APC convention: The forces at play

Since last March when the National Working Committee of the party led by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun announced the plan to convene the gathering of the highest organ of the party, the national convention, it has been postponed twice, fuelling speculation of an ulterior motive by  Odigie-Oyegun and his team to perpetuate themselves  in office.  Senior Deputy Editor, TAIWO AMODU, examines the forces at play in the struggle for the control of the party structures ahead of 2019 general election.

THE ruling party at its formative stage was made up of main opposition parties in the country: the  defunct  Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN); the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP);  the Congress for Progressives Change, (CPC)  certain individuals from the  All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) and the erstwhile ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP)  who christened themselves the New PDP. All these parties coalesced into the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Politics is largely about who gets, what when and how. Since the inception of the present administration,  those who lost out in the sharing of political offices and appointments have been complaining in hushed tones, while smarting for opportunity to take their pound of flesh and ultimately,  upstage the forces that have supplanted them.

Sunday Tribune checks revealed that in the battle for the control of the party are Chief Odigie-Oyegun/ the Presidency, the former Lagos state governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar,  Senate President, Bukola Saraki and governors on the party platform under the aegis of APC Governors Forum.

Oyegun NWC

The former Edo state governor,  was the anointed candidate of the former Lagos state governor, Bola Tinubu for the exalted office of national chairman at the 2014 national convention of the party where the former  later emerged.

But Chief Oyegun had since switched loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of the party after the 2015 general elections. The frosty relationship between Chief Oyegun and his  estranged benefactor, Tinubu became  public knowledge last November when  the latter kicked against the controversial primary that produced Rotimi Akeredolu, the party standard bearer in the Ondo state governorship election and incumbent governor.  Tinubu press statement asking for the removal of Oyegun as national chairman created a stir in the party but was rebuffed by the Presidency.  Oyegun was to dismiss Tinubu’s press statement,  asking for his dismissal as reckless.

In league with the former Lagos State governor who has expressed disdain over what he perceived as the shoddy administration of the party is the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar. Last November, the former vice-president, spoke in support of Bola Tinubu as he accused Chief Oyegun of  observing the party rules guiding conduct of primary in the breach.

He noted that since the APC found veritable reasons to review the outcome of the gubernatorial primary election it conducted in the state, and was able to establish valid grounds to cancel that primary election and call for a fresh one, the decision to deviate from its own resolution is a negation of due process and an unfashionable hollow in democratic best practices.

“It was wrong for the APC to have set aside a resolution it had reached aimed at resolving the crisis in our party in Ondo State. It is a recipe for acrimony and division,’’ Atiku declared.

Sunday  Tribune checks revealed that Atiku’s loyalist in the party national secretariat, Timi Frank had since been ostracised through an indefinite suspension slammed on him by the party national working committee.

A party source revealed that a national convention conducted in the absence of ailing president, Muhammadu Buhari would make the embattled Oyegun vulnerable to the aggrieved chieftains, smarting to take their pound of flesh. It will also make Buhari himself vulnerable in case he wants to seek a fresh mandate in 2019.

The APC Governors’ Forum

Governors on the party platform operating under the aegis of  All Progressives Congress Governors Forum and led by Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha are also engaged in battle of wits for the control of the party.  Sunday Tribune gathered that the notice for the conduct of the convention earlier fixed for April courted the anger of the governors who accused Oyegun of fixing a date for the convention without recourse to two other statutory organs of the party, the national caucus and the  National Executive Committee.

Oyegun had since mend fences with the governors as he postponed the convention, merely citing paucity of fund as his excuse. He has also held three consultative meetings with the governors in the last three months, preparatory to the midterm, non-elective convention, although with no fixed date.

Despite his deft moves to mend fences with the governors, Oyegun and his national working committee do not enjoy their confidence  as they shared same sentiment with Atiku and Tinubu camp that Oyegun is running the party aground by his leadership disregard for other statutory organs of the party. The former Edo  state governor has however been smart not to undermine the governors’ interest: they crave for the control of the party structures in their respective states, since virtually all of them want fresh mandate in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.  The smart Oyegun feigns ignorance of the governors marginalisation of other stakeholders in their respective state chapters.

A party source told Sunday Tribune in confidence that the report of Tony Mommoh  Fact Finding and Reconciliation Committee on Kogi state chapter and similar one by Senator Chris Ngige on Bauchi state may not be implemented since the recommendations do not favour the governors.

Working in Oyegun’s  favour is the crack among the governors camp over the seemingly jinxed convention.  While some of them led by Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai are anxious to see the party hold its convention, another camp doing the bidding of Presidency  cabal in league with Oyegun want the party stakeholders to wait until the return of ailing president Buhari.

The ubiquitous Senator Saraki

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki  is the cat with nine lives in the APC power struggle. Having survived the macabre onslaught against him by the combined forces of the Lagos camp and  Presidency,  he has since become the beautiful bride of the latter.  By virtue of the party Constitution, the Senate President, Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and certain principal officers of  the Red and Green chambers are members of  the national caucus and NEC of the party.

While Oyegun is apparently not in the good book of Honourable Dogara over what the Speaker and his loyalists perceived as the former alleged pitching of tent with the Bauchi state governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar,  over the crisis rocking the  state chapter of the party,  Senator Saraki will certainly be courted by the Presidency and Oyegun in supplanting the agitation for conduct of convention by the anti-Oyegun forces.

But checks however revealed that Senator Saraki recently took the party national secretariat to the cleaners recently as he accused them of alienating critical party stakeholders in the administration of the party.

Oyegun holds the ace

Having the presidency cabal as armour in his battle to hold firmly to his office is really not embattled Oyegun main asset, but the party constitution.

According to Sunday Tribune findings, Oyegun may have observed in the breach the provision of the party constitution on conduct of national convention in the breach but same constitution empowers only him to summon meetings of NEC, which can then take a position on the national convention.

Article 25 (B)( i, ii) of the party constitution reads:’’ The National Executive Committee shall meet every quarter and or at any time decided by the national chairman or at the request made in writing by at least two-third of the members of the National Executive Committeeprovided that not less than fourteen (14) days notice is given for the meeting to be summoned; “Without prejudice to Article 25(B(i) of this Constitution, the National Working Committee may summon an emergency National Executive Committee meeting at any time, provided that at least seven (7) days notice of the meeting shall be given to all those entitled to attend.’’

Only the highest organ of the party, its national convention can take decisions on sensitive matters like removal of national officers, election of presidential candidate, ratification of amendment of the party constitution and  its policies and programmes.

With  the indifference of the Presidency towards conduct of the convention in the absence of President Buhari and the crack within the camp of the governors and a willing ally in chairman of the National Assembly,  Senator Saraki, Oyegun and his collaborators may certainly have the last laugh…