The national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja was on Wednesday taken over by heavily armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force.
This incident, TheNewsGuru.com, TNG gathered is happening for the second time in a space of three months.
While the party swiftly denied any form of brewing crisis, however, TNG recalled that a party chieftain from Zamfara State, Senator Kabiru Marafa had earlier called for the sack of Governor Mai Mala Buni-led caretaker committee of the party on the ground that it has outlived its usefulness.
Secretary of the party’s Caretaker/Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, told journalists that the presence of the security agents was a mere proactive formality to avoid any chance occurrence, as it was nothing unusual.
On August 9, 2021, police had been deployed to the party secretariat on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling on the Ondo State governorship election, when the 4:3 split judgment, though affirmed Rotimi Akeredolu as governor, raised concerns about the competence of Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, to lead the party.
Prior to that, the secretariat had last seen the deployment of policemen last year after a court order suspended the former national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in March, barring him from assessing the office.
But Akpanudoedehe said the police were acting on security reports made available to them. “Nothing is happening. They have been there several times whenever we need to safeguard the secretariat. You are not in a position to read security reports, so you cannot ask me. If something happens now, they will say what were they doing?