THE national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC has set machinery in place to whip Governors Ibikunle Amosun and Rochas Okorocha in line towards advancing the interests of the party in the governorship elections in Ogun and Imo States respectively.

Besides, the two governors who have sworn not to support the APC governorship candidates in their two states, the party, Saturday Vanguard gathered, is also putting focus on at least two ministers, Adebayo Shittu and Solomon Dalung, and also on the director general of the Voice of Nigeria, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu.

Amsoun and Okorocha were peeved by the decision of the national leadership to enthrone persons opposed by them as the APC governorship candidates in their two states. Both men have sworn to support their favoured candidates in alternative platforms but at the same time also support President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid on the basis of what they claimed as the performance of the president.

Governor Amosun in furtherance of his bid to sell his favoured successor, Rep. Adekunle Akinlade was as at press time yesterday locked in a meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC chapter in Ogun State ostensibly to woo support for Akinlade. Governor Okorocha has on his part vowed to enthrone his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu as his successor and vowed to stop the official APC candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma succeed him.

The APC national leadership is, however, nonplussed over the issue affirming yesterday that the party was watching them for observance of anti-party behavior prior to applying strict sanctions.

“We have put machinery to monitor them and if you are not supporting the candidate of the party the only word to describe that is anti-party,” a very prominent party official told Saturday Vanguard yesterday on the condition of anonymity.

“They claim to be supporting Mr. President but working against the interest of the president’s party, how is that possible? The president needs a comfortable National Assembly majority and APC governors to help him to deliver,” the party official said.

One of the sanctions the official let slip was the possible dissolution of the state executives of the party, a development that would remove the control of the party from the hands of the governors and put them out of the loop in party affairs.

Remarkably, both Okorocha and Amosun are APC candidates in senatorial elections in their two states.

“If you are not supporting every candidate of the party then you are playing anti-party,” the official said as he vowed that the plans of the two governors against the APC governorship candidates in Ogun and Imo States would come to nought.

“All those plots will not work, they will fail, because the party will strongly support their candidates and we will make sure that we deliver our candidates despite the plots of these people.

“Fayose (former governor of Ekiti State) as a sitting governor was not able to deliver, so why are they elevating their powers,” the party official said.

“The party already knows what to do, but we are just waiting for the nod of the president because what they are doing is totally anti-party. Some ministers who didn’t get ticket are also saying the same thing.”

He cited the minister of youth and sports, Solomon Dalung who has been in a long rivalry with Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and reportedly opposed his re-nomination as party candidate. He also cited the case of Shittu, the minister of communications who made a boisterous campaign first for the president’s re-election and then made an abortive bid for the APC governorship ticket.

The party official was also displeased with Mr. Okechukwu, the director-general of VON who has been in the trenches against national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who he accused of manipulating the primaries for selfish desires.