How APC delegates’ congress raised more dust than confidence
The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday, July 29 produced delegates under different arrangements ahead of its non-elective national convention. However, with the exception of few states, the process has left in its wake deep resentments among some
By Hamza Idris (Abuja), Andrew Agbese (Kaduna), Yusha’u A. Ibrahim (Kano), Uthman Abubakar (Maiduguri), Victor Edozie (P/Harcourt), Bashir Liman (Jos), Habibu Umar Aminu (Katsina), Haruna Gimba Yaya (Gombe), Usman A. Bello (Benin), Jeremiah Oke (Ibadan), Kehinde Akinyemi (Ibadan), Hassan Ibrahim (Lafiya) and Hope Abah (Makurdi).
To a great extent, the delegates’ conferences held in APC controlled states and those in the hands of opposition PDP or APGA, showed that real politicking has commenced and every contestant that wants to have his way in 2019 tried to assert his influence in deciding who makes the list because they would remain the same delegates for subsequent elections at state and national levels.
The acrimony in the APC took what many described as a “wrong direction” even before the date of the none-elective convention was announced.
Already, the APC condemned the violence that greeted the state congresses, saying it will correct the anomaly.
The party, in a statement issued by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Thursday, said it specifically found the violence in Rivers and Kaduna states quite disturbing.
But shortly before the congresses, the National Caretaker Chairman of the APC, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said the ruling party will get anything right.
“Our party is cohesive; it is different from APC because APC is not cohesive. How many factions do they have in APC? The only problem we had in the party (PDP) was the issue with Modu Sheriff; which is now over.
“But if you go to APC, you hear five, six, seven different factions, each trying to exercise power. We have an APC that is afraid to hold any serious meeting; it is afraid to hold conventions. Look at today, how many meetings did we hold? Did the heavens fall? Did we not fix date for a special convention? So you see, PDP is a party of willing individuals, APC is a conglomeration of irreconcilable interests, that’s why it would not last,” he said. Parallel congress in Kano Two different congresses were held in Kano as each of the two factional leadership of the party conducted their own congress.
Both the Abdullahi Abbas-led faction and Umar Haruna Doguwaled factions of the APC told our correspondent that their congress was peaceful and supervised by representatives of the party’s national leadership.
Abbas said contrary to speculations, all party stakeholders, including members of the Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly took part in the elections and that the party had not received any complaints from any member regarding the delegates’ election.
Doguwa said, “The national leadership of the party sent a letter to me directing me to conduct the congress and I obliged. I was personally directed in the letter to conduct the election as state chairman of the party.”
However, he said it was unfortunate that some politicians were still parading themselves as leaders of the party in the state, noting that “We have heard that a parallel congress was held in the state. I am still wondering why some people always want to deceive themselves about a very simple issue. It is unfortunate that these politicians are still deceiving the governor by parading themselves as executives of the party in Kano.”
The fight in Kano is all about ex-Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and incumbent Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje.
Aggrieved faction in Kaduna seeks redress in Abuja
Many lawmakers from Kaduna State have disagreed with the process saying it was not democratic.
The aggrieved have written two petitions to the national secretariat of the party to register their complaints.
Those that did not agree with the process include senators Othman Hunkuyi, and Shehu Sani among other party leaders like Hashiru Kudan and Tijjani Ramalan.
They alleged that no congress was held and that the list of delegates was handpicked without the consent of other members.
Senator Hunkuyi, who addressed the press on behalf of the group on the matter, said the congress did not reflect the will of party members and alleged the names of those who emerged as delegates were written by an official of the state government under the directive of Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i.
But Spokesman of the governor, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, debunked the allegation, saying it was curious that the likes of Shehu Sani, who never recognized the leadership of the party in the first place, would say they were not consulted.
The Kaduna State chapter of the party also dismissed the allegation, saying the party’s delegates’ election was free, credible and fair.
State Publicity Secretary of the party, Alh Salisu Tanko Wusono, insisted that due process was observed in drawing up the list of delegates.
He said, “In fact, these persons have been unrelenting in their effort to destroy the party and sap the spirit of its members. They have failed over three years, but they continue trying. They abuse the party process and accuse the party of every ill, but their real goal is to hijack it,” he said. Sylva sidelined in Bayelsa The Chief Tiwe Orunimighe led faction of the APC in Bayelsa State cleared 24 delegates from the eight local government areas of the state.
But the Joseph Faf faction loyal to the former state governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, was absent during the exercise.
The delegates were selected through affirmation following purported consensus by all the local government chapters of the party. The Secretary of the committee, Mrs. Mildred Ezoh, who came from the national secretariat of the party, said the congress was either through elections or affirmation as recommended by the constitution of the party.
The state Chairman of the party, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, said the exercise was devoid of crisis because the consultations that produced the lists were farreaching. “The only place where we had small disagreement was in Ekeremor. But the disagreement was resolved,” he said.
2015 delegates returned at Borno government house
The APC’s delegates’ election was held at the Government House, Maiduguri, giving birth to heavy dissenting voices within the party who described the exercise as a hoax.
The exercise was, rather than being an election, a complete “endorsement” of the delegates used in the 2015 elections according to the party chairman.
The 81 delegates, three each from the 27 local government areas as well as party officials, were gathered at the Government House venue where, the state party chairman, Alhaji Bukar Ali Dalori, rose and announced that it would be an endorsement, not an election.
So it was, a virtually unanimous endorsement of all the 2015 elections delegates to ‘carry go!’ for the forthcoming national convention of the party.
“Are you asking me if that could pass for an election? No! There was nothing of that sort,” an elder of the party in the state and state coordinator of the Buhari Campaign Office, Alhaji Ibrahim Abba El-Zubair, said.
He argued: “They used insecurity that made 21 out of the 27 local government areas inaccessible as pretext for endorsing the 2015 national delegates; but this is unacceptable because these delegates were elected in the camps in 2015 and, therefore, the same process of going round the camps should have duly followed this time around.
“Again, are they saying that none of the delegates has died or decamped to another party since then to necessitate a due election even if to fill in those places? No! They just did what they wanted, planting their own cohorts; there was no election.
“I have already written a formal complaint to the national
Secretariat of the party about what went on here, and if no appropriate action is taken, we will organize our own parallel delegates election, in the state,” El-Zubair warned.
“You cannot expect disgruntled elements to say anything else; we are not surprised by their action because we have always expected them to express dissention, which is baseless and of no effect, “Aisami Abba Lawan, an APC Exco member and a Special Assistant to Governor Kashim Shettima, said.
“We were all invited according to the provisions of the Electoral Act, including representatives of INEC, DSS, state exco members, the deputy governor and the state party chairman and representatives of the national Secretariat, who conducted the election; I participated in the entire process, and all I know is that it was a due process,” he said.
Jigawa stalwarts only heard on radio
Many people including active APC members were not aware of any planned delegates’ election in the party but only heard of names released as the delegates that would represent the state in the party’s forthcoming convention.
There were a lot of misgivings from some party members with many pointing accusing fingers on Governor Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, for allegedly single handedly selecting those to represent the state.
Most of those bearing grudges against the entire process said impunity had set in the party with the unpopular path of selecting the delegates.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, Bello Gada from Kazaure, who is also a loyalist to Senator Ubale Hashim, said none of them was selected “By the so called stakeholders that were said to be responsible for the selection of the delegates.”
He said their “sin” was that their political boss is not on good terms with the governor.
“This is the beginning of the problem of the party in Jigawa. You can see the governor unilaterally made the selection of the delegates,” he said.
All efforts to speak to the state party Chairman, Ado Sani Kiri and Special Adviser (SA) to governor, Yahaya Mohammed aka Bigman, proved abortive.
Bauchi: Election opens new frontier of resentments
The delegates’ election only succeeded in opening another vista of misunderstanding on top of existing problems between Governor Mohammed Abubakar and some members of the National Assembly.
While the party leadership in the state said that the election of the 60 delegates from the 20 local government areas was transparent, some of its members said it was flawed and does not reflect the wishes of the people.
Senator Ali Wakili (APC, Bauchi South), said that the party leadership in the state has not been fair to its members, especially in Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro local governments.
According to him, the names of delegates forwarded by the party’s leadership were selected without an election by party members in the two local governments.
He said while INEC officials, security agents and other stakeholders were waiting for the party’s delegation from Bauchi as required, the names were prepared and forwarded to the state secretariat without their knowledge or an election.
The Senator representing Bauchi South also alleged that some members of the National Assembly from the state were also not invited for the congress.
He however, admitted that Senator Suleiman Nazif, as leader of their caucus received a late invitation on Friday.
On his part however, the Bauchi State APC Publicity Secretary, Auwal Aliyu Jallah, said the election of the delegates was conducted based on the guidelines given by the party’s national leadership in accordance with the provisions of the APC constitution.
Process ended in fiasco in Rivers
The APC congress in Port Harcourt ended in fiasco as most delegates said they were not allowed to vote.
There was a dramatic twist at the congress when majority of party supporters barricaded Novotel Hotel, where the congress committee members from Abuja lodged, saying the results of the congress were written in the hotel.
It took the intervention of law enforcement agents who saved the situation from escalating.
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Zaki later met with the party leaders and prevailed on them to resolve their differences amicably.
Senator representing Rivers South East Senatorial District, Magnus Abe, expressed dissatisfaction over the outcome of the Congress.
Abe, who spoke at the state secretariat of the party, said the committee delegated by the national secretariat of the party to monitor the exercise in the state ended up at a hotel in the state.
But the State chairman of the party, Dr. Davis Ikanya, said that the process that produced the delegates were transparent. Furore in Plateau The process has sparked outcry and raised dust that is yet to be settled in Plateau State, as some party bigwigs and political analysts claimed that the congress was overshadowed by avoidable irregularities and shortcomings.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that some party members alleged that the state Chairman, Latep Dabang and Secretary, Bashir Musa Sati, doctored the list of delegates without following due process.
One of them alleged that the chairman and his secretary only handpicked delegates that are loyal to them, which now put the party at the risk of a full blown crisis, uncertainty and confusion.
A political analyst, Hashim Barde, alleged that the venue of the elections was not made known to the general public, including the media, saying the party leadership had ulterior motives.
But reacting to the allegations, Bashir Musa Sati said, “We don’t have the right to doctor any report apart from the result presented to us. All the local governments have conducted their congresses at different locations, and it was witnessed by INEC, the police, the DSS and some other security organizations.”
Congress rancour free in Katsina, Gombe, Edo, Oyo, Nasarawa, Benue
There was a kind of exception in Katsina State because the process was peaceful even as feelers have it that the list of the delegates was drawn after serious power play by stakeholders of the party which was not allowed to leak.
Findings showed that key stakeholders met before coming up with the delegates’ list, which was later affirmed at the mini congress. The wide consultation was believed to have made the election acceptable by all stakeholders.
Another reason was that Katsina, being the home-state of President Muhammadu Buhari, must get it right at all cost so as not to make the number one citizen a laughing stock.
About 102 delegates from its 34 LGA’s were returned for the national convention.
Speaking at the occasion, secretary of the congress committee, Chief Nduka Anyanwu, commended the high maturity exhibited by party members during the exercise.
Gombe has a sitting PDP governor and a minister who is yet to get a portfolio; and therefore, the acrimony was not intense as delegates were selected through a consensus by stakeholders of the party.
The congress, which was chaired by Mr Yahaya Lawal Adewole, from Lagos State, saw three people selected from each of the 11 local government areas to represent the state at the convention.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that to avoid disquiet in the aftermath of the congress, a stakeholders meeting was held on Friday prior to the congress, where party leaders shared the delegates among the various interest groups in the party.
However, it was observed that most of the high ranking members of the party did not attend the meeting, a situation political observers attributed to the ‘no love lost relationship’ among the leaders of the party.
The prominent politicians that attended the meeting are the former deputy governor of the state, Mr John Lazarus Yoriyo and gubernatorial hopeful, Alhaji Abubakar Mu’azu Hassan.
In Edo State, there was no disquiet as a result of the delegate election.
A member of the party, who only gave his name as Habu, said the election went peacefully as majority of the leaders of the party agreed among themselves.
Speaking on the development, the party secretary, Lawrence Okah, said the congress was successful in the state due to the cooperation of leaders of the party across the 18 local government areas.
It is the same in Oyo State as no member of the party raised an eyebrow on the outcome of the congress, a development which made the Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Olawale Sadare, to issue a statement commending the leadership of the party in the state.
Also, there was calm following the outcome of the election in Nasarawa State which was conducted peacefully in Lafia, the state capital.
But investigations revealed that some stakeholders were groaning over the process of selection of the delegates but were somehow afraid to voice their anger.
A source said the programme was deliberately organized in the government house to restrict some party bigwigs who have shown interest in becoming national delegates from attending the meeting.
The meeting was led by the state chairman of the party Philip Tatari Shekwo, where the final list of delegates emerged and the same names were presented as unopposed delegates during the purported congress a day after.
But acting Publicity Secretary of the state APC, Berger Alfred, debunked the claim saying, “Nobody hijacked the process in the state.”
Perennial crisis resurfaces in Ogun
The congress was a different ball game in Ogun State as the perennial crisis, which has polarized the ruling APC into two factions since 2015 reared its head again during the party’s congresses.
Members of the party loyal to former Governor Segun Osoba alleged that the congress was conducted in contravention to Article 21 D (VI) of the party’s Constitution, with a call on the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to set aside the outcome of the exercise.
But the party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Sola Lawal, insisted that every bit of the party’s constitution was followed during the conduct of the congress. He also denied the allegations that names of some party officers were removed from the delegates list.
Also in a protest letter, the Ogun Central Senatorial Chairman, Kunle Adeshina, stated that the congress did not follow party constitution and guidelines.
“We will wait for the outcome of the injustice that will be addressed by the National Executive Committee of our great party. We will also not shift a bit for anybody as we remain members of our great party, APC,” he said.
Analysts believed that the implication of this is that the Osoba group may perhaps again find solace in another party, as was done in 2015 in the quest to stop the governor from producing a successor come 2019.