From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Salihu Moh Lukman, has accused Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee of handling internal party contests during the Anambra State governorship party primary very recklessly.
The Director-General of the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), also argued that the outcome of the Abuja Federal High Court ruling against the Anambra party primary means that the Zamfara State governorship election incident of 2019 would have repeated itself.
He warned that all the good work of the Caretaker Committee under Mai Mala is about to be destroyed once it yields to the temptation of staying longer than February 2022.
Kicking against the recommendation for the postponement of the February party’s National Convention, he said: “This suggestion basically means a possible extension of the tenure of the CECPC by another six months.
“It is very difficult to understand the logic of such a recommendation. In fact, if anything, going by the recommendation, it means that the CECPC will be saddled with the additional responsibility of organising an all-party primary for all positions for the 2023 elections.
“If Anambra 2021 governorship elections is any reference, the argument about avoiding ‘rancour and litigation’ cannot be sustained given that on December 20, 2021, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja ruled that Sen. Andy Ubah, APC candidate for the Anambra 2021 governorship election was never a candidate of the APC following a suit filed by one of the aspirants of the APC, Chief George Moghalu who argued that the party failed to conduct a valid primary.
“In addition to the suit, it is also public knowledge that following the declaration of Sen. Andy Ubah as the candidate of the APC for the Anambra 2021 governorship election, notable party leaders in Anambra, including Sen. Chris Ngige declared their resentment.
“In the end, with the support of the CECPC, Sen. Andy Ubah was the official candidate of the party. Had APC won the Anambra 2021 governorship election, December 20, 2021, High Court judgement clearly indicated that another Zamfara would have played out. All these are confirmation that management of internal party contests during party primary are being handled very recklessly even by the CECPC.
“Unfortunately, since the Anambra election, no party organ has met to review what has happened. With Ekiti and Osun election primary about to hold and to be managed by the CECPC, there is the urgent need to appeal to all party leaders to learn the appropriate lessons and avoid the crude show of power whereby candidates of the party are imposed without following the party and electoral rules.
“It is very difficult to excuse the CECPC from the campaign to postpone the February Convention. If the CECPC is not interested in the postponement of the Convention from the agreed February 2022 date, why is it difficult to make a formal announcement about the date and venue of the Convention? Statutorily, by the requirement of the Electoral Act, the party is expected to serve at least 21 days’ notice of the Convention to INEC.
“Which basically means that if the Convention is to hold any day before February 28, 2021, the notice to INEC should be given on or before February 7, 2022. That being the case, the temptation could be to argue that there is more time. Some reminders would be necessary at this point.
“In June 2020, when the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party dissolved the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led NWC, one of the expectations was that holding the Convention in December 2020, would have free the party from all the tempestuous atmosphere created around national elections. It would also have provided the needed atmosphere to review issues in the party before the process of selecting candidates for elections.
“All these would appear to have been forgotten and lost. And for whatever reasons, arguments are now being given about why ‘presidential primary and election of National Working Committee members’ hold ‘on the same day and venue to avoid rancour and litigations.’
“Anyone campaigning for ‘presidential primary and election of National Working Committee members’ hold ‘on the same day and venue’ simply want a situation whereby any possible dispute around presidential primary will submerge the emergence of leaders (NWC members) of the party.
“This leads to the second ugly scenario being setup by those campaigning for the postponement of the Convention, which is the possibility that all candidates of the party from all the 36 states of the country to be submitted to INEC by the same NWC members whose elections may be disputed would be in jeopardy and subject of litigation.
“Once that is the case, we would have succeeded in making the 2019 Zamfara electoral disaster a national phenomenon in 2023. Is that what the CECPC members under the leadership of Mai Mala Buni want to subject the party to?
“The third issue is that both the CECPC and by extension all leaders of the party should be fair to President Buhari. The President has so far, with very good reasons, endorsed all the prayers of majority party members and leaders. Beginning with the June 25, 2020 dissolution of the Comrade Oshiomhole led NWC, to the extensions of the tenure of the CECPC. Understandably, the President want to ensure that the capacity of the party to manage its internal affairs is strengthened.
“They need to develop the infrastructure to guarantee the participation of members in the process of candidates’ selection required that more time is given for the CECPC to execute membership registration and revalidation exercise. No doubt, the CECPC did a good job in this respect. Unfortunately, the relevant department in the party’s National Secretariat, Organisation, is not able to competently take the process of preserving the membership records of the party to the point whereby party membership is displayed or can be accessed, in any way possible.
“The fourth issue is that with the suspension of meetings of organs of the party, notably NEC and National Caucus, the capacity of leaders of the party and members to get the CECPC to be accountable and take all the needed guidance from party leaders is weakened.
“This is partly responsible for the momentary anger by APC representatives in the National Assembly following the conclusion of Wards, Local Governments and States’ Congresses who felt shortchanged allegedly by Governors on account of which they inserted the clause on compulsory Direct Primary on all political parties in the amended Electoral Act. Again, ordinarily, if organs of the party are meeting, especially NEC and National Caucus, aggrieved members would have used the platforms of these organs to contest issues and seek redress.
“The attempt to impose Direct Primary on all political parties by aggrieved APC representatives in the National Assembly was borne out of desperation to seek redress of the perceived act of injustice by the CECPC.”
Commenting further, he wrote: “Since the suspension of meetings of organs of the party, internal debate in APC is very low. A lot of things are happening in many states with grave consequences to the electoral fortunes of the party.
“To be fair to Buni and the CECPC, within their limited capacities, they have taken some initiatives. The reality, however, is that without superior decisions of organs of the party, in particular, NEC and National Caucus, many leaders of the party in states have acted or are acting almost disrespectfully to the CECPC and Mai Mala Buni. A typical example is the raging war of attrition going on in Imo State. Apart from the war of attrition going on in Imo State, the broader question of uniting leaders of the party in all states ahead of the 2023 election is proving to be very impossible.
“It is very clear that since 2013, when APC emerged, its electoral strength is derived from the unity of party leaders. This is being eroded systematically since the 2015 election. It became worse with the scandalous management of party affairs under the Comrade Oshiomhole led NWC. With the emergence of the CECPC in June 2020, Mala Buni has done an excellent job of bringing down tension within the party. Sadly, all the good work of the CECPC under Mai Mala is about to be destroyed once it yields to the temptation of staying longer than February 2022,” the statement read.