John Odigie Oyegun has emerged as the chairman of the screening committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress, according to party insiders familiar with the development.
Mr Oyegun has started supervising the screening of APC presidential aspirants in Abuja, our sources said.
A source said Mr Oyegun’s emergence as the head of the committee could be problematic for Bola Tinubu. The top APC aspirant had openly led a fight that toppled Mr Oyegun as the party chairman in 2018.
Mr Tinubu then backed Adams Oshiomhole for the position, and the former Edo governor’s ouster in 2020 was seen as part of the game plan to cut Mr Tinubu to size ahead of 2023 politics.
Mr Oyegun also published several statements condemning Mr Tinubu’s dangerous political antics. Both politicians have stayed largely apart ever since.
The development could deepen concerns within Mr Tinubu’s camp that there were plots to frustrate his efforts to clinch the party’s ticket at its convention on June 6.