APC: A Party at War With Itself

Internal wrangling, non-compliance with its constitution, and absence of leadership are some of the signals that the ruling party is toeing the same destructive path that led to the downfall of the Peoples Democratic Party, writes Shola Oyeyipo

Now the PDP is trying to put its house in order while APC is beginning to make the same mistake that PDP made.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is indeed an extraordinary party. It is the party that defeated an incumbent. Not a mean feat in this part of the world. This was the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an opposition political party unseated a governing party in a general election and one in which power transferred peacefully from one political party to another.

However, it appears that the party was formed for the purpose of defeating Dr Goodluck Jonathan because after achieving this feat, the party has been struggling to remain united.

Apart from its inability to manage itself, the government formed by the party has also not been able to meet the yawning and aspirations of the electorate. This has led many to wonder what happened to a party that promised so much but delivering so little.

Apparently, the party’s strength is also its weakness. Formed in February 2013, the party is the result of an alliance of Nigeria’s three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) – which merged to take on the ruling PDP.

Having achieved the purpose for which it was established, the party appeared not to have given adequate thought to what would happen after the election.

A chieftain of the party in Ogun State, Chief Bode Mustapha warned that his party was beginning to make the same mistake the Peoples Democratic Party made. He said: “Let us face it. When APC was coming, the mantra at that time was ‘Any Other But Jonathan’ (AOBJ), but that had come and gone. Now, the PDP is trying to put its house in order. Now, APC is beginning to make the same mistake that PDP made.”

Mustapha pointed out that one of the mistakes APC is making is imposing candidates and depriving party members the opportunity to chose the person they wanted.

Although the party has continued to manage the various power blocs that are spoiling for a show down by avoiding to hold some of its statutory meetings, this is not a sustainable tactic.

Admirers of the party have waited endlessly for the party to get its acts together, consolidate on its unprecedented 2015 presidential elections victory and bring about the change it promised. But going by events that have characterised the activities of the party since it assumed power, such expectations are likely to wait much longer because of the discordant tunes within the rank and file of the party.

Indication that all is not well in the APC is evidenced in the fact that the party has continued to flagrantly flout some provisions of its constitution by not holding some of its statutory meetings some of which include the national caucus, the National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Convention

For instance, while article 25 of the APC constitution expressly specified that “The National Convention of the party shall be held once in two years at a date, venue and time to be recommended by the National Working Committee and approved by the National Executive Committee,” but the mid-term convention earlier fixed for April 2017 has since been aborted twice, purportedly due to the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who was away for medical reasons.

The inability of the operators of the party machinery to hold a convention has no doubt constituted a source of concern for party members, hence the promise by the National Working Committee (NWC) that a national convention would hold not later than the first quarter of 2017 but after the mid-term non-elective convention earlier slated for April had been postponed, no new date has been announced.

Many members of the party are dissatisfied with the way the party is being run while others who wanted to join the party are also being discouraged.

Mustapha again explained how bad the situation is when he said: “Again, having had the experience of being a member of the National Working Committee member of the PDP, while PDP was in power, the national exco meetings were always held, national caucus meetings were always held statutorily, NEC meetings were always held, and we NWC members who were running the party, met every week, but today and I think, what has caused that is because APC was hurriedly put together, without any ideology, without anything whatsoever, just to say, like I said earlier on, Jonathan has to go because the damage done to the economy, and to this nation, was enormous and we didn’t know it was this bad and it was only a snippet of it that we had. So, I agree with you, that the party is being run like a fiefdom.”

The convention is an important platform in the political calendar of every party, not only is it the highest organ of the party, it is mandatory, provides room for self-reappraisal and re-evaluation. During invention, vacancies at all levels of the party arising from deaths, appointments and others are filled by delegates elected to participate while the national leadership of the party is also elected at the meeting.

The convention also provides a platform for power plays among the party heavy weights especially those with ambition. If it had been held it would have provided an opportunity for the president’s men – the ‘Abuja Boys’ as they are known in some quarters and other notables like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is already projecting his presidential ambition; former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is believed to have been edged out of scheme of things in the APC, Senate President Bukola Saraki and former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to mobilise their base and strategise for future election.

Truth is, whenever the convention holds, these major forces are expected to position their interests. The 2019 presidential election and the soul of the ruling party will be the motivation for the gladiators in the APC and in the light of current events in the party, it is going to be quite intriguing.

In fact, as far back as March 2017, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has watched with dismay APC’s refusal to hold a mid term convention within the stipulated time frame prescribed by its constitution. INEC has kept its silence on the issue, fuelling suspicion as to whether the commission would have the will to take on the ruling party on the issue.

Already, there is a constitutional crisis looming in APC as it struggles to agree on a date for its National Executive Committee meeting preparatory to the now overdue mid term convention.

In what many consider as a direct result of the cold war between the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and some forces within the party, his National Working Committee has not really been favoured by some power brokers within the party and as such there have been battles of wits for the control of its national secretariat, a situation that would play out when the convention eventually holds.

The Underbelly in APC

If there is one thing that political observers of the situation within the APC agreed upon, it is the fact that there is a widespread disaffection within the party. However, many of the aggrieved parties appear to have resolved to stomach their disenchantment till the right time before they speak out. A simple pointer to that was the outburst of the First Lady Aisha Buhari, who alleged that some cabals have taken over the presidency

The root cause of the fault lines in the party is simply that the APC started on a faulty note of incompetence in the sharing of the national offices. The problem started immediately after the presidential election when the leadership of the party was unable to collectively arrive at how to distribute the national offices.

An agreement that was worked out by the NWC which allocated principal offices of the National Assembly to the various geo-political zones became contentious and was marred by intrigues. It was because the party failed to take charge that the opposition PDP had the opportunity of participating in deciding how the four top positions in the National Assembly would go. This was what led to the takeover of the leadership of the National Assembly by dissident elements within the system.

While the party preferred the duo of Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume for the office of Senate President and Deputy Senate President, the pair of the APC’s Senator Bukola Saraki and the PDP’s Senator Ike Ekweremadu eventually clinched the two leadership positions. Similar scenario took place in the House of Representatives where the party preferred Hon.