One recurring name at the APC caucus meeting in Abuja on Monday, was the Akwa Ibom State resident electoral commissioner, Mike Igini. APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was the first to open fire on Igini accusing the lawyer of working in cahoots with the Akwa Ibom State government to undermine APC.
Senate minority leader and former governor Godswill Akpabio, ratcheted the ante, saying the APC does not have confidence in Igini.
But what is the problem? How come Igini who was the REC in Edo during Oshiomhole’s tenure and who also received the APC chairman’s backing before his redeployment to Akwa Ibom fell out so badly with his “godfather?”
Interview Confidential (IC) gathered that the volte-face may not be unconnected with frustration in high places in the ruling party that Igini may have “unexpectedly” developed a mind of his own!
How Deep Is Your Party Agent’s Purse?
There are several versions of what happened to party agents between Thursday and Friday nights, and it hard to know which one to believe.
While one version accused PDP of knowing about the postponement in advance and therefore refusing to “fully mobilise (read shell out money)” to its agents, the other version said both parties shelled out cash to agents, but the umbrella’s financial succour was nearly five times the comfort that the broom could provide.
Translation: this weekend, party agents may be among the most prosperous group of Nigerians, in a game of my wallet is bigger than yours!
Yakubu’s Portrayal Of Politicians As Saints
Listening to INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu on Saturday, one might be tempted to think that politicians were saints. Yakubu said, repeatedly, that he was not under any pressure from politicians. May be.
But the story from insiders at the commission is different. One source told IC, for example, that politicians from both parties recommended contractors who supplied non-essential voting materials. “A number of the contractors,” one source said, “failed to deliver, forcing the commission to look elsewhere for supplies and further complicating the situation.”
Another source said contractors from politicians who supplied sleeping mats for ad hoc staff members worth about N1billion failed to deliver, “and their political godfathers simply turned up one week to the election to say they couldn’t find the mats after collecting money!”
