APC in the last 24 hours

The trajectory of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the country in the last 24 hours typifies the story in the timeless literary work of a dermatologist, Professor Okoro Anezionwu, One week one trouble. Almost every passing second, the party has continued to entertain Nigerians and indeed the world with a full dose of theatrics bordering supremacy tussle. A judgment of the Federal High Court Abuja delivered, on Tuesday upholding the suspension of APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, upped the ante in the episodic battle among power brokers in the party.

From a festering crisis over the choice of a standard-bearer for the party in September 2020 governorship election in Edo State to the proclamation of intention by the embattled state governor, Godwin Obaseki, the APC has been oscillating in the space. The verbal war between Obaseki, who is seeking a second term in office, against the wish of his hitherto closest ally, Oshiomhole, has literally thrown the party from frying pan to fire. The ceaseless altercations between them led to the suspension of the national chairman from the party at his ward in Edo State, which soon tailed into a litany of litigation in Benin  City, the state capital and Abuja that culminated in the judgment of the Court of Appeal stripping Oshiomhole of his status as APC helmsman, membership of the party, and pecks of office, including security details.

The macabre dance in the party continued with the Edo governor indicating his intention to walk away from the APC fold having been cleverly frustrated out of the contest for the ticket of the party for the forthcoming governorship poll in the state. From that moment, the act of dancing naked in the market by the main gladiators in the APC ignited the raging fire of fury and subterfuge in the party, with three claimants to national leadership.

Judgment and the fallout

The spontaneity with which the APC national secretariat Abuja reacted to the decision of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, affirming the suspension of Oshiomholeevoked fury from rival power centres in the burgeoning conflict in the APC. The choice of the immediate past governor of Oyo State , Senator Abiola Ajimobi who was  recently made the deputy national chairman (South), as acting national chairman triggered protests from two rival tendencies in the party, which almost instantly named others as national chairman. Chief Oluwole Afolabi, counsel for one of the claimants, Victor Giadom, said his client was confirmed as acting national chairman of the party. In a statement issued in Abuja, the counsel stated: that there was a subsisting order of a court to that effect.

The drama equally made manifest in the camp of Obaseki indicated that he was yet to drop his letter of resignation as a member of the APC.  In a statement he released via his Twitter account, on Wednesday, the governor explained that his main focus now is to control the spread of COVID-19 ravaging the country and not the governorship election. He said: “I have not moved to a new platform yet to seek re-election. My focus now is to control the spread of the coronavirus (#COVID19) pandemic, which is ravaging our country and threatening our healthcare system.”

As of press time on Wednesday, attempts by 15 out of the 20-member NWC of the party to break the logjam and save the party from the quagmire it suddenly founditself seemed to have failed. Each camp dug deeper in their quest for legitimacy. While pooh-poohing the claim of Honourable Giadom as the acting national chairman of the Party, they said he lacked any ground to lay claim to the office.The deputy national chairman, (South-South,) of the party who spoke on behalf of the others, said Godam was no longer a member of the NWC having resigned  his membership of the NWC to contest as deputy governor on the platform of APC in Rivers State during the 2019 general election.

Citing the fact that Ajimobi was indisposed, the NWC members resolved at their meeting in Abuja on Wednesday proclaiming the national Vice Chairman (South-South), Hilliard Eta as APC acting national chairman pending the recovery of the former Oyo State governor.

The character has also ashamedly brought in a tinge of populism into the ongoing abracadabra in the party. The crisis of confidence over the governorship ticket, a sour grape, has suddenly become a subject to seek legitimacy by rival claimants to the post of APC national chairman. For instance, Goddam said he was setting aside the outcome of the screening exercise of aspirants in which Obaseki was disqualified on controversial and curious grounds.

It will be recalled that some elements opposed to the leadership style of John Odigie-oyegun arm-twisted other power brokers in the APC threw up Oshomhole as national chairman. His leadership style has been called to question by some party elders, among them Oyegun, Tony Momoh and the national vice chairman (North-West), Lawan Shuaibu. The fate of the National Reconciliation Committee he set up with the interim national chairman at inception, Chief Bisi Akande is caught in the web of inertia. Months after it was inaugurated and given specific timeframe and terms of reference, its activities are shrouded in secrecy and postulations among party faithful.

In the meantime, tendencies with divergent interests in the party are busy with self-serving interpretations on the plethora of judgments emanating from cases arising from internal contradictions in the APC. For example, the judgment of the Court of Appeal is seen as giving him an advantage over his traducers perceived to be desirous of frustrating his tenure as national chairman. Other tendencies see the judgment as a vindication that his actions and inactions over time are designed to weaken and castrate APC, citing the controversial circumstances of how APC lost Bauchi, Zamfara and Bayelsa states in the 2019 general election.

There are arguments and counter-arguments over the proprietary and otherwise of the action of the claimants to the post of national chairman due to the court of appeal ruling that affirmed Oshiomhole’s suspension from office.  However, central to the debate is the provisions of the APC constitution. While some argued that only the national convention or congress of the APC was constitutional empowered to elect national officers of the APC, others backed the choice made by Oshiomhole to fill some vacant national offices. The former group cited Article 20 of the APC Constitution tagged: Elections and Appointments. It states: “Unless otherwise provided for: a. All Party posts prescribed or implied by this Constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections at the respective National Convention or Congress subject, where possible, to consensus, provided that where a candidate has emerged by consensus for an elective position, a vote of “yes” or “no” by ballot or voice shall be called, to ensure that it was not an imposition which could breed discontent and crisis.” It is against this background that some observers claimed that all those aforesaid appointments into the APC national organ were null and of no effect. One of the observers said: “By the Judgment, every step taken by Oshiomole and under his leadership during the pendency of the appeal, including the appointments of His Excellency, Abiola Ajimobi and publicity Secretary have since become a nullity. Any other act, in the face of the judgment, including the statement by the deposed publicity secretary and appointment of Ajimobi amount are in contempt before the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal.”Another observer queried: “Which APC, full or mid-term convention Ajimobi, Bulama and Isa-Onilu as deputy national chairman (South); National secretary and national publicity secretary emerged from? Oshiomhole illegally appointing people into positions is not the same as a national convention. None of those above are National Working Committee (NWC) member of APC and none can act as one. Senator Shuaibu remains the acting chairman of APC.”

On the whole, the current cheoregrapgh of absurdity and indiscretion on the part of APC pales into insignificance when juxtaposed with the aloofness of the characters to the sensibility of the citizenry already asphyxiated by failure of governance in the country. Totally impoverished due to leadership vacuum across board, Nigerians feel insulted that a ruling party could tragically sink deeper into an alley when it should be a beacon of hope.

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