APC: A PARTY AT WAR WITH ITSELF
APC was hurriedly put together, without any ideology, without anything whatsoever, just to say
Femi Gbajabiamila and Mohammed Moguno as speaker and deputy speaker, but they were defeated by the unofficial candidates of the party, Yakubu Dogara and Lasun Yusuf. These developments polarised the APC from the onset and also brought into the fore the fact that the party was constituted by strange bed fellows..
The 2919 Presidential Race
Another hurdle that the APC must cross which is capable of exposing the degree of fragile peace in the ruling party at the slightest opportunity is the 2019 presidential election. While it is yet unclear whether or not President Muhammadu Buhari, despite his health challenges would be considering a second term after 2019, there are members of the president’s party who are eyeing his job. Others who are not seeking to be president fear that if the party presents an ailing candidate it may lose the election. Yet, the shenanigans within the party will not allow such a voice of reason to prevail.
Already former Vice-President Abubakar, who was the second runner up at the last presidential primary of the APC has already tactically indicated his desire to take over from Buhari.
That much the Minister for Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan said when she said that she would rather go with Atiku in the 2019 election.
“Let me tell you today that if Baba said he is going to contest in 2019, I swear to Allah, I will go before him and kneel and tell him that ‘Baba I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me to serve your government as a minister but Baba, just like you know, I will support only Atiku because he is my godfather. If Atiku said he is going to contest.”
Though the minister later apologised to her party for the opinion which she openly expressed, the truth is that some underground scheming is already on among the party bigwigs who have been left in the cold by the party. As 2019 draws closer, the party risks an implosion.
The Tinubu, Kwankwaso Travails
Another formidable power bloc in the APC is the Tinubu-Kwankwaso bloc and both men have had not too good experiences since the last presidential election. The crisis reached it climax on Sunday, September 25, 2016 when Tinubu demanded the resignation of the national chairman, Odigie-Oyegun.
The former governor of Lagos state accused Oyegun of engaging in undemocratic actions in Ondo State, particularly by sending the name Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC against the decision of the appeal panel that recommended a fresh primary for the governorship election in the state.
In what reminds one of efforts by former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to breed new political allies while he jettisoned those that brought him into power, there has been a gradual but well-coordinated plot to reduce Tinubu’s influence in the party by forces within the APC as the groundswell towards the 2019 presidential election continues.
In Kogi, Ondo and at the National Assembly levels, Tinubu’s interests were stampeded. Not only that, his former allies like former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola; former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi: APC National Legal Adviser, Mr. Muiz Banire with whom he has apparently fallen out, were appointed ministers into Buhari’s cabinet without his input. Those at the helms of affairs seem to have resolved to whittle down his influence in the party he sacrificed so much to bring about and give it electoral victory.
Just as his Lagos counterpart, Kwankwaso, a serving senator has been at loggerheads with his successor, Governor Umar Ganduje in Kano state. In fact, in March last year, the leadership of the APC in Kano State initiated moves to suspend him over what it termed anti-party activities. Kwankwaso who came next to Buhari in the APC primary still has his eyes on the presidency and he is still not a push over in northern politics.
Atiku Cries Out
Recently, Atiku Abubakar, accused Buhari’s government which he said he helped into power in 2015 of scheming him out.
Abubakar’s accusations at the government came same day Aisha Alhassan, said she would support the former vice president even if Buhari runs for election in 2019.
In an interview on the Hausa Service of the Voice of America, VOA, Abubakar said he had been side-lined despite his efforts in making sure that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was defeated in 2015.
He said, “Honestly speaking, I’m still a member of the APC; I was part of all the processes, including campaigns until success was achieved.”
“But sadly, soon after the formation of government; I was side-lined, I have no any relationship with the government, I’ve not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in turn, I maintained my distance. They used our money and influence to get to where they are but three years down the lane, this is where we are.”
He applauded the president on the successes recorded so far in the fight against Boko Haram, but said it was not yet time to celebrate and jubilate because a lot is yet to be done and “the ruling government had failed in many fronts.
“Yes, there were successes but not comprehensive success because the Boko Haram miscreants are still very active, killing our people and many local government councils in Borno and Yobe are under their firm grip. People cannot dare go back to their dwellings”
“This thing baffles me; I never imagined that Nigeria will fight a protracted battle with Boko Haram for five years. At a time, we fought the Biafra war, which was more complicated because of the terrain in the South but the Biafran soldiers were roundly subdued in 30 months. But here we are, fighting an endless battle with the Boko Haram and there’s no end in sight”.
Abubakar said little was achieved on corruption asking “How many people were arrested, prosecuted and jailed? How much was recovered from the looters?”
The Discordant Tune
The signal that intrigues will characterise the 2019 presidential election and that the election will be as fiercely contested is seen in how Atiku has said without mincing word that the Nigerian citizens are yet to witness the change promised them by the APC.
While the government is still researching and trying to come up with its definition of restructuring, Atiku has aligned himself with Nigerians on the topical issue. Recently, he told a large crowd of academics, students, politicians, and others who were gathered at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), in a lecture organised by the Senior Staff Club of the University that Nigeria had failed to realise her potentials, hence the refusal of the political leaders to restructure the country.
“Restructuring will help to bring the benefits of change we promised the people in the last election which we have not seen,” and “We need restructuring in order to address the challenges that hold us back; these problems will remain un-addressed unless we restructure”
According to him, “Issue of restructuring is beyond resource control; there are more important issues. In my own vision, restructuring will not make some states richer and some poorer; it is a win-win situation for all the States. Nigeria will derive more revenue after restructuring.”
His equally carpeted the APC decision to set up a 10-man committee on restructuring headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, describing it as needless and that having an el-Rufai, with an anti-restructuring posture to head the committee was laughable.
The way stakeholders in the South are making their position known on the topic of restructuring is instructive. The southwest is likely to give massive support to whoever comes with a clear road map to actualising the restructuring agenda. And with Atiku already leading the restructuring debate, the indication is that the APC is like a house divided against itself because there are grievances that will be brought to fore as the move towards the 2019 general election continues.
Even if Buhari is impressed upon to seek a second term and he picks the APC ticket, the process of winning a re-election would be a lot more difficult than it was during first term because from the look of things, he is bound to face some resistance from those that gave him the biggest supports back then.
In the Beginning
Prior to the formation of the APC and its victory in the 2015 elections, Buhari had previously contested (and subsequently lost) the Nigerian presidential elections of 2003 and 2007 as the presidential nominee of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the 2011 Nigerian presidential election as the presidential nominee of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Apart from making Buhari’s dream of becoming a reality, the APC 179 members on January 15, 2015 when the House resumed after a long recess to finally affirm its majority. The governors who defected to the APC were Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State.
It had been previously reported that Governors Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Sule Lamido of Jigawa State were to set to defect from the PDP to the APC; however, both ended up remaining with the PDP.
In the 2015 elections, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu ran as a senatorial nominee of the PDP for the Niger State east senatorial district, losing in a landslide to the APC’s David Umaru.
The APC is generally considered to be a centre-left political party that favours controlled market economic policies, and a strong and active role for government regulation