From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, may likely go down in the anals of history as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose emergence for the exalted position was cloaked in so much controversies.
Understandably, Ganduje’s nomination and eventual appointment, which violated the zoning convention of the ruling party, really created so much animosity, division and bad blood among the chieftains, leaders and members of the party.
For many party stakeholders, he was not only a product of imposition by President Bola Tinubu but also a usurper of the position which rightly belonged to the stakeholders of the North Central geopolitical zone, particularly Nasarawa State.
In fact, in the history of the successive headship of the ruling party, no national chairman of APC witnessed the level of controversy as he did in the build-up to his appointment middle of this year.
Incidentally, it has nothing to do with any doubt concerning his capacity, capability and suitability for the position then vacated by the former governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu, but because it was completely against the run of play and gentlemanly arrangement by the party’s stakeholders.
The myriads of hurdles against Ganduje’s emergence were multiple in addition to the fact that the chances of his general acceptability were narrow and doubtful.
Apart from the widely reported and speculated credibility doubt against him, especially the alleged mismanagement of state funds levied against him as a result of his stewardship as governor of Kano, other hurdles made him an impossible choice in terms of suitability for the position then.
And the more he and his political allies tried to manage the hostilities against him, the more many others erupted and exploded on his face.
Beyond violating religious sensitivity in the organogram of the national leadership of the party with him as the National Chairman, his National Secretary and Deputy National Chairman, North, all belonging to the same religious denomination, his alleged unpalatable antecedents as governor of Kano State equally reared its ugly head then.
The hostilities against Ganduje further deteriorated when sponsored physical, and other forms of protests were endlessly staged within and outside the party’s headquarters, all targeted at discrediting his person and stopping his emergence.
They were understandably spearheaded mostly by the aggrieved North Central stakeholders that felt short-changed by North West stakeholders snatching their statutory right to produce the replacement for his predecessor, Abdullahi Adamu.
Petitions against him were equally torrentially written and handed over to relevant authorities, majorly from the disgruntled stakeholders, aimed at stopping his emergence. They also included the acidic attacks from a highly exasperated then-member of the National Working Committee (NWC), Salihu Moh Lukman.
The then furious Lukman, in one of his numerous petitions and attacks against Ganduje, had challenged President Tinubu to resolve within himself whether to settle the big political problem in the country or to reduce APC to only a party serving as an election platform through the endorsement of the choice of Ganduje as national chairman.
“The related moral question is the choice of Ganduje. Sincerely, it simply means that we don’t attach any importance to the party if, with all the corruption allegations against Ganduje, we find him about the only one in the North West to be recommended.
“Perhaps, it needs to be stated without equivocation or fear of contradiction that if leaders of the North West are asked to nominate five people for consideration to serve in the capacity of the national chairman of APC, I am confident, that Ganduje will not be one of the five nominees.
“If the scheming to have Ganduje emerge the next national chairman of APC succeeds with all the legal and moral questions, as a party, we would have set the stage for the destruction of our party and God forbids, we would have laid the foundation that will make President Tinubu and all our elected representatives unpopular,” Lukman noted to underscore the implication of the nomination and emergence of Ganduje as the party’s boss.
However, despite the hostilities, the adversaries could not effectively thwart the decision already taken, as Ganduje, a cat with nine lives, finally subdued all the odds to emerge the national chairman of the ruling party on August 3, 2023, at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Abuja.
And aware of the enormity of the tremendous responsibilities placed on his fragile neck and shoulders, Ganduje, an astute administrator, wasted no time in stabilising the sinking ship of the party through a methodical application of deft and sagacious solutions to resolve the several challenging issues threatening to crumble the party.
He actually took over the headship of the party at a very inauspicious and turbulent period. For instance, before his emergence, APC, according to Lukman, was plunged into serious problems where all the statutory organs of the party under his predecessor, Abdullahi Adamu were frozen and the NWC, especially Adamu and the then national secretary, became emperors and highly unaccountable to anyone.
Similarly, Ganduje really took over a party whose leadership was subversive and covertly antagonistic against Tinubu, both during the internal contest to produce the 2023 presidential candidate of the APC and after he won the election and became the President-elect.
Incontrovertibly, under Adamu’s watch, instead of the party’s leadership working in harmony with Tinubu as President-elect to nominate candidates for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, he opposed and undermined his initiatives to produce the current leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives.
That was the turbulent state of the ruling party when Ganduje took over the mantle of leadership. APC was then a party suffocating, bleeding and gasping for breath in managing post-election victory before Ganduje emerged from the blues to battle the challenges.
But, setting his priorities right on assumption of office, Ganduje, in his acceptance speech, made it very unambiguously clear that he will lead APC with integrity, transparency, and a sense of responsibility, faulting the party’s membership register and promising to embark on scientific registration of members.
“Our main focus will be to promote party unity; defend and increase the number of executive and legislative seats we currently hold. Under my watch, internal democracy will be strictly adhered to with a deliberate policy to engage in wider consultations and make the party functional throughout the year.
“More reforms will be carried out in the party in alignment with the current political landscape. Our party must remain rooted among the people, must demonstrate willingness to serve, make sacrifices, acknowledge and address our weaknesses.
“I will do it with everything I have to the best of my ability for my party and my country. We will ensure a level playing field for all party members who want to contest elections under the party’s platform. Our primary elections would be free, transparent and fair.
“We will deploy technology in the registration of our members. The idea that the current figure of the membership of the party is over 40 million but could not reflect on the result of the last presidential election, where we got only eight million votes, means that it can no longer be business as usual.
“We are going to carry out a scientific registration of members of our great party. We are going to embark on registration from wards to local government and the state. Let me assure you that as national chairman, I will lead with integrity, transparency and a deep sense of responsibility.
“We are going to work tirelessly for a cohesive APC and a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria. It will be challenging but with dedication, I have confidence that we can achieve a prosperous APC,” he assured.
And very conversant with the teething challenges facing the ruling party, including the post-election victory crisis, which almost wrecked the party, Ganduje, on assumption, meticulously and methodically rolled out measures that ensured he won the admiration and support of many leaders, chieftains, members of the party and essentially the hitherto disgruntled secretariat staff.
A clear indication of his determination to turn around the declining fortunes of the party became visible when he not only breathed life into the hitherto deserted and graveyard-like activities at the national secretariat through the statutory weekly NWC meetings and resulting to the number of dignitaries trooping into the secretariat.
And four months down the line in his administration, courtesy visits from personalities across party lines, and the Diaspora, ranging from chieftains and leaders of parties from all walks of life and all the geopolitical zones to ambassadors of foreign nationals, became a regular activity at the secretariat.
The mission of the visitors was mainly to identify with Ganduje and possibly key into his leadership programmes of activities. Commendably, state chapters of the party hitherto enmeshed in internal crises, also apparently got the desired succour in his leadership style.
Party members and failed aspirants lobbying for one position or the other in the APC-led Federal Government got the expected go-between and attention they desperately desired in his sagacious acumen and attractive brand of leadership.
Returnees and new entrants into the party have actually turned the ruling party’s headquarters in Abuja into a Mecca of sort with the mission just to publicly announce their decision to dump their political platforms for the APC, which has suddenly become an attractive brand and new bride to many politicians.
From Bauchi, where the 2023 governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Sen Halliru Dauda Jika, openly denounced his platform and re-joined the APC with all his political structure, to Anambra State where serving Senator, Ifeanyi Ubah and his political empire collapsed into APC, Ganduje has not only scored high political ratings but may have also lost count of the political heavyweights he has attracted and received since assuming the exalted position four months down the line.
So far, he has managed the party previously in a turbulent state to a relatively peaceful one. More importantly, there has not been any reported case of misappropriation of funds, which was a menace in the past. The first major litmus test he handled was when he sagaciously managed the aftermath of the National Assembly leadership crisis both at the upper and lower chambers.
He has so far ensured that the principal officers controlled by the APC of the National Assembly operated seamlessly without noticeable friction with the executive arm of the government.
Again, the party primaries conducted in the three states of Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi, involved in off-cycle governorship elections and the harmonious coordination of their campaign activities that ensured victory for APC in two states, were all part of the visible landmark achievements the Ganduje administration has silently recorded.
He did not stop at ensuring smooth primary elections and coordinated campaign activities, but equally took back the party to the grassroots through the introduction of a novelty arrangement of inaugurating campaign councils for the governorship elections in the states involved.
That singular accomplishment was his brainchild and new administrative measure that brought the party’s members, including warring gladiators, together and gave them a sense of belonging.
Though considered a stooge to the Presidency, endless encomiums have, however, continued to pour in to celebrate his brand of leadership style. Such commendations even came from many members of his NWC who were initially very critical and antagonistic of his emergence.
Regardless of wherever Nigerians are viewing it, under Ganduje’s watch and in line with his inaugural speech to win more souls for the party, landmark victories have been recorded in the law courts for the presidential, National/State Assemblies and governorship elections.
Regrettably, despite the recorded legal triumphs, the party’s boss has, however not been immune and insulated from mistakes that have attracted attacks and criticisms to him.
Such gaffes include his obvious desperation to ensure the victory of the party, especially in Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau and Zamfara states for the governorship tickets.
He has also come under severe criticism for short-listing the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in the national campaign council during the off-cycle governorship election and most recently, the inclusion of chairman, BUA Group of companies, Abdul Samad Rabiu, in the lately constituted but yet to be inaugurated committees.
Another recent decision, which seemed like the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob, was the dissolution of Rivers State exco of the party and the composition of the Tony Okocha-led Caretaker Committee as the practical solution towards solving the protracted leadership crisis rocking the state chapter.
Rightly or wrongly, especially as there was no documented evidence of any mediation attempt to resolve the crisis, political watchers viewed the move as a deliberate and orchestrated ploy to hand over the structure of the party to the FCT Minister, Wike, even to the detriment of the founding members like Rotimi Amaechi among others.
The other one may be his day-dreaming declaration of tsunami in many states of the country where APC is not in power, and mostly in the South East states where he expressed optimism that with Ifeanyi Ubah’s defection to the APC, the party will soon take over the geopolitical zone in the coming elections.
“We will start a revolution, already we have two states in the South East and with this timber and calibre, juggernaut, I think we have found the answer. I describe him as a swing politician because wherever he is, that party wins. And we are expecting this swing to swing throughout South-East, especially to the other three states that don’t belong to APC,” Ganduje stated.
On the flip side, and regardless of your conviction, what is almost incontrovertible is that Ganduje has not only restored relative peace and sanity in the party but has also increased the visibility, competitiveness and ratings of the ruling party.
His landmark achievements were foretold in the optimism shared by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio after Ganduje emerged as APC chairman.
Akpabio had written: “We are very satisfied with the emergence of Ganduje… He ticks all the boxes and he is indeed, a round peg in a round hole. He has all it takes to take the party to another level. With Ganduje as the party chairman, the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu, is right on course.
“As a strong and committed party man, he knows how to galvanize all interests within the party into a united entity for the future success of the party. The seamless transition that led to his emergence shows the maturity and determination of members to work for the unity and progress of the party.
“I am very confident that our chairman would bring to bear his vast experience garnered over the years in public administration, to reposition the party and bring together all tendencies within the party to the table, as one indivisible entity bonded by the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu,” he further noted in the statement.
If, to some doubters, four months may be too short a time to make a more objective assessment of Ganduje’s journey so far, to many party members, he has commendably done better than his predecessors in the same circumstances. However, only time will determine his final place in history as chairman of the ruling party.