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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Barely two weeks to the much-awaited February 26, 2022 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party is literally in a state of anomie. There is a growing uncertainty, anxiety and panic over the possibility of the convention holding as planned.
After executing some of the several programmes contained in the timetable and schedule of activities the national leadership of the party, the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), released after its 19 regular meeting in January, party members and stakeholders have continued to grope in the dark over the activities toward the convention.
The execution of few programmes like reception of the interim report from the Senator Adamu Abdullahi-led National Reconciliation Committee and the inauguration or presentation of the certificate of returns to the newly-elected state chairmen of the party had created some semblance of seriousness and determination on the side of the leadership to proceed with the convention as planned.
However, the inability of the leadership to constitute sub-committees especially the budget and essentially zoning committee to determine which geopolitical zone to produce candidates for various positions and disturbingly reneging in the commencement of the sale of the nomination forms, had pressed the panic button, casting doubt on the readiness to hold the convention.
The palpable anxiety and suspicion that pervaded the national secretariat of the party had come to the head on Monday this week with the failure of the leadership to provide information on why it could not commence sale of the nomination forms as earlier indicated in its released timetable.
The situation further fuelled endless speculations among secretariat staff, aspirants for the vacant positions into the National Working Committee (NWC), stakeholders and ultimately concerned members of the party on what should be the next line of action or antics in the sleeves of the party’s national leadership.
Regrettably, the anomie has given rise to accusations and counter accusations against some members of the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and other leaders of selfishly hatching malicious plans to undemocratically hijack the process, impose unity list of candidates and reduce the convention, proposed to hold in Abuja, to a mere jamboree.
Although there have been assurances and reassurances on the absolutism and sanctity of the convention holding as planned, however, reneging on the resumption in the sale of the nomination forms has not only heightened the doubt but kept the aspirants in the dark over the inner thinking of the party’s leadership toward the convention.
Already, disturbing information on certain factors that would facilitate the smooth delivery of a credible and acceptable national convention, especially the zoning arrangements, mode of emergence of NWC members, consensus or electable, and other sundry issues, have combined to worsen the situation.
Lamentably, the camp of the progressive governors seems to be sharply divided and burdened with accusations and counter accusation of plans to hijack the process for designed selfish interest for the 2023 presidential election and to control the party structure to feather the nest of certain aspirants for the 2023 general election.
A source close to the Caretaker Committee told Daily Sun that there are strong indications of possible postponement of the Convention due to the scheduled bye-elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the same February 26, assuring that zoning arrangement will not be any issue.
“There is every likelihood that the convention may be postponed till first or second week of March. We are looking at INEC’s bye-elections on that same February 26. That is the only thing that may force the postponement. The zoning has been concluded and I can confirm to you that North Central will still produce the party’s National Chairman. The governors met on Monday and resolve issues on zoning.
“We are not selling nomination forms and we may not even sell throughout this week because most of the positions will be by consensus. There is going to be limited number of forms for sale by the time the zoning arrangements have been concluded,” he said.
Miffed by what it called an orchestrated undemocratic and wicked plan by certain state governors to impose a chairmanship aspirant on others to smoothen their presidential ambition, a group, under the auspices of APC Youth Development and Solidarity Forum had threatened fire and brimstone to frustrate any such move.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Forum’s Secretary, Chief Tobias Ogbeh, in a speech titled: ‘Exposed: how Governors Mohammed Badaru, Atiku Bagudu, Kayode Fayemi, and others have plotted to impose Senator Sani Musa and others as National Chairman, Excos, to satisfy the selfish interest of projecting Badaru/Fayemi ticket for 2023 Presidency’, raised many other unsubstantiated allegations against the mentioned governors.
According to him; “these same governors and their minions have in their known fashion hijacked the entire exercise, which was proven to the world by the way they fixed a February 26, 2022, date for the event in flagrant disregard for the preferences expressed by stakeholders.
“Sadly, the governors in question never bothered about what stakeholders thought, wanted, or demanded, because for them the national convention is a fait accompli. Rather than being a forum at which delegates would elect party officials in the hope of righting the wrongs done at the state chapters, the convention envisaged by these political vampires is one at which they will merely browbeat and coerce delegates to rubber stamp the criminal decisions taken; one that would undermine the 2023 general elections because the party’s internal democracy in the APC would have been bastardized.
“Nigerians would be deprived of having an APC presidential candidate that passed the rigours of primary election. Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and their other desperate allies that include serving Ministers, have perfected plans to ensure that Senator Sani Musa is imposed as APC National Chairman alongside other lackeys that would be named to other positions at the convention.
“Senator Sani Musa would in turn deliver Bagudu as APC presidential candidate and Kayode Fayemi as his running mate. They have cooked up what they called “unity list” to package their evil plot as something positive and desirable for the party and the country when the contrary is the case,” the forum raised the alarm.
While pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene, the forum equally urged him; “not to allow their criminal intent to materialize; these people have also perfected other plans to make mockery of the convention that has remained a source of controversy.”
It said: “We want APC stakeholders and Nigerians to know that these state governors are working against the interest of the country. As things stand, we are collectively staring a full-blown state capture in the face as these band of governors paid a nocturnal visit to the Presidential Villa last week Friday night with their purported “unity list” that they are now desperately promoting.”
More importantly, the worried aspirants and their supporters are not also left out in expressing anxiety, deep concerns and reservations over the uncertainty that has beclouded the convention, urging the leadership not to do anything untoward that will plunge the APC into deeper crisis.
While other aspirants that stormed the Secretariat on Monday to purchase the unavailable nomination forms kept mum on the development, a chairmanship aspirant, Chief Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe, expressed disappointment over the delay in the commencement of the sale of forms, lamenting the sordid silence of the party leadership.
“I have been on this issue for over 20 months now and in less than two weeks to the convention, we are still asking questions. We want to know what is happening. I have been in touch with the party headquarters since Thursday last week and even on Monday and they keep telling me no news. The party should tell us what is happening.
“There is no communication from the party. We have to be told of the zoning arrangement. Nothing is happening in less than two weeks to the convention. I don’t think that is fair to us”, he lamented.
On whether the development may lead to another postponement of the convention, he said: “this convention must hold. Nothing can stop it. Just that the delay and non-release of information are not expected. If they want consensus, let them come out and say so. There is nothing wrong with consensus, but call all the parties involved. The delay is uncalled for.”
A youth leader, from the South East, who also expressed anger, noted that his investigations showed that the party was yet to print the forms, wondering why the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee would toy with the ambition and applications of party members.
“From their body language, it seems the Caretaker Committee is out to sabotage the convention. I am here today, keeping with the timetable for the convention, to purchase the form only to be told that the forms are not available. I know of seven aspirants from South East and South-south who are in Abuja for the forms. This is demoralising and discouraging. Our leaders should stop toying with the future of this party,” he warned.
If the backlash trailing the delay in the commencement of the sale of forms and uncertainty over the possibility of the convention holding came to many as a shock, the speculations that the forms have not even been printed in the first place and that the convention may be shifted or be a mere formality would sound more startling.
Confiding in the Daily Sun concerning the development, a reliable secretariat staff had lamented that: “we are as confused as the aspirants because we have waited endlessly to know if they will start the sale of the forms yet there is no sign of it at all. I am not even sure they have printed the forms. No fewer than 15 persons have called the Organising department to ask whether the forms are ready. I am not even sure the Director Organising is aware of what is happening because he takes orders from the Chairman and Secretary.”
Another school of thought had attributed the uncertainty surrounding the whole process to President Buhari’s deliberate silence to enable the Caretaker Committee and the governors to come up with a consensus arrangement acceptable to all the stakeholders and interest groups at the convention.
A party chieftain who spoke in confidence, argued that: “the Caretaker Committee is tactical. We cannot rush to sell forms for the national leadership positions when we are not done with the zoning arrangement. Let me inform you that the Caretaker Committee is in contact with the progressive governors and other stakeholders.
“They are networking and in high-level negotiations to come up with a unity list or a consensus arrangement. I can tell you that it will be fine-tuned before the closing date for submission of forms. As for the convention, there is nothing untoward to threaten the February 26 date arrangement,” the source assured.
The height of speculations over the proposed zoning formula, the anxiety on the anointed national chairmanship candidate, the misinterpretation of President Buhari’s body language concerning the future of the party, and perhaps the helpless situation of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee, are eloquent testimonies of a ruling party on autopilot.
Head or tail and despite the assurances from appropriate quarters, the failure of the relevant authority to resolve the controversial zoning hurdle, the mode of the emergence of members of the NWC, the hydra-headed contending inordinate interests of certain party chieftains for the 2023 presidential ticket, the sharing formula cold war among the legacy parties and other sundry factors, may certainly spell doom for the ruling party ahead of the next general elections.
Beyond the war between two legacy parties, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigerian People Party (ANPP), claiming the right to produce the next party chairman, the indecision of which zone the chairmanship should come from has remained a hard nut to crack.
While it was initially speculated that the ticket has been zoned to North Central, stakeholders from the zone seem to have rejected the offer, claiming that the continuous headship of political parties by its indigenes since 1999 without anything to show for it is a deliberate calculated attempt to continuously relegate the zone to the background.
They recalled that Chief Solomon Lar, was the protein national Chairman of the PDP, while Banabas Germade, Ahmad Ali and Audu Ogbe, all from the North Central, equally headed the PDP at a time, lamenting that even when the zone has nothing to show for it, APC leadership is still planning to zone its chairmanship to the region again.
Urging the ruling party to zone the ticket to North East, the stakeholders claimed, after a caucus meeting recently that; “it has become evident that the clamour for the APC national chairmanship ticket to be zoned to the North Central is being planned and orchestrated from the South West largely because of its control of the media.”
In seeking an amicable solution, a group, Concerned APC Members Forum, had passionately appealed to President Buhari to intervene in the crisis on the emergence of the national chairman rocking the party ahead of the national convention.
“Judging by the activities of the various actors, we appeal to Mr. President not to allow the selfish interest of the 2023 presidential ambition of some ranking members to destroy the party. We want Mr. President to recommend a highly committed and disciplined member, a man of humility and resilience with acute knowledge of party administration that will respect both former and serving Governors, Senators, Ministers, party faithful, and of course, the Leaders of our party.
“We recommend Mr. President convene a meeting of all the aspirants for the chairmanship position and hand over the preferred candidate to them, instructing an all-inclusive government. This will immediately heal any injury in the heart of any and the course of explanation to his supporters while he stepped down. We shall continue to work with you for the development of our beloved party, APC, and country, Nigeria.
“In recommending a candidate for the national chairmanship position which may bring about consensus, we advise Mr. President to look into the records of the various individuals aspiring to lead the party, having in mind the internal zoning arrangement of the party which is in North Central Nigeria.
“The measures will go a long way in reducing internal crisis in the party, controlling the expenditure of some aspirants, and solving the problem of reconciliation after the Convention. We also want to draw Mr. President’s attention to the fact that, immediately after the Convention, there is a primary election not far away, so, the need to minimize our crises and concentrate on the 2023 general elections is very important,” the Forum’s convener, Okpokwu Ogeni, appealed.
Quote: “Barely two weeks to the much-awaited February 26, 2022 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party is literally in a state of anomie. There is a growing uncertainty, anxiety and panic over the possibility of the convention holding as planned”
