyone's time. Joining us to discuss this is Ife Dayo, Iyan Iwura. He is the Akiti State IPAC chairman and also being joined by Opunabok Inko Tari. He is a former special advisor on media and publicity to Governor Wike. Thank you very much, gentlemen, for joining us. Great. I'm going to start with you, Opunabok. Interestingly, the president has said, I mean, finally the president has broken his silence. Importantly, a lot of people had wondered why, including me, why the president had been tight-lipped as to the runnings of the party being that normally, it might not be by the books, but the president is obviously the leader of the party, even though the APC does have a national leader of the party. But now the president has broken his silence and he's talking about the issue of back-stabbing and name-calling. And these are some of the things that have characterized the crisis within the APC. But what do you think sits at the core of the crisis rocking the APC? Let me start by saying the president's statement could be likened to a spring of hope, considering the supposedly listlessness of the president when it comes to intrapartial matters. He has all been silent and has allowed other gladiators to dictate the pace. I haven't said that. It's a joyous daybreak to hear Mr. President speak and also assure Nigerians that the APC Convention will take place on the 26th of March. That date is almost sacrosanth now, going by the release by the Special Assistant to the President on media. I haven't said this anyway. I must say that the party crisis is occasioned by ambition of certain persons, the ambitions of certain persons who believe that the ambition should proceed or supersede the interests of the party. Don't forget that the APC is a combination of various political parties that came together specifically to house the PDP. And so they all came with different ideologies. They all had different programs. They all had different interests and what have you. And that is it. Now there is that clash. What unified them was Mr. President. Now there is that clash of interest because the President is leaving. He's not going to contest again for the talk time. And so you will succeed is the problem. These are best friends and fellows that came together to house the pledge of having somebody. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But this is the case for political parties in Nigeria that always are coming to cover of strange bedfellows. They're always different interests half the time. They're all there just because of the power that they can grab. So I don't think it's anything new per se. But Mr. President being gradually getting out of the picture, as you have said, might be the problem. So what then does this pretend for the future of the party? Because the President has made mention of- What I hear, what I hear, what I hear is what I refer to as a non-demitic song. In other words, the song of death is back up and down at the theater of ambition, the craziest thing of lunacy. The members of the APC are maximizing the minimum and minimizing the matching. What is the maximum? The ultimate age will be continuation, how to win between the two, the three general elections. That should be the primary concern of APC members. But that is not the primary concern. Right now the primary concern of APC members, especially those that are interested in the program, is how to emerge as candidates. And that is the problem they have before getting that for you to emerge as a candidate, you must be the platform. And not just a platform, a formidable platform, a platform that will continue to challenge the major opposition party, which is the PDT and probably the top boss. But that aspect of the struggle is then sidelined, what they have put in front of the component is who will emerge as the candidate of the party. Is that the candidate of the, as he made as the best chairman of the party? And eventually, because that's a very likely thing, we determine who will emerge as the presidential candidate. And that is the being of the party. That is the internal runway. And that is what has been responsible for the unnecessary postponement of their convention. And that is what is also affecting the leadership, the problem in the crisis, the leadership crisis. That is not the response, but leadership crisis in the party. The issue of Bumi and the issue of this human man. Bello. Bello, yes. That is what it does because they all have factions. Some have lost confidence in Bumi. Bumi, they see, they believe that he has sinister moves, sinister plots. So they've lost confidence. So the party divided between Bumi and Bello. So that is the problem they're having. And unlike other political parties, like the PDT, the PDT have leadership crisis, but they were able to meet it in the but only now. Now you consider the legal restrictions. When will ATC do the, even business in March, in the 6th general election, there to be a mention and not a round of legal package. So that's what the president is about the sacrifice. Okay. Because you have time free. Okay. Let me come to you, Ms. Yaneura. It's interesting. The president, I want to quote the president directly. He insisted and urged the party members to remain steadfast and maintain unity if the party is to continue on the path of victory and its dominance at all levels throughout the country. Now, the president is talking about unity here, but we also know that the president has handpicked somebody who he thinks would be best to run the party. Something that, because again, I started by saying that the president has always been aloof when it comes to internal party politics. How can peace come about within the APC with all of these wranglings and major, major kingpins within the party who have their own interests as opposed to what Mr. President wants? Well, thank you very much for having me. Well, let me start by saying with every sense of unity that in Mr. President's speech he has spoken because a political party has never been a part of the agency under the federal government. That Mr. President, we just removed the chairman and appoint a chairman at will. The ball is in the party's court if the party is willing to conduct party conversion of this very much. First, let's see what the law says in section 82, subsection 1 of Electoral Heart 2022. The law requires at least one day's notice of panic convention, congress, conference, or meeting convey for the purpose of major or electing members of the disability committees, other government bodies, or nominating candidates for any elected offices. Meanwhile, in respect of the APC proposed March 26 national convention, there was already a notification letter in that regard, reading to her, reading to her neck by Bunilet Triatica quality of the party, which of course meets the 21 days notice as required by the law. So if they are working with that direction, then the party can see with position of the law go ahead with the national convention in this month of March. But, however, of reason we heard about the plans of some leaders in the third party to replace the government of the state, Bunilet with that of the United States counterpart, and the party's category chairman, this is according to our separations of government to fight on China's television. Remember I said the ball is in the court? Because any attempt to go by this direction, no matter how smart the party leadership is, we hold the chance of APC to conduct this party national congress as planned in this month of March. When you say any attempt, as if it's not been done, it seems to have already been done, even though Governor Buni is also coming out to say, well, it's not going to happen while he's under his watch, because he said that he still remains the chairman of the party. Same goes for the secretary of the party, all of them still claiming to be in charge of the party, but we have seen that Bello has taken over. So you're sounding as if it's not happened, but it has actually happened, hasn't it? Well, like I'm just saying, anybody can claim leadership capacity, but what matters is our personal democracy, our dear electoral process must not be standardized. If this leadership wants us to work well, then they must get themselves enlightened and still be benefited, because if we want to go back to the position of the INEC regulation and guidelines of political parties of nations, any communication between INEC and the Redditor Political Party through later must be signed by the chairman and secretary of the party known to INEC. It will be full idea of anyone to think that INEC can be working with any permission coming out from the news. It is so therefore expected of INEC, not to recognize Abuakabelu as APC-Katikachama, because it's in my guess it's true news on the national delis and on national television. Work has laid down the two-trip procedure to change or have political party leadership in Nigeria. So in all of all this, Buni and his secretary, they remain with renowned chairman and secretary of APC-Katikachama committee of APC-Katikachama to HINEC. So if there is any position that the party wants to take by changing the leadership of this political party, then automatically there has to be conveying of imagines of next meeting, imagines of next meeting. But the problem lies. But the APC does not necessarily have a national executive council. They do have the CCEC-PC. I mean that's what they have now and that's what Governor Buni used to head. So how are they going to convene this meeting? Again, I want to push this question. As IPAC chairman or IPAC, let's talk about this from the perspective of IPAC. Why does IPAC come in here? Because this is an inter-party related issue. Are you going to be consulting? Are you going to be advising on the way to go within the APC? And I'm sure that this goes for any other political party. Well, what is happening in APC is inter-party. It's sitting at the inter-party up here. Once we can help us, it's just advice. And we cannot enforce position on party leadership. But the major thing is that our personal democracy, our electoral process, must properly be guided. Because that buys all of us together. So this is why we are keen in offering them the better advice on which to go about this matter. The party cannot continue to grasp on who is the chairman of the party. What matter is who is more recognized as the categorical chairman of this party by high-necked. If they said the party should convey neck meeting, who will find the lighter to high-neck in respect of that? That's the question. Because one, some of the leaders of these parties are said, Bunizu Nogadia chairman. That Bello is the chairman. Bello wrote a letter to high-neck. High-neck renounced it. This is especially because we know Chiaman as the key key of a party. And it's a true right to communicate to high-neck. High-neck cannot have two Chiaman at the same time. So if a party must take leadership, it has to follow a later procedure. It's either they go for court induction, or they call neck, or they call for national convention. Now, who will call for national convention if they are not ready to work with Bunizu? So the party should go and manage Bunizu very well. That's the point. Let the party manage Bunizu very well. He has already written the letter to high-neck, which has meet the legal requirements of each one of these parties. And if they insisted that Bello should take over, then the party should forget national convention of this month. Wow. Interesting. I'm going to come back to you because this seems to be, it gets deeper and deeper. But back to you up on that, but the president found a way to one way or the other blame the media for some of the problems that are happening within the APC, if not all of them. I'd like to call to him. He said it's important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of intense negative coverage. He's talking about the media. He said that he blamed the role of the media in the crisis rocking the party and had said that it's equally clear that over the last week or so the internal management of affairs of the APC have been afforded generous media coverage over and above its importance to voters in Nigeria. And he went ahead to say it is important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of this intense negative coverage. So I'm going to ask you what you think the president meant by this. Is he saying that the media is intensifying the problems within the APC? Or is he saying that the media is probably covering the wrong things and we should probably be interested in other matters other than what's happening within the APC, which is, by the way, the ruling party? Okay, Maria. Let me quickly state that without booming, the conversion can go on. All I need is a letter from booming to say Delo is holding thoughts for him. He does not need to be there personally to conduct. All he needs to do is transmit a letter because it's booming, willing to say that Delo is holding force for him, bearing in mind the way in which Delo was thrown up by the party. Delo said it's up. That's what Delo said. It's up. Was Boone consulted before this happened? Just a second. Just a second. Delo said it's up. Then the INEC commissioner for is it informational education? Yes. Said what is cited? The memo he cited on that it was in the social media. None of course, when we talk of memo, it's an interactive thing that no formal letter was forwarded. So, and now Mr. President has come up to say that Delo, sorry Boone, he remains the chairman of the party. So, it is actually sick if that was not just a subject and it's actually sick. All he needs to do is transmit a letter to INEC to that effect. That's all he needs to do because he remains the chairman in the eyes of INEC and the eyes of the law. If the party, the letter will be signed by the chairman and the secretary. Otherwise, it will trigger a plethora of legal cases, legal actions that might further mark the chances of the convention taking place on the 26th. And if it doesn't, then APC will not likely be on the power in the 2022 general elections. That's the implication. Now, I haven't said that. I'm talking about the media. It could be likened to a woman, a barren woman, somebody that is not responsible for it. How can you blame the media? The media will only mirror the society. The media is not the one stoking the ember. The media is not the one responsible for the crisis in the party. It only reports what happens in the party. So, how can you blame the media? It makes no sense whatsoever. But like in every other situation, the media is always blamed, especially when this situation is so dirty, when the person is faced with very obvious situations. Then the next thing once the media carries in, the next thing they stop blaming the media for being responsible because they don't want the world to be aware of what is going on in the party. But that is the role of the media. It is even a constitutional role. So, why will you blame the media? The media has no blame whatsoever. Nobody can blame the media for that. What the media will do is just to report what has happened. It's as simple as that. So, why are you going to blame the media? Are these crises not in existence? They are. Did these things happen? Yes. Were these things manufactured by the media? No. What was the role of the media just to report, reflect what happened? So, why are you blaming the media? Are you saying the media should be silent on issues? Then that should be taken from me. I've been taking this as a ruling. You cannot blame the media for this. The party is responsible for its crisis. The President was a loop for too long. I don't know what happened. So, by the sudden, I was making the biggest surprise, a lot of us. Well, a lot of us don't feel the man is just listless. He's lethargic because he's not interested anymore. He's going. Even if that's about us, if you see it, that visa is no longer there. I mean, the President is not here to defend himself. So, I'm going to try to play the devil's advocate here. The President has never, ever really gotten involved in party politics. So, should you say that he's been a loop? You didn't must come. Really? That has nothing to do with this. I'm just saying. That's why everybody has the right to interpret the situation. Now, that's the truth. You have the right to interpret the situation. That's just the truth about it. So, the point I'm making is simple. Even in 2019, when Mr. President was campaigning, what did he say? In all the states he went, he said, God bless you both for anybody in life, but for President, good for me. He said that. What does that tell you? He's not really interested in the intrafati matter. He has been silent all his life. And I believe that he's only acting built on pressure. I don't, within me, I don't think Mr. President is the real brother who is going to succeed him. I don't think so. He has said it that he wants to go. He's tired. He has said it before on air. He's not going to come to pass that. He has said it. He cannot wait to, to exit. So, I don't think he's really interested in who is going to succeed him. That is none of his business right now. Okay. All right. I mean, he was forced. I strongly believe he was compelled to stick, because if the leader of the party said he was compelled to not stop. My friend, you have to talk, sir. If you don't talk, then we are in crisis. You just have to make a statement. I don't think that if I would have gone on air to mention Mr. President without clarification. And this is air if I would know, a very stubborn man. But I don't think Mr. Air if I would have done that. Because of the consequences that might be brought apart if they go ahead with the bellow arrangement. Okay. And I don't see Mr. Air if I go in on air to say what he said, because he was quite categorical. And he said he just, they just left Mr. President. He did not tell you guys in a matter of conjunction. He said he was there. We got them both notes. Okay. All right. Interesting. I don't think the man would have been lying. I don't think so. This is a second thought. To sell the party. Okay. Let me come to you, Ms. Yanuura, before we wrap things up. The president has said that members of the APC should learn from the failures of the People's Democratic Party. He talked about issues of corruption, failure as, you know, being an opposition, playing the opposition and several other things in closing. The PDP has done 16 years in power and the APC has, you know, is still grinding to that point. But when the president says the APC should learn from the PDP, what exactly is the APC going to be learning from the mistakes of the PDP? And if the APC and the PDP were to be compared to each other, what would be the difference? Or what would be the similarities? Or what would be those things that the president would want the APC to learn from the PDP? Well, because of time, let me quickly address the point on this issue of Pune, Ambello, this issue of epithelination. I want to correct the notion. There is no way somebody who is put more at a party chamber will preside over the personal conversion of a party. That party will be sitting on the top order. One, Pune is a known tier fan of the party to finance. This issue of transmission of power from Pune to Bello, I think it's a founded democracy. Why is that fated in the APC constitution? Why is that fated in the natural arts? This is political party affairs. This is not a political party. In a well-structured political party, when we have the chairman, deputy chairman, Secretary, all of that position has been laid inside the party constitution. And the chairman does wake up in the day and says he wants to transmit the power to the youth leader of the party or to the youth leader of the party when we have deputy chairman and Secretary, that is very impossible. So we should not encourage this thing. We have to go, unfortunately, we're having connection issues with your audio, so we'll have to round up here. But I mean, I'm not sure if this APC problem is going to go any time soon, but let's keep our fingers crossed and see what happens before convention date. I want to say thank you to Fidayo Iyanimura, he's the Akiti State IPAC chairman and Uppunabwa Inko Tara is a former special advisor on media and publicity to Governor Yasun Wike. Thank you so much, gentlemen. Unfortunately, time is not on our side. Thank you very much, nice to talk to you. All right. Well, thank you all for staying with us. We'll take a short break now and when we return, the conversation continues as we discuss the accusations that the president and his government is filled with double standards, especially when it comes to prosecution.