•••Kano Ex-Governor’s Alleged Corrupt Dealings Dent Bid
•••No Decision Yet – APC Spokesman, Morka
The National Executive Committee of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, will meet on August 2 and 3, 2023. Crucial on the agenda of the NEC, comprising the President and Vice President, all 20 state governors of the party, principal officers of the National and State Houses of Assembly, will be how to fill the four vacancies in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party created by the exit of Acting National Chairman, Senator Abubakar Kyari, a ministerial nominee: Dr. Betta Edu, National Woman Leader, also a ministerial nominee; Dr Salihu Lukman, National Vice-Chairman (North- West), who resigned from the NWC recently; Senator Iyiola Omisore, National Secretary, who was forced to resign recently alongside ex-National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and the position of the Deputy National Chairman, North, occupied by Senator Kyari before he was drafted on July 17, to act as National Chairman.
“Hopefully after the meeting, we will have a clearer picture of when the vacancies will be filled,” National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, told THEWILL on Friday. The party will be guided by its constitution in reconstituting the NEC, he said, adding that though the highest organ of the party in matters related to filling the vacancies is the National Convention, “NEC has the pre-convention powers to fill the vacancies, including approving relevant state exco and zonal committee decisions routed through the NWC.”
EXIT ADAMU, OMISORE, ENTER GANDUJE, AJIBOLA
Although it is hardly news that former National Chairman Adamu and National Secretary, Omisore, resigned their positions because of their differences with President Bola Tinubu, particularly Adamu for his open anti-Tinubu posture since the party’s presidential convention heldon July 8, 2022, where his preferred candidate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, was roundly defeated, their manner of exit gives an inkling of a web of intrigues within the party.
Glo
The party has said that both Chairman and Secretary resigned voluntarily. But investigations show that they left under a cloud. Even Adamu’s resignation letter was handwritten, forced upon him by Governor Hope Uzodinma, Chairman of the APC Progressive Governors Forum, shortly after he openly criticised the president’s influence in the choice of the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives during an expanded meeting of the party.
President Tinubu was far away in Kenya for an African Leaders confab when the event took place, but Governor Uzodinma is the President’s ally and his first-among-equals position in the Governors’ Forum confers on him certain powers that he can wield on behalf of Tinubu.
A dependable party source confided in THEWILL that with Adamu and Omisore out, the party needed to come under the control of Tinubu’s men to ensure total compliance and loyalty to him. According to the source, Adamu’s presence had been giving the President, who also has an eye on 2027 politics, worries.
That is the main reason the President’s men, Ganduje and Ajibola, are being considered for the position of National Chairman and National Secretary, two powerful positions in the NWC. Both of them are considered to be among the strongest supporters of Tinubu.
Such cold political calculations and considerations are said to be giving the jitters to those in the party who think intra-party democracy will suffer in the end.
Leading the opposition to the perceived presidential encroachment on the party is former National Vice-chairman, (Northwest) Lukman, who resigned from the NCW last Wednesday in protest.
Lukman, who said he resigned because the “atmosphere in the party” was completely “at variance with the founding vision of forming a progressive party,” added a punchline: “I will, however, retain my membership of the party in the hope that our leaders, especially President Bola Tinubu will retract from acts that will be unjust and illegal, which is crucial to any claim of being democratic or progressive, whether as politicians or as patriotic Nigerians.”
Lukman had waged a prolonged campaign for Adamu to go, but for a different reason. For fairness, he appealed to the party to get a National Chairman from the same North-Central geo-political zone as Adamu, who is a Christian to balance the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the party.
At the weekend, Lukman piled on the pressure. President Tinubu, he said, lacked the powers to nominate anyone to replace Adamu. According to him, doing so would violate section 31,2 of the APC Constitution.
In a statement he said, “If this provision of the APC constitution is to be respected, the Nasarawa State Executive Committee of APC, which is where Senator Adamu comes from, should have the right to propose a replacement, which should be endorsed by the State Congress and the Zonal Executive Committee.”
He questioned Ganduje’s moral integrity to lead the party, “if with all the corruption allegations against him…”
Morka agrees with Lukman’s position that the party’s constitution is clear. “Nominations to fill existing vacancies are made by relevant state exco committees and zonal committees and transmitted to the NWC, which make recommendations to the NEC.” But he disclosed that the NEC of the party had “authority over many decisions to approve the nominations, but the highest body is the national convention.”
Asked about the perceived presidential nomination of Ganduje to fill the vacant positions of National Chairman and ex-spokesperson of the 19th Senate, Bashir Ajibola, for the position of National Secretary, Morka waxed rhetorical: “Nobody that I know has made any decision, regarding the position of National Chairman and National Secretary. So, no decision has been made on that. We will know by the time the relevant organs of the party convene for the work. I am sure the NEC will convey the time and date to consider the suitability of aspirants for the office. If there are other members of the party who express interests, I am sure the NEC will give them the chance to aspire or make themselves available, including former Governor Ganduje.”
Other grounds for which some party officials are kicking against Ganduje’s choice are fairness and representation. Ganduje’s North-West geo-political zone has already taken the plum office of Speaker, House of Representatives, and Deputy Senate President. Both positions are currently occupied by Tajudeen Abbas from Kaduna State and Barau Jibrin from Ganduje’s Kano State, respectively.
POLITICAL CALCULATIONS
Investigation revealed that President Tinubu will go ahead with his choice of Ganduje as the new APC National Chairman. After all, said the party source, local and zonal party officials have approved the former Kano State governor’s nomination.
Indeed, on July 26, 2023, APC Chairmen from the seven North-West states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto and Jigawa signed a communique endorsing Ganduje for the position of National Chairman.
Apart from wanting to maintain a tight hold over the party through pliant officials, Tinubu is said to be planning ahead for the 2027 polls. It is in that same light that he left his imprint on the list of ministerial nominees, according to his Chief of Staff, Femi Gabjabiamila, taking his time to go “through the nominees one by one…”
Even a confidant like the immediate past governor of Ebonyi State and now member of the Senate representing Ebonyi South Senatorial District, David Umahi, who is also a nominee for minister, disclosed that Tinubu was exclusively responsible for his selection as a ministerial nominee from his state.
From former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who led the 13 Northern governors that defied former President Muhammadu Buhari’s plea to be allowed to choose his successor and threw their weight behind Tinubu to former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, who worked against his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for Tinubu, the President is gathering round him his men for now and the future.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
From the Alliance of Democracy, AD, whose leaders had to give way or follow his dictates to the Action Congress and then the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, which was formed in 2006 through a merger of a faction of AD, Justice Party and the Advance Congress of Democrats and then the APC, formed by five legacy political parties in 2013, Tinubu has always maintained a firm grip on party structures. He was National Leader of the APC, even when Buhari as president was constitutionally the party’s leader. Now that he has achieved the ultimate power as president, who will stop him?
Aggrieved Lukman made the point in his weekend notes when he said, “The dominant view among leaders is that once President Bola Tinubu has decided on an issue, we should just simply work for its success, even with all the legal and moral questions.”
Ganduje’s choice may be one of those legal and moral questions dividing the party at the moment.
Already, Ganduje has started getting used to his assigned role. Two days after the president held a reconciliation meeting with Adamu and Omisore at the presidential villa, Ganduje, wearing Tinubu’s customised cap over orange banbariga, last Thursday, paid Adamu a visit in his Abuja residence.
Amos Esele, is a journalist,he writes from Abuja.
