APC convention: Power brokers, presidential hopefuls go for broke

As the horse-trading among key gladiators in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) attains a crescendo, TAIWO AMODU highlights some ongoing interplay of forces 48 hours to the epic battle.

After several months of aborted attempts at conducting a convention to produce substantive national officers to pilot the party affairs ahead next general election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will on Saturday congregate its top chieftains, power brokers and its ordinary faithful.The contending power blocs in the amorphous platform are leaving nothing to chance. Governors seeking fresh mandate in 2023 and presidential aspirants are conscious that the power bloc that produces the strategic national officers will decide who gets what at the presidential convention and field candidates for governorship and National Assembly elections.

Investigation revealed that the battle for the convention is practically between two power blocs: the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) led by a former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) of President Muhammadu Buhari. It was learnt that the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have since dissolved into the CPC bloc.

Ahead of the epic battle coming up on Saturday, President Muhammadu Buhari, the governors and presidential aspirants are the men to watch, just as some forces in the presidency, acting as foot soldiers, might play a crucial role in defining moments.

South West: Tinubu holds the ace

Weeks to the convention, the governors in the zone and Lagos State ex-Governor Tinubu appear to have reached a consensus on who gets what. Party sources claimed that despite their differences, reason prevailed to prevent the defunct CPC from picking the national secretary zoned to the South-West.

An ally of President Buhari, keen on emerging as an anointed choice for the office of national secretary, Ife Oyedele, has been checkmated as Tinubu and the South-West governors have tactically zoned the strategic office out of Ondo State. Rotimi Akeredolu, the Ondo State governor has since presented a former APC chairman in his state, Isaac Kekemeke as national vice-chairman (South West), leaving Oyedele stranded. The office has been zoned to Osun State with the governors conceding to Tinubu’s favoured choice, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

Aside picking the national secretary,Lagos is poised to produce national youth leader in person of Dayo Israel. Tinubu will also produce the zonal organising Secretary for the zone.

In the “Unity List” from the zone, Oyo state will produce South-West zonal women leader and zonal special leader. Deputy national auditor zoned to the south west has been micro-zoned to Ogun State which will equally produce the South-West zonal secretary. With the micro- zoning, Rinsola Abiola has lost out in the race for national youth leader. South-west zonal youth leader will emerge from Ekiti State which will also produce the national ex-officio member.

South-South: Amaechi battles, Sylva, Omo-Agege

A  former  two-term  Rivers   State governor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi is facing the battle of his life in his region, ahead of his bid for the presidential ticket. In the oil rich region, the leadership tussle is between him and two stalwarts from Bayelsa and Delta states: former governor of Bayelsa and Minister of State, Petroleum, Timpire Sylva and the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo Agege.

While the Senator representing Delta Central has settled for the national publicity secretary zoned to South-South, Amaechi and his counterpart in Petroleum Ministry, Sylva are on each other’s throat  over who produce national vice chairman, South-South. Party sources said Amaechi is backinga former deputy national secretary in the axed Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led National Executive Committee (NEC), Victor Giadom for the office, while Sylva has thrown his weight behind the immediate past deputy national publicity secretary, Yekeen Nabena.In the same zone, Cross Rivers State Governor Ben Ayade has positioned his Commissioner for Health, Dr Beta Edu for national women leader.

Chairmanship and governors’ anger

Buhari’s endorsement of a former Nasarawa State governor, Senator AbdullahiAdamu for the office of national chairman is an open secret. It was gathered that the president restated his choice to Yobe State governor and chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC, Mai Mala Buni when the latter visited him in the United Kingdom last week.

Some of the governors have continued to grumble over Buhari›s choice as they dismissed Adamu as too old for the job, not open to fresh ideas and too overbearing. The office is zoned to the North-Central states, with two aspirants coming from both Niger (Senator Sani Musa and Etsu Mohammed)  and Nasarawa State (TankoAl-Makura and Senator Adamu), with Benue and Kwara states having one aspirants in person of George Akume and Saliu Mustapha.

Investigation revealed that two governors in the North-Central were not actually excited that the office was zoned to the region. Party sources revealed that Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello is aspiring to be presidential candidate while the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello is scheming to be vice presidential candidate.

Three days to the convention, the governors and power blocs are already romancing Senator Abdullahi.

The South-East governors of Imo and Ebonyi are also talking to themselves to back Senator Adamu since the zone will produce deputy national chairman (South).

In the North-West, the governors in the region are also watching Buhari’s body language on his choice of national organising secretary. Immediate past Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman has joined the race for the office of national vice-chairman (North-West), a development that has polarised the rank of the governors from the zone.

North East: Buni’s shifts battle ground

For the geo-political zone of the Yobe State Governor and Chairman, APC CECPC, Mai Mala Buni there is no war of attrition or battle going on. The zone will only produce national auditor for the National Working Committee (NWC) and its statutory deputy national chairman (North-East). Investigation showed that one serving governor in the zone, Governor Buni and former Borno State Governor and one of Tinubu’s foot soldiers in the North, Kashim Shettima are scheming for the ticket of vice-president which may be zoned to the region at the presidential convention.

The North-East zone comprises Borno, Yobe, and Bauchi–, Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba states.

Three of the states are in control of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): Bauchi, Taraba and Adamawa. Despite the calm, the Bauchi State stakeholders in the APC have since petitioned President Buhari and the Chairman of the APC CECPC, Governor Buni. In the petition signed by a former Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former Bauchi State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, incumbent Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu and 26 others, they kicked against the micro- zoning of deputy national chairman, North-East, to Borno State. The APC leaders argued that Bauchi is being excluded despite its contributions to the APC. They further claimed that Borno State has been adequately compensated by the Federal Government in board appointments and several positions in the Buhari cabinet. The Bauchi chieftains cited the National Security Adviser, Gen Ali Mohammed Mongonu; the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (GMD), MeleKyari; the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali and the Managing Director North-East Development Commission (NEDC). Thus, they called on the APC leadership to have a rethink and treat Bauchi State in a fair and just manner.