Splits within APP over presidential candidate nomination

There was confusion yesterday in Nigeria’s second largest party, the right-wing All People’s Party (APP), as two factions announced the suspension of the other’s members in a row over plans for an electoral alliance with the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party, news reports said. At the centre of the disagreement is who will be the alliance’s joint candidate for presidential elections due to take place on 27 February. Under the terms of the partnership, the two parties can only put forward one name and, last week, the AD nominated Chief Olu Samuel Falae as its candidate. At a news briefing in Abuja yesterday, a group of top APP politicians announced the removal of party chairman, Alhaji Mahmud Waziri, his deputy and the national secretary, AFP reported. Waziri responded by suspending the membership of five of the group, including former foreign minister Tom Ikimi for involvement in “anti-party” activities, AFP said. Meanwhile, all is not well in the AD, as one of its founders and leading figures Bola Ige, is refusing to support the man who beat him as his party’s presidential candidate, Olu Falae, AFP said. The largest party in the election race, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is due to name its candidate next week and is currently the favourite to win both the legislative elections on 20 February and the presidential poll a week later.