The Big Question: Will APC Send Ministers’ List with Portfolios to Buhari?

For about a month now, Nigerians and keen global observers of political development in the country have been treated to a fierce contest between the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) and its members in the National Assembly. The contest, which has sharply divided federal lawmakers elected on the platform of the party is about who gets what principal office in both chambers of the National Assembly and the battle has been on since the election of presiding officers, against the wishes of the party leadership on June 9.

Though, the crisis threatening the soul of APC and currently bedeviling the two chambers of the parliament predated the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly, it however escalated after the emergence of its presiding officers. In a move viewed by some of its lawmakers as an attempt to impose presiding officers on the parliament by its founding National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party had expressed its preference for certain candidates for the four presiding seats in the National Assembly. While it backed Senator Ahmad Lawan from Yobe and Senator George Akume from Benue for Senate Presidency and Deputy Senate Presidency respectively, at the inaugural session of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, (APC, Kwara), emerged as the Senate President while Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator from Enugu State, was elected deputy Senate President. Though Ekweremadu’s emergence had been attributed to the fact that a chunk of the APC senators were absent at the inaugural session having gone to the International Conference Centre to attend a botched peace meeting reportedly called by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara (APC, Bauchi) was elected Speaker while Hon. Yusuf Lasun (APC, Osun) was elected Deputy Speaker as against

the party’s preferred candidates, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon. Mohammed Monguno. Swiftly, APC responded to the predictable twist in the election of presiding officers by rejecting the outcome and threatened to sanction all those who defied its order. Sadly, for a party which has majority in both houses of the National Assembly, what ordinarily should have been a routine legislative process has now been turned to a supremacy contest among the various tendencies contending for the soul of the party. So far, the crisis has polarised the party’s lawmakers in the upper chamber into two groups – Unity Forum and Senators of Like Minds - as lawmakers now see themselves more as members of the contending two groups rather than members of the party.

The face-off between the party and its lawmakers however assumed a dangerous trend last week when APC Senators brawled in their party caucus meeting, while members also engaged themselves in fisticuffs on the floor of the House, leading to forced adjournment for two weeks in both chambers. Sadly, because of this clearly avoidable crisis, serious legislative work has yet to commence in the two chambers of the National Assembly, almost a month since they were inaugurated. The crises have thrown up a major issue: the role and influence of unelected party mandarins over freely elected officials in a presidential and electoral system. Can unelected party officials impose their will on officials elected who came to office by popular will from their constituencies? Can, for instance, the party impose their will on the newly elected President Buhari? Can they send him his ministerial list complete with portfolios as they have sought to do with the National Assembly leadership?

Many had thought APC would have learnt some lessons from its failed bid to impose presiding officers on the National Assembly. But the party stubbornly toed the same path by insisting on choosing all the other principal officers in the National Assembly, premising its position on party supremacy. Last week, in a letter addressed by the National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, to Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara, the party listed names of its preferred candidates for the position of leader, deputy leader, whip and deputy whip for both houses. The letter which reads thus, “Please find below for your necessary action the names of principal officers approved by the party……” nominated Senators Ahmad Lawan (Yobe, North-east), George Akume (Benue, North-central), Olusola Adeyeye (Osun, South-west) and Abu Ibrahim (Katsina, North-west) for the positions of Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader and Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip, respectively. In the House of Representatives, it nominated Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos) as Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa (Kano) as Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno) as Chief Whip, and Hon. Pally Iriase (Edo) as Deputy Chief Whip.

Just like the election of the presiding officers, members defied the imposition by the party. In the Senate, Lawan was defeated by Senator Ali Ndume in the North-east caucus while Bala Ibn Na'Allah emerged as deputy leader. Sen. Francis Alimikhena emerged Senate deputy whip. Yet, the party is still bent on achieving its aim of imposing leaders on the legislative arm as it has scheduled its NEC and BoT meetings for that purpose.

"If this idea of the party sending the list of principal legislative officers stands, it means there would be crisis in every APC states as state leaders will try to impose their will and candidates on the houses of assembly," said a party leader.

Already, as questions are being raised on whether the party would also send a list of ministers with complete portfolios to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment, many wonder if the supremacy of the party only apply to the legislative arm? Even though political parties are platforms for getting into elective offices, in a presidential system as practised in Nigeria, post-election role of a political party is still a subject of debate, especially as its affects composition of government.

So far, President Buhari has maintained a dignified approach to the crisis between the party and the National Assembly, reiterating his belief in party supremacy while also pledging his willingness to work with any leader elected by National Assemble members. It is however in the interest of his administration to urgently put a halt to the crisis in the party before its spirals out of control. It is unfortunate that 30 days after the ruling APC government was inaugurated, it has yet to effectively take off as key appointments have not been made. Valuable time that would have been used by party leaders to discuss the shape and direction of government is being lost to their bid to impose leaders on the legislature.

As the party's National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees prepare to meet on this, many will be watching with keen interest to see if reason will prevail and if they will seek to put an end to this nauseating theatre of the absurd, in the interest of the Nigerians who they promised change in order to secure their votes. Many believe it is time for the APC to end it internal crises and truly begin the task of governance.