Home » Features » APC consensus: All is not well with ruling party
To say all is not well with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is to state the obvious.
If for nothing, the back and forth about the issue of a consensus confirmed it.
The party had severally brought forward candidates, with many saying those with pedigree such as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Dr Kayode Fayemi and others be allowed to slug it out among themselves as southern options, but that decision is being fought with all fiber of some interests’ being.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has been vocal in his opposition to the decision to zone the party’s ticket to the South and would not have it any other way.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan is doing his own scheming with people like the Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu in cahoots.
Late Monday night, security operatives evicted journalists from APC National secretariat in Abuja while waiting endlessly for the presidential convention accreditation to commence.
They motioned newsmen to hurry up with their belongings, disclosing that they are acting on the order of the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
“When asked to give a reason for the eviction, one of the operatives retorted that Adamu asked them to clear out the premises because he was planning to ‘host an important meeting and won’t like to see journalists hanging around when he returns.”
The incident almost resulted in a stampede as journalists were seen rushing to pack their laptops, tripods, cameras, and bags.
This is a proof that something is not right, if the presidency and the national secretariat of the party would be speaking in discordant tunes.
Abdullahi Adamu had announced at the meeting of the National Working Committee that the party has settled for Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after due consultation with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Just a moment after the NWC meeting ended, the report was subsequently debunked by the presidency, which disclosed that it was yet to agree on a particular aspirant.
The crack within the leadership of APC became noticeable when seven members of the same National Working Committee held a press conference and denied choosing the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as its consensus candidate.
The National Organising Secretary of the APC, Suleman Argungu, reiterated that the choice of Lawan was not the decision taken by the party as alleged.
In his words, “It’s not an issue that has been discussed on the floor of the NWC and we have just, and just recently about two days ago, the northern Governors meeting had a meeting that the leadership of this country, under the leadership under the All Progressive Congress should go to the north.
“And equally, the Southern governors also affirmed that. So we as members of the NWC are also with the governors on what they have said and some minutes ago the governors in the North have gone to the presidency and have just briefed the president that they are still on what they said with regards to the power shift to the south.
“It is information and all of us are entitled to our opinion, we are all democrats.”
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Bola Ahmed Tinubu had angrily told delegates in parts of Southwest that he made Buhari and Osinbajo become President and Vice President respectively and that it was his turn to rule Nigeria.
That comment has sparked a lot of controversies within the rank of the party.
Osinbajo is seen as a more sellable candidate by some northern interest given the obedience he has shown Buhari throughout their almost eight years rulership since 2015.
Other contestants, especially those in the North feel the APC should also field a northern candidate as done by the major opposition party, PDP to neutralize the chances of the opposition winning in certain areas because of religious and tribal appeals.
This is not going down well with others as well, causing the crisis within APC to escalate.
But several political analysts have blamed what is happening on President Buhari who has refused to take charge and lead from the front.
Yakubu Aminu, a political commentator told TheNewsGuru.com that Buhari has failed everyone that believed in him and his capacity to lead by standing aloof while crisis festered within the ruling party.
He said Nigerian democracy has not matured to the extent that a president would leave party affairs solely to members of the National Working Committee.
“In fact, from 1999 to 2007, we saw the iron fist with which Obasanjo held the PDP. He was actively ensuring those who refused to tow the line were shown the way out across the country. He was the all-and-all and many persons thought he was undemocratic, but that gave the PDP stability and hold to their office holders.
“One expected a bit of that from Buhari, but we didn’t see even a sign of that from him. He is just nowhere to be found. I sense implosion within the APC if nothing is done urgently to arrest the situation.
“This is not what Nigerians deserve,” he emphasized.