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The 2019 election is far and yet very close. Nigerian politicians are doing what they know best. They are strategizing and re-strategizing for the votes of Nigerians. As we get closer to the election year, expect more heat from the polity. Expect more factions in the ruling and other political parties.
The emergence of a new faction in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) known as the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) is part of the political game. It did not come to many political observers as a surprise. It was long foretold and the signs of such imminent implosion in the party were everywhere for all to see but the leadership of the party remained adamant and impervious.
Before the emergence of the R-APC, there was the nPDP bloc of the APC and perhaps others nursing the ambition to assert themselves. I shall return to them later in the discourse. The unveiling of the R-APC, soon after the party’s national convention, shows that all is not well with the behemoth despite its claim to change.
But the leaders of the APC would have known that the party is in for a rough weather since they have played the deaf to all accusations of marginalization of certain members of the party in sharing their victory booties and the brazen lack of internal democracy within the party. They have not listened to the calls for restructuring.
They have not listened to the yearnings and aspirations of suffering Nigerians since they came to power three years ago. They have done nothing to stop the carnage in some parts of the country caused by Fulani herdsmen. The party has seemingly taken Nigerians for a ride. The party’s greatest undoing its open lack of internal democracy.
The brazen lack of internal democracy in the party actually reared its ugly head during the party congresses and finally its national convention that was characterized by frictions. The ‘I don’t care’ attitude of the leadership of the party may be the last straw that broke the camel’s back that led to the emergence of the R-APC.
The cracks in the walls of the APC are too many that most pundits doubt if the Adams Oshiomhole’s leadership will be able to resolve them before the commencement of the 2019 general elections. A party seeking for a re-election ought not to have been saddled with many crises now facing the ruling behemoth.
How the APC manages its internal contradictions will show how they fare in the forthcoming elections. The implosion in APC is self-inflicted. The party has failed to manage its success. Its inability to manage its fortunes is behind the unfolding drama in the party. More of such dramas will occur before the 2019 polls.
With the R-APC in place, APC will lose most of its founding members and followers. The new faction led by Buba Galadima, former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, has the support of all the legacy parties and it may draw other aggrieved bigwigs of the party to its side. Galadima, who is the National Chairman of the R-APC, said that they were com- pelled to form a faction because the ruling party has “derailed from its original plans and vision.”
Galadima observed that “the APC has failed to deliver on its key promises to the nation. There is no evidence of any political will to reverse the decline of our party while leaders, who have created these circumstances, continue to behave as if Nigerians owe our party votes as a matter of right.”
Galadima also said that “The APC government has been a monumental disaster, even worse than the government it replaced. The party that was a vehicle for enthroning the government was rendered powerless by manipulations and complete lack of due process in its operations.”
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The congresses and the party’s recent convention held were given as the last straw that broke the camel’s back. According to Galadima, the congresses were intensely disputed as it was conducted with impunity, total disregard for the party’s constitution and naked display of power and practices that have no place in a party we all worked very hard to put in place.”
The reasons given for the formation of the R-APC are well known to the public. They are incontrovertible. Nigerians are just waiting for another opportunity to speak their minds with their votes. They did the same in 2015 when they voted out the then behemoth, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Given the situation on the ground, the ruling party is fast losing its grip on power. The party is fast losing the support of Nigerians, especially people of voting age. The youths are disenchanted with the party’s
type of politics and many Nigerians are not happy with the mass killings of Nigerians under the watch of the APC.
The party came to power to restore security but we have witnessed more insecurity under the party and more killings of Nigerians. In the days ahead, more implosions may occur in the ruling party. It is likely that the nPDP may not go back to the APC family despite the advertised peace moves.
That the R-APC has leaders in 22 states shows that it is formidable. Gradually, APC has underscored the fact that it is from the beginning an amalgamation of strange bedfellows who came together to push he PDP out of power. What the APC wished the PDP may likely come to it in 2015.
The political drama to 2019 is fast unfolding. In the days ahead of the elections, many things will come into play. There will be more alignments and re-alignments in the polity. There will be more carpet crossings and more political bridges and walls will be erected across the parties.
It would have been a big surprise if the APC did not witness any implosion. It would have been a big miracle if what is happening in APC did not happen. There is no doubt that the APC has overreached itself and inflicted on itself with many mortal wounds. How the APC manages the present crises is left to be seen.
It will also determine its faith in 2019 elections. Are the other political parties learning from the APC mistakes? The 2019 election is very crucial to all Nigerians. It is very important for the survival of democracy in the country.
This is why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must strive to conduct a free, fair and credible poll next year. For the nation’s democracy to survive; there must be a transparent election. The votes and wishes of Nigerian voters must count.
