APC: Die is cast THe first national convention of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC holds today. Whether it succeeds or fails in achieving its agenda of throwing up an acceptable national leadership would be eventful for the nation’s democratic project.The first national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC holding today is pregnant with expectations. Besides the anticipation of a substantive leadership to steer the affairs of the one year old political party, eyes are also being focused on whether the new party would survive the fusion of ideological, cultural and ethnic cleavages that started when the three legacy parties decided to collapse into one.The three parties that fused to form the APC were the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.Hundreds of party faithful of the legacy parties from across the country were yesterday pouring into Abuja for the event that could reshape the political configuration of the country. A successful convention, albeit one which produces a national executive without much rancour, would signpost the prospects of a serious opposition to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the forthcoming round of general elections. The outlook for such on convention eve was, however, being dimmed as intrigues and power show among others reared up to dint the convention plans.Division on the convention floor would on the other hand push the country towards a single party democracy with the ruling PDP dictating the pace and pattern of the democratic project.As at last night, the prospect of the convention going either way was evenly divided. Chieftains of the party were huddled in several meetings across the federal capital in last minute caucuses to smoothen the several rough edges that have developed as party officials turn their focus from the perceived failures of the PDP to their own personal ambitions.Indeed, the one time unanimity that shaped the merger of the legacy parties, even despite the foibles of the ruling party, has been redirected to within the party. Following is a focus on some of the men who will define the tone of the convention. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Tinubu, the erstwhile national leader of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN is on top of the power hierarchy of the new party alongside erstwhile head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. Ahead of today’s convention, Tinubu has seen his hitherto unquestioned supremacy in the now defunct ACN seriously challenged by the new power bloc of emboldened governors in the party. Moving into today’s convention, Tinubu is believed to be backing former governor of Edo State, Mr. John Odigie-Oyegun for the post of national chairman. Initial setbacks He is also backing Alhaji Kassim Imam for the post of National Secretary but his cards as concerning other offices remain a secret. By convention eve, Tinubu after some initial setbacks had been able to push Odigie-Oyegun to be accepted by some of the major caucuses of the party including the influential northern caucus. The northern caucus had at a meeting at the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge in Abuja adopted Tinubu’s choice of Odigie-Oyegun for national chairman. Given Tinubu’s sway over the Southwest caucus, the adoption puts Odigie-Oyegun in good position to emerge as national chairman today. Odigie-Oyegun’s chances were said to have brightened after Tinubu formed a partnership with Senator Bukola Saraki to sell the chances of the former Edo State governor in the north. However, Tinubu’s man for the post of national secretary, Imam, Vanguard learnt, may face serious obstacles following objections by elements in the Northern caucus against having the former Lagos State governor produce the two top positions in the party. But Tinubu it is generally believed is looking beyond this convention for political standing. Ahead of the convention, there were insinuations that the former Lagos State governor is desirous of seeking the office of vice- president in a match-up with Buhari. Tinubu it is alleged is seeking to replay the Babagana Kingibe model of 1993. Kingibe it would be recalled became a powerful force within the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP so that even after Moshood Abiola won the nomination that the governors of that era prevailed or rather compelled him to pick their man, Kingibe as his running mate. The suggestion this time is that Tinubu has been concretising his alliances in the APC to project such power that no matter who wins the presidential ticket later this year, the person would be compelled to pick him, Tinubu as presidential running mate irrespective of religious leanings. Such apparent projections by the APC national leader are, however, dimmed by increasing mutiny within the party by some governors. For the first time since he emerged in 2007 as the national leader of a political party, Tinubu in the last month has seen his power challenged. His choice for the chairmanship of the National Convention Planning Committee, was Alhaji Kawu Baraje, but the governors were able to oppose him by producing one of their own, Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State for the position. Muhammadu Buhari Buhari has been generally acknowledged as a co-national leader of the party alongside Tinubu. He had as a politician continued to sustain his stature as an elder-statesman leaving the rudiments of politics in the party to Asiwaju Tinubu. Perhaps with his much touted presidential ambition in view, the former head of state has lowered his intra party engagements. However, critics say that despite Buhari’s immense popularity, his seeming inclinations to perfection have not helped the party. They cite the unnerving situations in the Kaduna and Katsina chapters of the party which have remained in almost perpetual crises as a result of what some allege as Buhari’s inclinations to work with only those he feels comfortable with. Ahead of this convention, Buhari has not shown much enthusiasm to project his associates for national position. APC Govs Governors of two of the legacy parties which made up the APC, the ACN and the CPC had until recently trudged dutifully behind the national leaders of the two parties, Tinubu and Buhari. However, the entry of the five former governors of the PDP into the party seemed to have altered the perceptions of the formerly docile governors. Emboldened by the muscle of their colleagues, the APC governors have begun to show muscle and not surprisingly, the kind of agitations that was once common within the PDP has begun to emerge in the APC. Unlike the PDP where the president with the instruments of office is able to muscle the governors, both Tinubu and Buhari lack such leverage. It was not surprising that Tinubu was shocked when the governors rebelled on his plans to sustain Bisi Akande as national chairman and followed it up by rejecting his plans to have Kawu Baraje chair the national convention planning committee. Given the rivalry among the second term governors there is fear that some of the governors could decide to shortchange their colleagues to cut a deal with Tinubu to project their own personal political plans after 2015. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff The erstwhile governor of Borno State and chairman of the BOT of the defunct ANPP, one of the legacy parties has remained a fixture within the party that some would hate. He has become a rallying point for all those overtly opposed to Tinubu in the party. At one point, his linkage with Chief Tom Ikimi to stop the Asiwaju tendency had threatened the Tinubu camp, but the later restrategised to regain their momentum. Even within the top heriarchy of the party, there remains a suspicion about Sheriff being a closeted friend of the PDP. The potency of the Sheriff camp has been apparently defined by the limited success of Ikimi’s aspiration for the office of national chairman. Liink@ vanguardngr
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:03:14 +0000
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