Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the disbandment of all political groups within the party in Lagos is to instill discipline.
The Mandate Group and the Justice Forum, the two most powerful groups, will no longer exist, according to a communique issued by the party leaders in the state after a meeting on Tuesday.
The leadership of the APC in Lagos took the action two weeks after Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, reorganised the Mandate Group without the endorsement of Tinubu.
The group made up of Tinubu’s core loyalists was relaunched by Aregbesola, who remained as the grand patron.
Abdullahi Enilolobo, the APC organising secretary in the state, was picked as the new chairman and James Odunmbaku was moved up as the “apex leader”.
Enilolobo is a known loyalist of Aregbesola. The relaunch took place at his Ikeja GRA residence.
Party insiders had told TheCable that the relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola, his associate, has been growing cold.
But in a statement, Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s spokesman, said the decision to dissolve political groups in the state was made to enhance discipline and unity.
He said Aregbesola, a former governor of Osun state, “has been unswervingly and wholly committed to the progressive ideology of the Tinubu political family.”
“Today, the Governor’s Advisory Council, the highest decision-making body within the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, passed a resolution calling for the disbandment of all factional groups within the party,” the statement read.
“This was to promote discipline, harmony and cohesion and engender party supremacy. The APC is one united political family in Lagos.
“There is no war, cold or hot, between them. There has never been and there will never be. Asiwaju believes in him and he believes in the APC leader. Our political family remains strong. And we are staying focused in our commitment to building and maintaining a cohesive political party.
“The GAC is a very strong body within the APC leadership structure in Lagos. Its resolution is not targeted at any particular individual or collection of individuals.
“The resolution was to restate the often-stated position that the only group known to us is APC and not any of the factional groups. It was to renew the commitment to APC and its unity.
“Ogbeni Aregbesola is a strong member of the political family. The GAC position does not imply any division within the group.”
