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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of using the Ecological Fund as a tool to further divide the ranks of the nation's governors and solidify his reputation as a partisan and sectional leader.
APC's allegation came on the heels of the emergence of opposing group in the party known as the Conscience Group (CG) which criticised the continued stay in office of the interim leadership of the party and accused it of not doing much to consolidate on the goodwill of Nigerians.
In a statement issued yesterday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said President Jonathan's decision to grant N2 billion each to 17 states controlled by governors deemed to be Jonathan's supporters, excluding states controlled by main opposition APC negates what he should be as the leader of the whole nation.
It wondered what kind of coincidence would exclude all the APC-controlled states from being considered for receiving assistance from the Ecological Fund, when there was evidence that the APC governors even sought such assistance.
''The N2 billion assistance was given to Abia, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Plateau, Ebonyi, Delta, Enugu and Taraba States.
''Before then, N5 billion had been given to Akwa Ibom State ostensibly for 'urgent matters' while N8 billion was given to Anambra for the 'maintenance of the Niger bridge', in reality perhaps as slush fund for the stolen gubernatorial election in the state.
''To the best of our knowledge, even if N8 billion is not enough to construct a second Niger bridge, it will go a long way. We are yet to see any maintenance to justify such a huge fund that was given for that purpose, further confirming our fears on what the real purpose of that money might have been."
In another twist of fate, the leadership of APC has come under attack by a group claiming to be an integral part of the opposition party.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the Conscience Group, Chief Iheke Solomon and its National Secretary , Chief Nnamdi Olebara, it expressed concern that the urgent interim leadership of APC had not been able to galvanise massive support for the party despite obvious advantages.
"The interim leadership of our party having been hijacked by some personalities with perceptible negative antecedent baggage that insult and offend the sensibilities of the mass of our people, whose massive support is needed to take our party to power, has become a great burden.
"The CG has observed with serious concern and regret the utter failure of the interim leadership of our beloved party to take advantage of the groundswell of popular support and sympathy of the mass of our people at the inception of APC, five months ago. Consequently, the initial momentum has dwindled. Lethargy and indifference or apathy has set in to take the place of great expectation.
"The fortunes of the party are sliding downwards, hopelessly and helplessly to a position worse than the position where the "legacy parties" were before this consolidation. No definite and definitive leadership structure has emerged almost six months after this seemingly formidable and awesome mass movement was registered as a political party," said the group.
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