The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are said to be in dilemma owing to mutual distrust and intrigues among the major actors in the spirited build-up to primaries and national conventions this month.
Other major problems confronting the parties are funding, culture of impunity among some influential groups, high number of aspirants, especially for the PDP presidential ticket.
In the APC, for instance, the battle over nomination is believed to have torn apart the camps of hitherto core loyalists of President Muhammadu Buhari along with state governors and members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The adoption of direct primary to elect candidates appears to have compounded the schism between the APC leadership and members of the National Assembly with intent to seek re-election.
The decision of the party, Sunday Tribune learnt, is threatening the plan by senators of the APC loyal to the Presidency to facilitate the removal of the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, following his defection to the PDP.
The lawmakers loyal to the president were reportedly threatening to back out of the plan if the governors elected on APC ticket succeeded in manipulating the forthcoming primaries in the efforts to deny them tickets for their re-election.
A number of APC senators in particular have been in a running battle with the governors over the control of party structures at the state level.
A member of the APC caucus in the National Assembly told Sunday Tribune that the adoption of direct primary was designed to further strengthen the overbearing influence of the governors on party matters.
The lawmakers, it was said, were angry over an alleged plot to dump them for the surrogates of the governors rather than the party creating a level-playing field for them to seek re-election if they were not ready to guarantee automatic tickets for their sacrifices during trying times of the party in the past.
One of the aggrieved senators told Sunday Tribune that they were also ready to react appropriately.
“There are those of us who are called Buhari’s senators and I know for a fact that President Muhammadu Buhari wants us to return to the Senate in 2019. The Presidency has realised that it is by not scrutinising APC members in the Senate that it lost the opportunity of a robust relationship with the Senate. This slowed the Presidency down by about 30 or even 40 per cent of what could have been achieved.
“Deny two or three of us [APC senators] [a second term] ticket, of course, nobody is going to support you to remove Saraki.
“Even to get a two-thirds majority to remove him, we are struggling, let alone talking about majority-minority. So, they know the implication of losing any APC senator, not to talk of those who have been loyal right from day one,” he said.
SDP
Similarly, key stakeholders in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are facing tough challenges in their efforts to organise a national convention as part of preparations for the general election.
The party is said to confronting the problem of raising critical logistics for the conduct of its convention, as most of the leaders that promised to facilitate the operations of the party had not kept such promise.
According to a top notch in the SDP, funding remains one of the major challenges facing the party whose platform a former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana, is seeking to become president next year.
PDP
In the PDP, members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP are said to be split over who to support among at least four of the 12 contenders for its presidential ticket.
A couple of key figures in NEC and a governor from the South-South zone are said to favour incumbent Governor Aminu Tambuwal becoming the standard-bearer of the party, with an inbuilt plan for the said governor emerging as running mate in the presidential race.
Another set of NEC members are said to be backing former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while others are said to be favourably disposed to the ambition of a former Minster of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki (SAN).
It was learnt, however, that the preponderance of the NEC hawks were unwavering in their determination that PDP presidential candidate emerge from the North-West.
During the week, Atiku said he would not ditch the PDP if he did not clinch the party’s presidential ticket.
While expressing optimism of emerging the PDP candidate, he charged the leadership of the PDP to display political maturity by ensuring the conduct of transparent and credible primary.
Also, the PDP leadership has said the aspirants would sign a pact to abide by the outcome of its presidential primary.
The plan is to stave off post-primary crisis that often weaken the structures of parties and whittle down their chances.
Besides, PDP national chairman, Chief Uche Secondus has assured the aspirants of a level-playing field, even though a couple of the contenders said it should be the time to reward loyal members that stood with the PDP, following the attendant crisis in the party after it lost the 2015 presidential election.
PDP and 40 0ther political parties formed the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP as part of the steps to present a united front in the general election.
Meanwhile, a disagreement has broken out in the Kano State chapter of the PDP over the dissolution of the party executives in the state as allegedly dictated by a presidential aspirant from the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
But a leader of Kwankwasiyya group loyal to the former governor, Alhaji Musa Ibrahim denied that the dissolution was done to favour Kwankwaso, but to pave the way for all leaders of the party to have a say in the party.
“We members of the party knew where we were going. The single resolution of the party is not only to form the government at the centre, but also to wrest power from the incumbent governor of the state. This is what the formation of a new executive of the party is targeted towards,” he said.
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