Kunle Oderemi, Author at Sporting Tribune

SIX days to the convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), key issues that should pave the way for the exercise are still hanging in the balance, with some party stakeholders demanding postponement of the exercise. Some party sources told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that the APC had not been able to resolve the apparent impasse over some crucial matters pertaining to the convention, due to a series of official engagements by President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of the party. A meeting between the president and governors elected on the ticket of the APC was called off in the last minute because it coincided with a scheduled foreign trip by him. The president arrived Abuja on Saturday after attending a three-day sixth African Union-European Union Summit on Africa in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Key among the outstanding issues for the APC to resolve preceding the convention, one of the sources said, included ratification of delegates’ list for the conduct of the intraparty election, adoption of a zoning formula for elective offices and likely endorsement of a consensus candidate for the post of national chairman. A source said the president actually called for a comprehensive list of the aspirants for national chairman and not three as claimed in some circles before embarking on the foreign trips. The source also said the formal entry of another former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, for the post of chairman has ruffled some feathers in the camps of other contestants. “Everyone appears to be waiting on President Muhammadu Buhari whom we heard knew the governors won’t reach an agreement on anyone. “Before he travelled, the president asked for a list of all the aspirants from the CECPC, not three like some papers suggested. “Senator Abdullahi Adamu has joined the race and the loyalists of Al-Makura are angry. Interestingly, no one is talking about the post of national secretary which looks like a straight battle between two former members of the House of Representatives, Nze Chidi Duru and Ambassador Jerry Ugwoke, both from Anambra State,” the source added. The uncertainty surrounding the outstanding issues was said to be the discordant tunes among some major stakeholders, especially on the zoning of offices. Despite indications that the position of national chairman may have been zoned to the North-Central, a few party leaders have said the APC might not zone the presidency. For instance, a group, the North-West Grassroots Support Network, a caucus in the APC, has opposed zoning of the position of national chairman to the North-Central, claiming doing so would be undemocratic. According to the convener of the group, Alhaji Adamu Yakubu, the governors should not encourage it, asking “where were the governors when credible, committed and patriotic party members from other zones, particularly APC loyalists in the North- West committed their time and resources in ensuring the victories of the present administration in 2015 and 2019 general election?” Three major political tendencies: the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN); All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); Congress for progressives Change (CPC) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are among the power centres in the ruling party. Most of the 11 aspirants for the post of national chairman are from the first three power blocs, just as those that have indicated interest in the presidential ticket of the party are from there. Consensus/Unity List won’t be acceptable to Buhari —Mustapha Meanwhile, amidst an alleged plot of preparation of a Unity List to push for favoured candidates by certain governors, one of the aspirants for the office of national chairman, Saliu Mustapha, has said any imposition of candidates under the guise of consensus arrangement will be resisted. The former deputy national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) spoke with the Nigerian Tribune in an exclusive interview. Speculation is rife that certain influential governors in the Forum of APC Governors are scheming to install their favoured candidates in strategic national offices in the APC National Working Committee to emerge at the convention scheduled for this month. Some of the positions the governors are scheming to give their cronies include the office of national chairman, national secretary and national organising secretary. Mustapha, who told the Nigerian Tribune that he was aware of preparation of the Unity List, however, said he was confident that any arrangement that would undermine internal democracy in the party would not be acceptable under the watch of President Buhari, who incidentally is the leader of the party. He noted that Buhari’s “strong reservations against anti -democratic process informed his position to decline his presidential assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill when the lawmakers restricted political parties to only the Direct Primary as the only option open to them to pick their candidates. He said: “In any political arrangement, you must give options and in the wisdom of Mr. President, that was why he objected to the initial electoral bill that was sent to him that you must give people the option of choice. “Giving people a straightjacket approach will not work. There is consensus arrangement; there is direct and indirect primary, any of which one that comes, fine but the most important thing is that a criterion will be formed or will be developed. By the time you do that, even when you call for consensus, everybody will see reasons. But it is when you don’t develop a criterion and you just pick somebody from the blues, that is when others will feel some kind of suspicion over it. “From what I know, those who are there today, irrespective of people having their choice or interest in anybody, from my interactions with some of them, they have always made it clear that they will table every name, profile it and look at the best option for the party.” Asked for his position on zoning, the aspirant said he shared the position of some of his colleagues who argued that zoning of party and elective positions should not be on the front burner in the APC. “I hope we are all on the same page when you said some of them said zoning should not be an issue. “I also believe zoning should not be an issue because in most cases, these are internal arrangements or strategies every political party or family has. These are things that are not written in black and white or cast in stone. In most cases, these are convenient for the party so as to be able to give people a sense of belonging and to carry others along and also to look at where you intend to harness your votes and support from. “For me, zoning, either for the party position or may be for elective offices, these are things that should be strategic calculation of a party on how to emerge victorious or how to be able to harness the votes from the electorate. So, if today, you zone the chairmanship to the North-Central, that means the Presidency will most likely be either to the core North or to the core southern part of the country because North-Central is more or less the middle of the country, which sometimes people called Middle Belt.” The aspirant denied media reports that some governors in the North-Central states are working against the emergence of national chairman from the zone because of their presidential ambition. Concerned aspirants ask APC leadership to postpone convention. On its part, the forum of aspirants for the APC convention has urged the Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to postpone the convention for the sake of peace, unity and success of the party in the 2023 general election. The CECPC has fixed the convention for Saturday, February 26, 2022, despite series of controversies and court cases trailing the conduct of state chapter congresses and intention to halt the Saturday’s exercise. The forum gave the charge in an open letter titled: ‘Please, Call off the National Convention Now, signed by Maxwell Yakubu Gowon, an aspirant for national youth leader and chairman of all aspirants forum, and Mohammed Bala Mohammed, aspirant for national secretary who also doubles as secretary for the forum, faulted the Senator Abdullahi Adamu report, which they described as worsening situation in the party. “We note with excitement how you have been able to reposition the party in record time by reconciling all warring factions that hitherto refused to sheathe their swords in the tussle for the control of the party structure. “As a body with considerable standing in the affairs of the party, we are constrained to issue this advisory to you in the light of the recent happenings in the party with regards to the forthcoming national convention. “This advisory is hinged on the facts before us regarding the suitability of holding the party’s convention on the proposed date. We are duty- bound to ensure that the party avoids, by all means, actions that would reduce its chances of electoral success in the forthcoming general election. “In case you might not be aware, a lot would be at stake should the party go ahead with the planned national convention. The issues you have strived to resolve are still staring us in the face, and it is common knowledge that all is not entirely well in the party. “We know that issues such as this are commonplace. However, it is our opinion that it would spell doom for the party should the party go ahead with the national convention now. We are concerned about the party’s future, and it would be detrimental if we do not bring to your notice the dangers of going ahead with the national convention.”