From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Less than a fortnight to the much-awaited crucial 2023 presidential election, it is crunch time for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his ruling party. As the party in power, the stakes are higher for the APC which had been battling to justify its quest to regain the people’s confidence after President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Determined as ever, the party has traversed the length and breadth of the country, selling its manifesto of Renewed Hope.
The supporters of the ruling party believe that APC and its presidential candidate have worked harder than their opponents in other political parties in covering more grounds through campaign rallies, town hall consultative meetings and networking with relevant stakeholders.
From Borno to Lagos, Benue to Bayelsa, Anambra to Kebbi, Edo to Kaduna, Enugu to Sokoto and every other location, it is not debatable whether there is any state capital in Nigeria which the APC campaign trail has not visited once or even twice.
They usually parade the most flamboyant political heavyweights in their campaigns, ranging from President Muhammadu Buhari, to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, Speaker House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, intimidating roll calls of governors on the platform of the ruling party, past and serving national assembly members, and other ruling party stalwarts.
Even as financial constraints disrupt campaign programmes for the other political parties, the APC and its candidate waxed stronger and gave different campaign promises from one state to the other.
Many agree they are actually on top of their game as far as penetrating every part of the country is concerned. However, despite the efforts of the party and its stakeholders to woo the electorate, they seem to have continued to move against the storm with one obstacle after the other.
The perception in many quarters is that the more they strenuously try to persuade Nigerians that entrusting the country into their hands will be in safe custody if they vote for them, the more mountainous obstacles continue to erupt against them, perhaps on a daily basis.
The impediments against the success stories they recorded climaxed most recently when they started deploying more efforts and energies to dismantle the obstacles and their ripple effects than consolidating on the gains they recorded with their messages of hope across Nigeria.
Unfortunately, the frequency of the occurrences of the challenges continued to take a toll on both the ruling party and its presidential candidate to a large extent.
If it were not the controversial crossfire allegations of sabotage between the presidential candidate and the presidency cabal, it would be the speculated lack of support for Asiwaju by President Muhammadu Buhari and by extension some of the members of the APC Progressive Governors Forum.
If it is not the legal conundrum over deliberate anti-mass government economic policies like currency scarcity and the lingering petroleum products crises, it is the recurring gaffes by the presidential candidate which has scaled up the uncertainty in the camp of the ruling party.
The unhealthy rivalries or cold war between the party’s leadership, the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) have also contributed in polarising the stakeholders and worsening the situation for both the party and its candidate.
Many believe that what has mostly been the serious source of worry to political pundits is that the challenges are all happening too close to the presidential election coming up in less than a fortnight.
Curiously, as the authorities try to strenuously paper one widening crack, other shocking fresh incidents would happen in quick succession to eclipse and worsen the previous cracks.
Instead of strategizing and perfecting for victory, they have rather invested so much energy and logistics in managing the crises, correcting the unending gaffes and drab issue-based campaigns by the party’s presidential candidate.
As if they were not enough worrisome situations, while Nigerians were still pondering the rationale and real motive behind the decision of the three APC State governors to declare a legal battle against the government, the quick response from the party’s presidential candidate in congratulating them for the victory at the Supreme Court suggest conspiracy with the governors.
“It is unbelievable and unheard of that a governor on the platform of our party could drag our government to court let alone procure favourable judgment against the APC-led federal government,” an angry member of the APC NWC fumed.
“But it is even more surprising and worrisome that our presidential candidate could be the first to congratulate the three governors that dragged the APC-led government to court. This is a confirmation that he connived with the governors to institute the court case against the policies of our government without any attempt to exhaustively explore internal resolution mechanisms,” the NWC criticised the actions of both the governors and Asiwaju in a chat with Daily Sun on condition of anonymity.
The APC chieftain argued that; “the governors have confirmed their insensitivity to the ordinary masses they claimed to be serving. “They have shown that their action was just for their selfish interests, otherwise why didn’t they act that way when students were on strike for over eight months?
“Where were the governors when many Nigerians were sleeping at the filling stations due to the persistent fuel crisis? These problems did not bother them like the currency swap because it may perhaps affect the rigging plans for the forthcoming elections.
“My worry is that they are all happening too close to the election and as it is, we may go into this presidential election as a divided family if we fail to resolve the issues. I am afraid that it will certainly come with serious implications, including the possibility of our not winning this presidential election,” he lamented.
The NWC member also painted uglier pictures of the situation with the division within the party, disclosing that; “the worst thing is that the party’s leadership which is supposed to be the stabilising force, is even divided against itself, resulting in the PCC not according any iota of respect to the members.”
The genesis of the recent controversy was when the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, openly accused some elements in Aso Rock of plotting to ensure that the party’s presidential candidate did not emerge winner of the poll.
The Kaduna governor said, “I believe there are elements in the villa that want us to lose the election because they didn’t get their way. They had their candidate but their candidate didn’t win the primary election. I think they are still trying to get us to lose the election and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right.”
The claim, which expectedly generated serious controversy to the point of eliciting reactions from the Federal Government in defence of both President Buhari and the presidency, resulted in laying more landmines that multiplied the threats facing the ruling party’s candidate.
In an attempt to downplay the intensity of the situation and assure that Buhari is firmly behind the APC presidential candidate, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, argued that Buhari was more committed to a free and fair election instead of favouring any of the candidates.
“While reacting to a question at the post-FEC briefing at the State House, I said, inter alia, that Mr. President is committed to a free, fair, and credible election, and that he is doing everything possible to ensure a level-playing field for all contestants. This comment has been misinterpreted in some circles, especially with regard to Mr. President’s support for the presidential candidate of our party, Tinubu.
“I want to say, unequivocally, that Mr. President is in total support of our party’s flag bearer and that is attested to by his continuing campaign with the candidate across the country. It is preposterous to even suggest that Mr. President, who is the leader of our party, is equivocating on his support for our presidential candidate. I hope this clears any ambiguity that may have arisen from my statement,” he defended, distracting the party’s focus on the campaign more.
El-rufai’s claim was perhaps a follow-up to the earlier outburst by the party’s presidential candidate in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he indirectly accused the Buhari-led government of frustrating him from winning.
Speaking largely in Yoruba language, Tinubu said; “let fuel be expensive, only they know where they keep it. Keep petrol, keep the naira, we will vote and be elected. You may change the ink of naira notes. What you expect will not happen. We will win.
“They said petrol will rise to N200/litre and N500/litre, let your mind be at rest. They don’t want these forthcoming elections to hold. They want to scatter it, but that won’t be possible. “They thought they could cause trouble; they sabotaged fuel but with or without fuel, with or without motorcycles and tricycles, we will vote and win. This is a superior revolution.
“We will take over the government through our PVCs. Even if they say there is no fuel, we will trek to the polling units,” Asiwaju took time to register his anger against known and imaginary enemies standing on his path to victory.
Although his managers made strenuous efforts to absolve him from any blame and even went further to ameliorate the gravity of the outburst by some members of the APC PGF taking him to Daura, Katsina State, to parley and or perhaps apologise to Buhari, it however seems to have made little or no difference.
Defending his principal, Temitope Ajayi, member, Directorate of Strategic Communication of the APC PCC, argued in a chat with Daily Sun that the manner in which Tinubu’s comments were misinterpreted did not come as a surprise to him.
“Of course, we are never surprised about the evil machinations of PDP and their recruited agents on social media and even within the mainstream media. They will naturally want to manipulate, distort, twist and misinterpret whatever Asiwaju Tinubu, Buhari or any APC leaders say, hoping to reap any mileage, but it won’t work. Nigerians know the people and party genuinely working to solve the problems created by PDP,” Ajayi argued.
“What Asiwaju said was not a ploy or strategy to win the election. He simply told Nigerians the truth about the people causing them hardship with fuel and new Naira notes hoarding. Our presidential candidate was only addressing Nigerians to know the enemy causing them miseries.
“Asiwaju and APC are primed to win this election and like he said, regardless of the artificial scarcity caused by PDP and its agents, Nigerians will vote on election day and APC will win because Nigerians across the country can trust the capacity and readiness of Tinubu to make life better,” he claimed.
Ajayi equally dismissed the insinuations of the outburst affecting his chances, boasting that; “it will even help propel him to victory because at Abeokuta, he told Nigerians that PDP is behind the crisis working with the fifth columnists among petroleum marketers and bank officials to sabotage the government and put Nigerians under needless hardship and agony.”
However, despite their defence, elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai still believes that there is not only a cold war between Buhari and Tinubu, but also that the latter is not enjoying the backing of the former.
“What I realise is that I am not sure if Buhari is happy with the candidature of Tinubu. That is the issue. He is in APC because he is the President elected on the platform of the APC but is he committed to Tinubu’s presidency? I have my doubt,” he quipped.
On which candidate he thinks Buhari may be backing, Yakasai said; “I don’t know, but I have not seen the commitment from him supporting the candidature of Tinubu in the APC. I am not sure if it’s APC or not but definitely, the personality of Tinubu doesn’t make him happy from my assessment of the situation.”
However, regardless of the apprehension that the multiple landmines could affect the APC presidential candidate, former National Secretary of the party, Waziri Bulama has a different perspective on what might constitute bigger misfortune to the ruling party.
According to him; “the major challenge APC will face in this general election will be the complete automation of the voting system with the use of PVCs and the BVAS. If they are strongly and strictly implemented, it will constitute a serious effect on the APC. It will not only be the major decider of the outcome of the election but will also change the pattern of elections in this country. In fact, BVAS will be the real game changer.”
The implication of the whole situation to many political pundits is Tinubu has many teething challenges to contend with because apart from the deployment of the BVAS and other technologies, there are still several landmines against him. His ability to navigate the hurdles to his advantage will ensure victory for him.