KUNLE ODEREMI, who was at the convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), writes on the razzmatazz and some outstanding issues, as the party faithful salvour the outcome of the exercise.
For top notch members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it is not yet uhuru after it held the much-awaited convention on March 26. In their estimation, though the exercise succeeded in electing a new set of national officers to run the affairs of the nine year-old party, there are still many rivers to cross.
Ministers, governors, the new leaders and even those that were hitherto on the driving seat acknowledge that it is not yet time to sing hallelujah. Minister of Transportation, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Plateau, Simon Lalung, spokesman for the Senate, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, in separate views admitted that the party has succeeded in scaling a major hurdle to enter a new phase in its bid to overcome a number of challenges.
The path to the Eagle Square, venue of the APC convention in Abuja, had been full of landmines, either laid by the actors wittingly or otherwise but prinvcially driven by ego, inordinate political ambition and class interests. Power centres, including that of governors, regional demagogues, members of a powerful clique in the presidency, as well as tendencies associated with the trajectory of the APC proper went into the convention with the spirit of outdoing one another, engaging in shadow boxing, coupled with a near act of subterfuge designed to neutralise rival blocs. The last-minute move by President Muhammadu Buhari almost paled into insignificance as some aspirants who had been assured of a level-playing field in line with democratic ethos and values had boldly resisted a perceived plot to rub roughshod on their face. The consequence was a display of fit of anger and frustration in the camps of some aspirants determined to test their strength and popularity before the delegates rather than succumbing to a consensus option, which the chief promoter claimed was meant to detonate a time bomb. In the interim, while the hordes of delegates mushroomed under pavilions revved soaked in momentary swiveling joy and ecstasy by entertainers, unaware of the plot and counter-plot going on behind the scene within and outside the confines of the venue.
The events that played out on the day almost obscured the aura and confidence exhibited by members of the team that midwifed the convention. Members of the media committee of the APC Convention Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) led by Yobe State governor Mala Buni held a press conference at the eve of the event, with the co-chairman of the subcommittee and governor of Nasarawa state, Sule confident that the stage was set for a seamless convention; that all the loose ends and rough edges had been perfected. He along with the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said all obstacles to the epic event had been removed, with the party members ready for the emergence of new substantive national officers and were ready to heral a new dawn in the APC. At another encounter with media men, the minister joined top presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu to further orchestrate the emerging new spirit of conviviality and oneness the party stakeholders had found and embraced. Both men re-echoed issues that were raised at the earlier press conference concerning intra-patty feud, including the rash of litigation in state chapters in particular submitting that the APC had since crossed the Rubicon.
Convention as a leveler
For a moment, both the high and the low in the ruling party mingled in the bowel of the Eagle square. Many of the leaders literally came down from their Olympian heights to sit abreast with ordinary delegates and without air as
Candidates made whistle stops to rally support for their individual bid. However, among the most striking scenarios were enacted by supporters of an APC national leader, Chief Bola Tinubu and the loyalists of the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi. While supporters of Tinubu went into frenzy as he walked gleefully to the reserved pavilion for his categories of APC leaders, an incredible number of loyalists of Umahi danced and sang as he moved past pavilions of other states. Allies and promoters of other presidential hopefuls like the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Minister Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi also added melodrama to the convention, while banners on the pressure on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele adorned some strategic spots within and outside the arena.
Matters arising
Beyond the facade of the ecstasy, thrills and frills of the event are what many stakeholders in the APC regard as crucial outstanding issues with serious implications for the party in the buildup to the 2023 general election. One of them is what they consider as the skewed power structure, which they say is bound to have ripple effects in the long run. According to observers, the long-drawn battle for structural harmonisation among the legacy parties that formed the APC in 2013 appears to be in the balance now with one of the tendencies seeming to enjoy a comparative advantage. As one obverse noted, one of a powerful clique seems to have a firm grip on the knife to determine who gets what from the proverbial cake of the APC in all subsequent major contests.
Whereas the ruling party has resolved to have its standard-bearer for the presidential election from the southern part of the country, the cloud of uncertainty over which of the three zones gets the slot remains. Various names across the three zones are already being linked to the contest for the APC ticket. Some pro-establishment individuals and groups are said to be the brains behind a couple of such presidential hopefuls. Apart from seeking to impose a favoured candidate that could do the bidding of the clique, the group of power brokers outside the South hopes to railroad the process that would throw up the vice president. The issue of running mate is also said to have contributed to the prolonged arm-twist over the conduct of the APC convention until the aborted ‘coup’ against the Buni committee. The matter has escalated into other dimensions, including the imperative of maintaining a delicate balance between the Islamic and Christian faiths in the ticket. Recall that a Muslim-Muslim ticket held sway in the election that produced the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was annulled by the military. Some argue that given the level of political awareness and consciousness across the country, such insensitivity by any political party could boomerang now.
The condition that influenced the choice of a former governor of Nasarawa State and serving senator, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, is another source of worry among the party buffs. The assumption is that he and the forces that worked to produce him might want to subtly cow the rest of APC power brokers, especially in other zones, whereas in his valedictory speech, Buni acknowledged that the issue of reconciliation is indeed a work in progress. And in separate submissions, other party leaders, in setting an agenda for Adamu, emphasised the need for rapprochement. For instance, Minister Amaechi said the process that will produce the presidential candidate of the APC should be based on due process, devoid of part of the shenanigan that surrounded the consensus option that was witnessed during the March 26 convention. Some candidates were openly coerced to withdraw to pave way for ‘consensus’ candidates. With state chapters of the party in the stranglehold of governors, many have raised questions on the mode of primaries to be adopted to produce candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly. Will it be direct, indirect or consensus arrangement?
Some party chieftains are curious about the proprietary or otherwise of consensus in the convention that will determine the candidate of the APC for the 2023 presidency. Citing the process that produced Buhari in 2014, the party buffs said other leading aspirants were given the chance to slug it out at the convention of the party without let or hindrance.
Way forward
Still savouring the success of the March 26 convention, former APC governorship candidate in Imo State, Uche Nwosu, advised the new leadership of the party to as a matter of urgency harmonise all factions across the states ahead of the general election. “Harmonization is the key, I think what the new leadership under Senator Abdullahi Adamu should do is to first reconcile all the factions in the different states after that we know that we have a united APC in various state and then we can move into the 2023 process for the general election which include sale and buying of nomination forms and primaries. The most important thing is reconciliation,” he said. On his part,
Mallam Saliu Mustapha, who contested for the post of national chairman, extended his good wishes to the newly inaugurated National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC. Speaking through his campaign organization, he said: «Now that the convention has been concluded and new party executives are in place, our focus is now on the task of putting up a unified and formidable structure ahead of the 2023 election. We believe that this has to be the first step to ensuring that our party counters the threat posed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and continues our winning streak at the centre which began in 2015.From our end, we are open to cooperating with the new team as loyal party members and in line with the guiding principles of our principal, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, a core party man who does not joke with loyalty to any cause he believes in.»
Similarly, a chieftain of the party from Ogun State, Gbenga Nasir Isiaka (aka) GNI praised the APC leadership for success convention, noting: “I am delighted that contrary to what the naysayers and prophets of doom predicted as the outcomes of this convention, the leaders rose up to the occasion by imbibing the spirit of give and take in many instances. According to the three term gubernatorial candidate, «We have a medley of consensus and voting which reflects the diversity and crisis resolution mechanism of the party. This must be commended. The next eight weeks will be crucial as we face our primaries. I urge that we all should continue in this spirit to navigate that period so that we produce all aspirants without rancour and injury to the party.» The convention lasted late till the early hours of Sunday producing Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the consensus national chairman of the party.”
In achieving all the feats, Governor Gboyega Oyetola commended the leadership quality provided by President Buhari “who always advocate for harmony and peace in the party. It is natural to have disagreement, but what is important is the ability to have workable mechanism to resolve any crisis without necessarily resorting to rancour. I am confident that with the existing unity in the APC, our party will continue to remain in power beyond 2023 by the grace of God.»
Great battle
Notwithstanding the different attempts he initiated to cement cracks within the APOC, Buni, in his valedictory speech as CECPC chair has called for greater efforts to cement all cracks in the party. He recalled the pervasive anxiety among APC faithful before the convention to elect substantive national leaders, coupled with the rising interests among individuals and groups especially those with the ambition to aspire in the 2023 general election. This anxiety, he noted, translated into some internal wrangling and squabbles in the party.
Apparently, Garba Shehu had given an inkling about part of what to expect at the convention about 24 hours before the commencement. Asked to explain why the party was test to resolve the issue of Unity List of candidates for the occasion, he said: “Discussions are going on. One, the sharing of positions has been done on the basis of the zones and as a strategy, the APC chose to do something different with the allotment or allocation of those offices. They are given those offices in the sense of micro-zoning to states that hadn’t produced national officers before. Stakeholders from the states that make a zone will come together and determine the people to be projected for a particular high position that it had not held that high position office. Some of the zones have finished this business and they have brought their own list. Some are still doing it. This thing will continue maybe up to the last minute to make sure that there is no rancour.
“And you know that the electoral act clearly states that even if you step down as a candidate, you are to write letter that you have stepped down. So, it is ongoing; the governor of Nasarawa, co chairman of the publicity committee said the unity list might be arrived at this evening. It will extend to tomorrow morning before or even in the course of the convention. But the thing is that this is the choice of the leadership of the party and the stakeholders that the choices will be made through consensus. However, that does not foreclose election, where necessary in APC as a democratic institution.”
Somehow, consensus remains a touchy issue among many APC stalwarts. One of such chieftains is a former acting governor and speaker of a state House of Assembly, who craved anonymity. Asked for his disposition in case the APC decides to adopt consensus to pick its presidential candidate, he said: “I believe this will not be acceptable to most of us in the APC. As a party, since 2014 we have never elected our candidate via consensus. It is quite true that we have elected all our chairmen based on consensus. In the 2014 convention held in Lagos, of which I was a delegate, Atiku Abubakar was there; Musa Kwankwaso was there; Rochas Okorocha all contested and at the end of the day, Buhari emerged as the winner. All of us went into the general election and we won.
“We are still waiting to see how Adamu is going to overcome the challenges before him in the party. Majority of us in the APC who are founding members from 2013 till now believe that there was a plan by Buni and his gang to ensure that all of us are sidelined across the country.”
and then