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Being a chairperson of a governing political party especially in Nigeria’s greasy politics is not for the fainthearted. It’s like riding a tiger. You must have to keep on riding or be swallowed. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) should tell better. For him, the last couple of months must have been his longest, toughest and gravest political experience. Whether he admits it or not, it has been a nervous, testy, bitter, harrowing, and indeed, unforgettable time. Genuine friends are becoming increasingly hard for him to find. It’s not for nothing. The question is: does he stand on any tangible thing anymore?
Increasingly desperate tactics and plots are thickening to oust him as the National Chairman of the party, two years after he assumed that coveted office in pomp and circumstance. Today may be the decision day to determine his fate. Reason: The National Executive Committee(NEC), the decision-making organ of the party will meet today in Abuja. Expectedly, the issue surrounding Oshiomhole’s remaining in that position will top the agenda of the NEC meeting. Will today be his swan song or the beginning of his final days? Is he likely to exit the same way he came – in controversy? Today will possibly tell. Expect a showdown. Oshiomhole may be confident that he will ride the tiger without being swallowed. This is because one of the party’s most respected and monied men, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and about eleven governors of the party, are reported to be supporting him to continue in office. Will this be the lifeline that Oshiomhole desperately needs, or just postponing the evil day?
Only last week, the desperate tactics to remove him took a more fiendish verve with the resolution of the South South leaders of the party, the geopolitical zone where the national chairperson hails from, approving one Victor Giadom to replace him in acting capacity. They also agreed that the NEC meeting scheduled for today must hold, and urged all members of the party from the six states that make up the geopolitical zone to attend the crucial meeting. NEC is the only democratic instrument of the party authorised to call such a meeting as mandated by the party’s constitution. The communique at the end of last week’s anti-Oshiomhole meeting was read by his former godson and current arch foe and Governor of Edo state Godwin Obaseki. Who says our politics and politicians are not a fun to follow? No permanent enemy. It’s all about permanent interests. The array of personalities from the South South who seem to have signed up for Oshiomhole ouster shows the kind of mountain Oshiomhole has to climb today. They include Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, Minister for Health Dr.Osagie Ehanire, Festus Keyamo, SAN, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, former governor of Edo state Oserheimen Osunbor, immediate past DG, of Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration Agency(NIMASA) Dakuku Peterside, Chairman of the Edo state APC Anselem Ojezua, Senator Ndoma Egba, among others. Looking at these ‘enemies’ , you may ask : why is Oshiomhole lacking strong support of party bigwigs from his state and geopolitical zone when he needs them most?
A deep reflection of the crises APC is going through today under the leadership of Oshiomhole, reminds one of the torrid times of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) which eventually caused it the presidency in 2015. Intra party crises made the then governing PDP to become the open sore of Nigeria, a period party members washed their dirty linens in public. It was that bad that prior to the election which it eventually lost to the APC, no fewer than seven governors on the platform of the party, including party stalwarts like Atiku Abubakar, scores of legislators, staged a walkout at the party National Convention in September 2013. They joined the APC, making the victory for Muhammadu Buhari, possible.
Their grievances were strong voices against the leadership style of the then national chairman of the party Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. I foresee same implosion happening in APC because of Oshiomhole’s perceived style of leadership, described by many as lacking in trust, cohesion, respect for others and vision, among other problems. A party whose chairperson is lacking in the essentials of politics, vision for example, lacks the oxygen to survive for too long. What is going to happen at the NEC meeting today is a straight fight between the popular track and the party track in APC. These are the two tracks in any political party. The popular track is often visible and dramatic. But the party track is low-profiled road travelled by a few breed. What happens in the party track is not really visible to the public or the media to engage their attention.
If Oshiomhole must survive, he needs the overwhelming support of the party track. But, I don’t see Oshiomhole surviving for too long from now, regardless of the outcome of today’s NEC meeting . He should be saved from himself. Nobody should weep for him. He’s his own private enemy. Oshiomhole is a combustible, irascible fellow, often losing his cool.He prefers verbal swipes to contrary opinion. He doesn’t like sticking to the high road that will bring party unity which should be one of the primary responsibilities of party chairman. His character flaws are legion. He strikes anyone as cold and arrogant, even egotistical. He behaves as if he’s the sun around which other planets must revolve.
How sad and ironic even with his limited intellectual ability and political accomplishments. Oshiomhole thinks that the office of the National Chairman of a party is a prize to be won. He fails to see the office as a duty to be done. His knowledge of the way politics works is at best, superficial. That accounts for his repeated gaffes and slips. And that can only result in polarising the party. That’s where APC is right now under Oshiomhole’s two years leadership. The party can no longer project an appearance of unity. The truth is that responsibilities abandoned today will return as more acute crises tomorrow. Oshiomhole is a master at oversimplying complex issues. I said the same when Chief Vincent Ogbulafor was National Chairman of PDP. Oshiomhole maligns the truth very often. He lacks compassion for the weak and depraved.
His verbal insult to the widow in Benin City who was selling her merchandise on the highway when he was governor still rankles. “Go and die”, he was reported to have told the poor widow who had lost her husband, a police officer. That’s the height of meaness, if not absolute wickedness coming from a top public official who should give hope to the hopeless. Honesty is often a casualty in Oshiomhole’s approach to politics. For him, it’s all about winner-take-all. He likes defining truth downwards, and very often, he gets away with it. Those who want him out see him as a virus that a cure must be found quickly insist that was how he destroyed the party primaries in the last elections, a lifewire of intra-party democracy. Now, they claim they want to take their party
The real issue before the NEC today is whether the party can risk continuing with such a man as chairman under whose leadership the party has been polarised down the middle. It’s up to the party to decide. But APC needs reminding that what it faces today after it won the presidency for the second time is to look inwards and strategize for new level. New level is better than next level. This much is plain : APC is on a downward spiral. It’s like a football club threatened by relegation. It needs key and new players who can make the club rebound to winning ways. In short, APC under Oshiomhole as National Chairman is not far from an economy in a seizure, in urgent need for a ‘bailout’.
NOTE: This column has gone to press before the postponement of the APC meeting earlier slated for today.
