From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The recent admission by the governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha that there are so much bitterness and rancour among stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) due to the failure of the party to manage its success well was a confirmation that the crisis within the party is now an open secret.
Despite repeated denials by the party’s national leadership about the crisis within the party, the indicators from the grassroots, the states, national level, and even the National Assembly have proved the fact that APC has become a party divided against itself.
Governor Okorocha had warned: “We must do something to ensure unity in our party. We noticed that there are so much bitterness and rancour among the ranks and members of our party and there is need for communication and dialogue to make war inevitable.”
The cracks in the party have continued to widen to an extent that the situation has become a full blown attrition and warfare. In fact, the hope of reconciliation worsened when party stalwarts shunned the Ondo State governorship campaign flag-off despite series of peace meetings.
The disturbing crises within the ruling party and the failure of the leadership to manage them have obviously degenerated to with the rumoured floating of a new party by the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Above all, the situation was an attestation of the inability of the party to resolve the myriad of political and socio-economic challenges confronting the country. Many believe that a party that cannot organise itself certainly lacks the capability to resolve national problems.
For historical purposes, the brewing crisis within the party which crystallised into worrying dimension after dusting the largest party in the continent, the PDP, during the 2015 general elections, started during the selection of the principal officers at both chambers of the National Assembly.
Conflicting interests among the party chieftains and major stakeholders had reared ugly heads as certain forces schemed to outsmart one another with the intent to remotely have grip of the party from the National Assembly leadership.
The National Assembly principal officers’ rift brought so much divisions, mistrusts, acrimony and resentment among the party members and structures. The dust raised by the intriguing emergence of certain persons as principal officers unfavourable to certain factions were yet to settle when the anger and resentment of federal appointments erupted and shattered the little graveyard peace the party was trying to manage.
With much bitterness trailing what many considered lopsided appointments by Mr President, ploys and realignment deepened the crisis within the party. Claims and counter claims of certain elements that did not even play key role in the emergence and success of the party during the 2015 general elections hijacking the party became other serious distractions.
Discordant tunes came from unexpected quarters over the future of the party. National leaders, Bola Tinubu, former Vice President, Atiku and most recently the wife of Mr President, Aisha Amina Buhari expressed strong reservations.
While Tinubu clamoured for an outright removal of the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, alleging that he has corrupted his office with fraudulent handling of the Ondo governorship party primary poll, Atiku harped on restructuring; the first lady had furiously condemned the relegation of those that worked acidulously for the success of the party to the point of irrelevance.
As bitterness gave rise to machination and realignment, the party became the biggest casualty. Only the courageous ones like the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank seems to be the voice crying in the wilderness, warning of a glaring imminent doomsday starring the party in the face.
On several instances, Comrade Frank warned that the party will be worse off with Chief Oyegun’s continued stay as the party chairman. He had further argued that the national leadership of the party has failed in managing the numerous crises crippling the party, recalling instances of obvious rifts at every level of the party from the grassroots to the national stage without any deliberate intervention or attempt to reconcile the gladiators.
For him, since the national leadership knew nothing other than to organise party governorship primaries, the leadership must be restructured starting with the resignation or sack of the chairman, Chief Oyegun. He appealed to Mr President to compensate him with ambassadorial appointment.
Multiple crises trailing party primaries
The APC crisis came to the head with the governorship primary poll to pick the party’s candidates for Edo and Ondo states. Clashes of interests, shenanigans, treachery, horse-trading and primordial sentiments eclipsed and relegated collective interest to the background.
The inability to manage the ill feelings, the rancour and misgivings of the chieftains of the party remain the party’s greatest undoing.
Also in Kogi, rightly or wrongly, the party’s leadership stepped on many toes in the management of the controversy that trailed who becomes the party’s flag bearer between incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello and late Prince Abubakar Audu’s running mate, James Faleke.
They were blackmailed and accused of compromising their integrities. Their decision did not only widen the divide in the party more but also pitched them against many APC leaders with entrenched interests in the Kogi election.
Like in Kogi, the leadership did not also come out clean in the primary election conducted in Edo State. There were insinuations of clash of interests in the choice of candidates severing the relationships, but the leadership managed to wriggle out of it including rejecting the petitions from aspirants alleging fraudulent and clinical rigging of the process.
Also, the NWC could not come out unscratched from the conduct of the Ondo primary poll, resulting in the party’s national leader, Tinubu taking the party chairman to the cleaners.
The former Lagos state governor labelled Oyegun with all manner of derogatory names for rejecting the majority report of the Primary Election Appeals Panel, which recommended an outright cancellation of the election.
Calling for Oyegun’s resignation, a statement from the Tinubu Media Office (TMO), read: “As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence.
“Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate.
“As such, he has broken faith with the party and probably has broken a few laws. The consequences of what he has done are more expansive than a man of his scope can fathom. There must be a powerful and sinister arm at work to compel a man of Oyegun’s age to steal the decision of the party in a manner so crude that it would embarrass even the commonest thief,” Tinubu noted.
The dust raised by the Tinubu, Oyegun faceoff were yet to settle when rumour filtered in that there was a grand plan to replace Oyegun with former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and compensate him with ambassadorial appointment.
True or false, the recent announcement by Mr President during his recent visit to Edo State that he would need Oshiomhole’s services in Abuja, even as he declined to announce the capacity he would function has equally fuelled speculation of the imminent restructuring of the party in collaboration of the stand of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF).
Financial crisis
APC is obviously a party facing many crises. The unhealthy relationship within the party obviously resulted in the withdrawal of financial support from major stakeholders and chieftains of the party. APC has operated as a party collapsing under very heavy financial weight without any workable means of generating funds to oil the party machinery.
The financial crunch became worrisome when the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) disconnected the party secretariat over unpaid bills running into millions of naira.
In fact, it took the intervention of members of the staff to raise little amount of money to fix the faulty standby generating set to supply power to the headquarters of the ruling party to avoid further embarrassment and grounding of activities.
Rough roads to peace
Although the ripple effects have become mountainous, the route to peace is an unending one. Periodically, especially after obvious breakdown of peace, what appeared to be a reconciliation meeting were always held mostly at the State House with the involvement of Mr President but it seems that the more they search for peace, the more it eludes them.
Perhaps, what might appear as the biggest succour to the crisis may be the recent disclosure by Governor Okorocha that President Buhari will in no distant time address the party stakeholders on the misunderstandings among members.
“I want to assure them that no one will bully them out or urge them out but where there is need for possible amendment we can make it. It is natural with every human organisation. The party will be restructured for the purpose of making it stronger and to move forward as a party.
“Again, more importantly, we want to commend members of the NWC for their understanding, patience and sacrifice made so far and especially during the time of our elections. Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari who is the leader of our party will be addressing the party very soon in a couple of weeks to come or before the next two months,” he told journalists after a parley with the party leadership.
Only recently, moves were made to restore lasting peace in the party without success. In fact, many who expected that the convergence of stakeholders at Edo State recently for a peace parley would heal the wounds were disappointed when many failed to show up for the all-important Ondo governorship campaign in support of Rotimi Akereduolu. In reality, the road to peace for the ruling party seems to be very far away. Unfortunately, APC has become a party where hitherto loquacious politicians have suddenly become taciturn for fear of witch-hunt and intimidation.
With the build-up to 2019 almost entering into speed gear, the continued delay in finding a lasting solution to the myriad of crisis rocking the ruling party might spell doom as there are indications of sabotage and conspiracy to ensure the party fails.
In a party where expression of feelings has become impossible, where silence has become the best solution to every problematic issue and a party without a spokesperson, doomsday seems to be delayed.
