APC is still very young as the ruling party and majority of
their activities have been marred with internal crises owing to nefarious
personal ambitions of 'political investors' who saw the 'change' as an avenue
to do business.
This is evident in the level at which APC has turned majority
of their campaign promises to mere rumours propagated by the mass media and
social media. This ranges from Buhari claiming to conquer Boko haram within a
time frame of 2 months to reuniting the kidnapped Chibok girls with their
parents after being abducted by the members of the Boko haram sect for over a
year now, equating the Naira with the Dollar which many thought wouldn't be
economically viable and then reducing the price of petrol to N40 per litre.
What about the issue of the failure of Buhari and Osinbajo to publicly declare
their assets after Buhari promised in February, 2015 of a public declaration
immediately he assumes power for the purpose of accountability? These were
exciting promises that got the common men leaping for joy but after Buhari's
victory. The first interview he granted to BBC on the 2nd of April, 2015 shockingly
showed those promises couldn't be guaranteed. He went further to claim
Nigerians shouldn't expect magic from him. This almost took us back to the
painful memories of the military regime in Nigeria where rulership by decrees was
the order of the day.
Now here is the question, would Buhari have defeated Jonathan
with the bluntness he is displaying now? Was this the major reason why he
didn't show up at the organized presidential debate prior to the election?
A friend told me something quite tricky which is that
Nigerians never voted for Buhari. They only voted AGAINST Jonathan. That usage
of pun seems meaningless like the famous inaugural speech of Buhari saying ''I
am for everybody and I am for nobody" which has become the latest joke in
town. A close examination of the statement speaks volume of a lot.
For Nigerians to forgive Buhari's dictatorial past and opt
for him to occupy a rigorous and demanding position like that of the President
at the age of 72, it means Jonathan FAILED!
Now how are we sure APC is not a cloned PDP? Governor Rauf
Aregbesola is leading the course indirectly that things are still the same by
owing his state workers a staggering 7-month salary which recently led to the
death of a civil servant at his duty post with another man attempting suicide
out of the frustration of not being able to cater for his family. PDP in Osun
state has now mocked the APC led regime to call the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) to come distribute food materials to civil servants in
Osun just as if they are crisis or war victims. That's a deplorable state.
Since the victory of APC, it has been a drama event tagged
"Public washing of dirty linens''
My first indication came from Raymond Dokpesi's brawl with
Buhari over the defamatory documentary aired by the African Independent
Television (AIT) to cripple his presidential ambition. Buhari decided to take
his pound of flesh by banning AIT from covering any presidential activities
which is totally not acceptable in a civilian dispensation. The publicity
Secretary of APC immediately went behind Buhari to refute that claim stressing
that he doesn't have the right to do so. Yes, that seems correct but I feel the
inability of him not to speak in one voice with the president shows a loophole
or lack of communication which will further be revealed at the later part of
this article. This is an aberration to the stand of PDP's Publicity Secretary
Olisa Metuh who spoke against Buhari's decision solely as a mouthpiece of the
party.
APC has been rocked by the problems of zoning and a bribe
allegation of $500, 000 was said to have exchanged hands right inside the party
that abhors corruption. Politics in Nigeria is just like filmmaking or a
theatre performance that deals with make-belief system with the masses at the
receiving end. The politicians are the actors while we are merely the audience.
They make us know what they want us to believe and the tricks are perfected at
the back stage which we don't have an access to see.
According to several news media reports from the 23rd of
April, 2015, there were fears that the All Progressives Congress would face
internal divisions arising from the sharing of political offices as the
geopolitical zones want the best slot. This called for the intervention of
President Muhammadu Buhari to avert an imminent crisis that could cripple the
party. This premonition unavoidable shook the foundation of the party later on.
This is what happens when individuals representing several constituencies and
states are seeking returns on 'political investments'.
APC failed to agree on
the zoning of political offices among the six geopolitical zones of the country.
While the race for the principal officers of the National
Assembly became intense, intensive lobbying and political alignment of forces became
the order of the day. The party's failure
to reach a consensus on the candidates and zones to produce the leadership of
the National Assembly raised the fears that there might be a repeat of the 2011
incident that threw up Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha
against the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) zoning.
The political development in the APC ahead of the
inauguration of the new government was a source of concern to the leadership
and fears were being expressed by stakeholders that the situation if not
handled properly may cause internal divisions in the party and discontent in
the regions affected. This later happened with the proclaimed 'democratic coup'
by Senator Bukola Saraki.
Already the party’s National Executive Council, the
stakeholders and leaders of the APC faced a dilemma as to how to resolve the
zoning issue which heated up the party. The most important to the party was the
National Assembly leadership and despite the fact that three meetings were held
to resolve the issue, the party leaders found it difficult to reach a consensus
on who gets what and where it should come from. All the meetings held ended in
stalemate because of agitations from different zones on the need to be accorded
certain positions. This divided the formidable party into a battle formation
with top political warriors on two opposing sides enumerated below:
Team A was for Bukola Saraki while Team B was for Ahmed
Lawan.
The forces behind Saraki were as intimidating as those for
Lawan. These include: former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, some of the former
G-5 governors (like Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aliyu
Wammako), who defected from the PDP. Others are former
governors Ahmed Sani Yerima (Zamfara), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Godswill Akpabio
(Akwa Ibom), Theoodore Orji (Abia) as well as governors Aminu Waziri Tambuwal
(Sokoto), Ayo Fayose
(Ekiti), Dr. Rahman Mimiko (Ondo) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).
As for Lawan, he pulled heavyweights from the APC National Working
Committee (NWC), Asiwaju Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, APC governors, ex-governors
Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa), Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe and Adamu Aliero (Kebbi).
They
include: senators Kabir Gaya, Ajayi Borrofice, Gemade
Barnabas, Adamu
Abdullahi, Jide Omoworare, Abu Ibrahim, Bayero Nafada, Gbenga
Ashafa, Sola
Adeyeye, Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel, Suleiman Hunkuyi, Ahmed
Barau Jibrin and
Isiaka Adeleke.
Others are: senators Nazif Suleiman, Nafada Ibrahim, Mrs.
Oluremi Tinubu, Shehu Sani,
Solomon Olamilekan, Kabiru Marafa, Fatai Buhari, Mrs.
Monsurat Sunmonu, Soji Akanbi, Bala Na’Allah, Umaru Kurfi, and Mustapha Sani.
In summary, this created a house divided against itself with the resultant
effect of crumbling.
Also, APC is fazed with lobbying for top ministerial positions
in the new cabinet to be formed with party leaders making efforts to influence the
choice of candidates for ministerial jobs. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are some of the leaders who have
their candidates to be nominated as minister. The President has promised that
he would not waste time after inauguration to compose his cabinet. However, the
South East region is trailing behind in terms of consideration and is likely to
make do
with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
Several internal interferences have affected Buhari's delayed release of his
highly anticipated ministerial list till date.
Intense competition also went in the Speakership position of
the House of Representatives where APC's popular choice Femi Gbajabiamila lost
to the party's Yakubu Dogara.
Former Governor of Lagos state, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been at
loggerheads with the newly elected Senate President, Bukola Saraki over his
controversial emergence. His wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu reported refused to
shake hands with Senator Bukola Saraki which is a sign of a cold war brewing up.
This she did in alignment with her husband who hand-picked Ahmed Lawan for the
seat of the Senate President of the 8th assembly. Bola Tinubu also went as far
as accusing Buhari of betrayal over the way he took a neutral position on the
Senate Presidency race. Buhari's northern advisers have been wary of the
massive influence of Bola Tinubu in the party and cutting him down to size has
been suggested. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar quietly supported Saraki
to spite Tinubu over the role he played in his loss at the APC's presidential
primaries.
Saraki has been reportedly accused of collaborating with an
opposition party, PDP to win the Senate Presidency race which is treacherous.
PDP on the other hand has offered to welcome Saraki back with open arms in the
cause of a possible defection back to the party.
These are series of power plays within the party which has
eaten deep into the unity of the political structure. This will certainly
hamper their performance in Nigeria. APC National Chairman Odigie Oyegun also
joined the power tussle before he earlier accepted last week to deal with the
issue as a 'family matter'.
APC's publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed added salt to a fresh
injury by undermining the power of Buhari who accepted the candidacy of Bukola
Saraki and Yakubu Dogara. He reiterated that APC will sue Saraki and Dongara to
court because they don't represent the choice of the party. In his words:
“President Buhari is not the leader of APC but a product of
the party. Tinubu is our leader.”
This amounts to the second
time Lai Mohammed is undermining the power of Buhari after the AIT ban. Is
Tinubu really superior to Buhari as far as Nigeria is concerned? This is just
one of the series of careless statements made by our leaders for selfish
interests especially when they are aggrieved.
There is also another brewing distrust between Buhari and his
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over him been locked out of national security meetings
two times in a row. President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, 8th of June, 2015 met
behind closed doors with some security chiefs to marshal the country’s plans that will be presented at a
meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Abuja on Thursday. Vice President
Osinbajo was conspicuously absent at this meeting. National Security Adviser,
Col. Sambo Dasuki
(retd.); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Ismail
Aliyu; Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh; and Chief of Naval
Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin attended the meeting held inside the Defence
House in Abuja.
Reports form a reliable source showed that it was the second
time Vice President Osinbajo would be “denied access” into a strategic security briefing with the President. Conventionally,
the Vice President should be part of these inaugural security
briefings because he is the second in command and will deputize for the President
in his absence.
Osinbajo was also dealt a huge blow by Saraki who shunned a
truce meeting organized by him with the claim that him, Bukola Saraki an ex-Governor
of a state will not honour an invitation by a mere ''former commissioner''.
This shows the high level of rivalry which has put the party in shambles.
Furthermore, the long term strong relationship between
Senator Ali Ndume who spearheaded Saraki's campaign in the northern part of
Nigeria and Senate President Bukola Saraki will be perpetually strained as a
result of Saraki using him as a sacrificial lamb to secure the support of PDP
is his Senate Presidency race. He was forced to abruptly drop Ndume who was
slated to become the Deputy Senate President at the emergence of Saraki. After
Saraki's victory, Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP was nominated for delivering bloc
votes of the Senators-elect from the Southeast in collaboration with Senator
Andy Uba.
In conclusion, APC officially has a porous structure which
can be capitalized on by the opposition party PDP to cause mayhem. What is the
fate of APC? Can these aggrieved groups ever bury the hatchet and move on to
developmental issues in the country? Certainly there will always be a cold war
with opposing parties patiently waiting for a golden chance to take back their
pound of flesh. The village Town Crier will always be patiently watching. I
feel for the fate of Nigeria as a whole. If these so-called leaders can't organize
a unified party towards positivity, then how they be expected to prompt a
positive change in a country of about 170 million people?
Time will surely tell.
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