Group Politics Editor, EZEOCHA NZEH, reports that despite recording unprecedented election victories in 2019, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is still searching for the much needed peace to move the party forward in 2020 and beyond, going by the series of crisis that greeted the party after its election victory
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could no doubt be adjudged the most improved out of the country’s 92 registered political parties, in the year 2019, which was the country’s election year
In addition to forming a second term government at the centre, the APC did not only take over the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly, which it could not actualize due to crisis after its first term victory in 2015, it also made an inroad into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled South South, winning the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State. This feat may have no doubt raised concerns on the future of the PDP in Bayelsa state, which produced the country’s immediate past President in Goodluck Jonathan.
The APC also made some remarkable feats in the South East, by ensuring that unlike what happened in 2015, President Buhari recorded the much needed 25% in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo states.
Though the party lost control of Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Imo, Oyo, Sokoto and Zamfara states to the opposition PDP during the 2019 elections due largely to crisis, it was able to also seize the control of states like Ekiti, Ondo and Gombe from the opposition, thereby being in control of 19 out of the 36 states, leaving the opposition parties with 17.
A party in crisis
Despite its election victories, the year 2019 cannot be said to have ended peacefully at the ruling party, having been engulfed in series of crisis which it has carried into the new-year 2020.
Though one can argue that the current National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC may have inherited some of its crisis from the former Odigie – Oyegun led NWC (after he conducted some questionable party congresses in some states), it became multiplied and more threatening upon the emergence of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as leader of the new NWC which came into being in June 2018.
Upon assumption of office in 2018, the Oshiomhole led NWC either resumed the conduct of state party congresses which was not completed before Oyegun left office or he (Oshiomhole) rescinded the decisions of the out gone NWC and cancelled the results of the congresses in some states.
This decision could be described as the remote cause of the attack and crisis which the comrade faced immediately after the 2019 election
Having lost Adamawa, Bauchi, Oyo and Zamfara due to the alleged poor handling of the party primaries by the Oshiomhole led NWC, aggrieved candidates and stakeholders moved to the battle trenches to launch barrage of attacks on the NWC chairman and his team.
In May 2019, the deputy national chairman (North) Sen. Lawan Shuaibu, set the ball rolling, in his letter to both the President and National Assembly, asked his National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to step aside.
Sen. Shuaibu, who accused the chairman for the loss the party incurred in so many states during the 2019 elections, faulted the conduct of party congresses and primaries in the states, insisting that the outcome represented a lack of knowledge, experience in adherence to due process in political electoral process.
It would be recalled that the NWC opted for a staggered option, using either the delegate or direct primary to elect its candidates for the 2019 election, even against the position of majority of the stakeholders in some states
In his letter, which was addressed to the National Assembly on May 27th, 2019, Lawan Shuaibu argued that having caused the party losses in so many states, the APC National Chairman had failed to add value or build over and above what he met on assumption of duty, stressing that he should honourably resign.
He argued that the conduct of the APC party primaries left the party deeply divided into factions, as many personal interests clashed, especially in the cases involving the immediate past governors of Imo and Ogun states, Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun respectively, as well as the former Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu in Oyo state. The crises did not only lead to the suspension of Okorocha and Amosun by Adams Oshiomhole, over allegation of anti-party activities, but also contributed to the misfortune the party suffered in their states. Also in this APC misfortune over crisis included Adamawa, Zamfara and Rivers states.
Also joining in the call for Oshiomhole’s resignation, the Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, regrettably described Oshiomhole’s conduct of the APC primaries as “a cash and carry exercise.”
“Some of us felt that the party primaries for the 2019 general elections were kind of cash and carry. The truth is that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole mismanaged the primaries.
“We contributed billions of Naira during the primaries and if Oshiomhole was not on a mission to financially help his brothers, what he would have done was to mobilise the APC members across the country. He made us lose in some critical states like Bauchi, Adamawa, Zamfara, and Oyo among others. They were grievous losses very difficult to reclaim.
“After the primaries, no matter how rancorous, a good chairman who is not despotic or authoritarian would have known how to calm nerves by assembling respectable people around each precinct to spearhead the reconciliation. The grief and anger lingered too long because such was not done,” Okechukwu noted.
Following Lawan Shuaibu’s letter was an expression of discomfort and disappointment by the Director General of the APC Governors Forums, Salihu Mohmammed Lukman, who in his own letter also called for Oshiomhole’s resignation as APC National Chairman. Like others, he alleged questionable approaches and highhandedness in handling party issues
The lingering crisis and eventual call for Oshiomhole’s resignation resurfaced during the party’s last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, when a group of APC state chairmen and non NWC NEC members met in Abuja to press further for his resignation
The group also accused the APC National Chairman of highhandedness in the conduct of party affairs, warning that his continued stay in office could cause the party more harm in 2023 polls
The APC crisis and the future of Oshiomhole was also witnessed among the ranks of the party’s governors as several visits were undertaken by the progressives to the presidential villa, where both anti and pro Oshiomhole demands were presented to President Muhammadu Buhari
Following the unending crisis in the APC, immediate past governor of Imo state and Senator representing Imo West, Rochas Okorocha, as well as other stakeholders of the party had warned that the future of the APC has remained bleak, arguing that the party may not last beyond 2023 when President Buhari would have served out his second term.
As if the post election crisis were not enough, the APC entered into another threatening crisis, when the National Chairman was locked in a raging and fierce leadership battle with the Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, over the control of the party and its governorship ticket for the 2020 election, leading to suspension and counter suspension of the feuding leaders, as well as a sharp division in the APC ranks in Edo state
This ragging battle has thrown the party into a more confused state, as it is alleged that some APC governors may have been dragged into it, with some backing their colleague to finish the political remains of Oshiomhole in Edo state, while other are said to have given him the support to sack Obaseki and remain relevant in the state which he once ruled as governor.
Also confronting the party is its inability to fill the numerous vacancies at the NWC, which has also led to criticism from stakeholders.
Some NWC positions of the party have become vacant following elections, appointments among others.
For example, the office of National Secretary, which became vacant, following the election victory of Mai Mala Buni, as Governor of Yobe state is yet to be filled, seven months after Mala Buni was sworn in as executive governor of the state
Also, the Deputy National Chairman (South), Niyi Adebayo, was appointed as Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment by President Muhammadu Buhari and recently, the National Auditor of the party, George Moghalu, has also been appointed as the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA)
With several party members positioning themselves to fill the vacant offices, the inability of the NWC to announce processes for their replacements have attracted growing disenchantment at various levels
The search for peace
Despite the series of crisis and continued demand for Oshiomhole to go, the party took the road to peace and reconciliation, when the NWC convened the much demanded National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in November 2019
Addressing the NEC, President Buhari sued for peace, while challenging all APC stakeholders to move into their ward and constituency to win more converts for the party
President Buhari, who warned of the imminent danger about the future and fortune of the party, expressed his concerns, apprehension and anxiety over what becomes the future of APC after 2023.
Expressing his worries that the APC has dipped into more crisis since its 2019 election victory, the President warned members to be conscious of what history will record as their contribution to the party’s progress, adding that history will not forgive them if the party crumbles in their hands or fails to get a reliable replacement for him beyond his tenure in 2023.
“At the meeting of the Caucus, I made some comments which are still relevant here; the most important thing for me is that every member of NEC should reposition him/herself to ensure that you have dominated your constituencies politically. The aim is that history will not be fair to us, if the APC collapses at the end of this term.
“History will be fair to us if the APC remained strong and not only holds the centre but make gains. People will reflect with nostalgia that once upon a time, the builders of APC made a lot of sacrifices, worked very hard. The sacrifices are physical, material and moral to make sure that we maintain the leadership, politically of this system. This is what we should all aim at and ensure that our constituencies understand and follow us to this great objective. As for our performance during the last series of elections, what happened to APC in Imo, Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara states are really unfortunate.
“In your constituencies, I will like you to ensure that you read the Constitution of the party, understand and stick to it. What we did for you at the executive, NWC is bottom to top. You must ensure that people elected to be responsible for polling units to the wards, local governments, states to here are respected in their respective constituencies.
“This is the only way we can make this party survive, this is the only way history will be kind to us that we have led with absolute concern for the country and for the people.
“If for any other reason, you divide the party, at any constituency and it causes failure, then be prepared that history will not recognize you as a leader at any level at any time,” Buhari had warned the NEC members.
Arising from the NEC meeting, the NWC was charged to initiate the process of reconciliation by inaugurating a committee that would meet all the aggrieved stakeholders and work towards returning a lasting peace to the party.
Also following the NEC’s tall order, the forum of non NWC NEC member also met in Abuja to demand for the lisfting of the suspension clamped on former Governors, Rochas Okorocha Okorocha, Ibikunle Amosun and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, as well as the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu and many others.
In its pursuit for peace and in adhering to the charges of the APC NEC and Forum of non NWC NEC members the party’s NEC has however towed the road to reconciliation, when it recently not only announced the lifting of the suspension of the above mentioned stakeholders, but also announced the composition of a seven man reconciliation committee, headed by the President of Senate, Ahmed Lawan
Even as the Lawan committee is yet to be inaugurated, amidst it’s rejection by a section of the aggrieved stakeholders, the President’s plea may have however been accepted, as a pro Ibikunle Amosun former member of the APC in Ogun state, Adekunle Akinlade, who left the party at the heat of the crisis to run for governor on the platform of Allied People’s Movement (APM) has returned with his teeming supporters. Also returning is Uche Nwosu, the former Chief of Staff to past Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who also left the APC after he was controversially denied the party’s governorship ticket in Imo state.
