APC Fingers Dangote, Otedola, Others as Financiers of Saraki Dogara’s Rebellion

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has fingered prominent business moguls including Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola as those who financed the emergence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.

Former interim national chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande although did not specifically mention names, a statement by him spoke the mind of the establishment bloc of the party ‎especially the Bola Tinubu wing in the South west.

LEGISREPORTS however gathered that Dangote, Africa’s richest man, did provide funding for the Dogara speakership bid as well as that of Saraki Senate presidency project.

The APC had endorsed Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and Senator Ahmed Lawan as its candidates for House speaker and Senate President respectively but its choices were defeated by Dogara and Saraki in the June 8th, 2015 election of presiding officers in the chambers of the National Assembly.

Both heads of the National Assembly, LEGISREPORTS findings revealed, received substantial support from top business moguls especially from the north with Dangote’s name featuring tops and from the south with Otedola being mentioned.

Mr. Akande’s statement that oil subsidy thieves funded the rebellion of APC members in the National Assembly widens the scope of possible funders of Saraki and Dogara’s campaigns.

‎This is what the former APC chairman said:

“Most Northern elite, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels, who never liked Buhari’s anti-corruption political stance, are quickly backing-up the rebellion against APC with strong support.

‎”Numerous among those calling themselves businessmen in Nigeria are like leeches, sucking from the nation’s blood largely through various governments and particularly through the Nigerian Federal Government.‎”

Mr. Akande called on President Muhammadu Buhari and governors elected under the platform the APC to rise up and stem the rebellion in the National Assembly to save the party from collapse.

He said:‎ “Now that the whole conspiracy has blown open, it is doubtful if the present institutions of party leadership can muster the required capacity to arrest the drift. It is my opinion that President Buhari, and the APC governors should now see APC as a recking platform that may not be strong enough again to carry them to political victory in 2019 and they should quickly begin a joint damage control effort to reconstruct the party in its claim to bring about the promised change before the party’s shortcomings begin to aggravate the challenges of governance in their hands.”