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Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by ponleh(m): 4:23pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
Article 13.2 (X) of the APC Constitution (October
2014 as amended), which deals with the powers
of the BoT, stipulates: “The Board of Trustees
shall elect its chairman, deputy chairman,
secretary and other officers as it deems
necessary, and formulate its own rules and
procedures to regulate its meetings and
activities.”
This must have prompted the National Executive
Committee of the All Progressives Congress, to
ratify proposals made for the inclusion of some
members of the party’s Board of Trustees. No
sooner had the NEC approved proposals made
by the party’s National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz
Banire, that some contenders emerged for the
chairmanship of the BoT.
Last Monday, it was gathered that three party
chieftains desired to give it a shot. They are:
former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; a former
interim national chairman of the APC, Bisi
Akande; and an ex-national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Audu Ogbeh.
When asked in a recent interview with SUNDAY
PUNCH, if amending the party’s constitution
may hold the key to resolving the ongoing
leadership crisis at the National Assembly,
Ogbeh, who is the former national chairman of
the Peoples Democratic Party, and also a
founding member of the APC, expressed
disappointment in the party’s delay in
inaugurating the BoT, adding that the board is
the answer to the party’s woes.
Ogbeh said, “It isn’t the constitution that is the
real problem. Constitutions are run by human
beings. We have our constitution; we have a
certain understanding among ourselves about
what we should do and shouldn’t do. I think
there are some managerial lapses somewhere.
“For instance, we have not yet formally
inaugurated our Board of Trustees. What are we
waiting for? This is the kind of crisis that the
Board of Trustees should have taken over and
resolved and not the National Working
Committee or the National Executive Committee
of the party. Why is the Board of Trustees still
not in place?”
The party’s NEC, which is its highest decision-
making body, reportedly took nominations for
membership of the BoT from the various state
chapters during a NEC meeting which held
penultimate Friday.
On June 20, Saturday PUNCH had reported that
a fresh power tussle between Atiku and Akande
was on the horizon over the party’s BoT
chairmanship. According to findings, the tussle is
an episode in the supremacy war between power
blocs in the APC.
Atiku and the National Leader of the party,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, were reported to have been
the primary contenders in a fierce battle to
control the party. With these two camps,
clinching the BoT chairmanship would go a long
way in assisting them to control the party.
Both camps were said to have started reaching
out to members of the board, who will elect the
chairman. Further investigations showed that
Akande had the backing of Tinubu, who is
reportedly angry with Atiku’s role in the National
Assembly leadership elections.
The struggle for the chairmanship of the APC’s
BoT, it was learnt, became intense following the
inauguration of the eighth Assembly which
witnessed the controversial emergence of Bukola
Saraki as Senate President and Yakubu Dogara
as Speaker. They were said to have won with
the support of Atiku.
Tinubu and the party’s National Working
Committee, on the other hand, were voting for
Ahmad Lawan for the Senate presidency and
Femi Gbajabiamila for the House speakership.
Political observers have since highlighted that
Saraki’s election would enable the Atiku camp
take control of the party’s National Executive
Committee since the Senate President and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives are
members of the NEC.
However, Tinubu is believed to be in control of
the party’s NWC, as many of its members are
said to be loyal to him. Thus, the contest for the
control of the BoT is clearly between both
camps.
Atiku, who has held the number two office in the
country for two consecutive terms and contested
in the party’s first ever presidential primary
which produced President Muhammadu Buhari
as the APC candidate for the March 28 election,
is widely regarded as a political heavyweight in
the APC. Pundits, however, note that Atiku’s
chances are slim.
The executive chairman of the Coalition against
Corrupt Leaders, Debo Adeniran, in an interview
with SUNDAY PUNCH, argued that Atiku was not
as all-embracing as the job of BoT chairmanship
demands. Recalling Atiku’s political history with
concern, the activist said the APC may not last
long with the ex-vice president at the helm.
He said, “When we look at Atiku, especially with
regard to the controversy surrounding his
activities as vice-president, he has not yet
convinced Nigerians that he didn’t soil his
hands. Moreover, the kind of divisive politics that
he plays may not put him in a good position to
be the best BoT chairman that can satisfy the
yearnings of rank-and-file members of the party.
“One would not want the ruling party to
succumb to the whims and caprices of
somebody who already has an open agenda that
once was hidden. We must not forget the
influence of the Peoples Democratic Movement
in the PDP and the prominent role it played in
the breakup of the PDP. The same thing
happened when the New PDP emerged. That
means that with an Atiku in the saddle, the APC
may not last the tenure of the current regime
before they break it into pieces.
“The divisive politics of Atiku puts him at a
disadvantage. I don’t see him as having a
sectional agenda; his agenda cuts across, but he
plays opportunistic politics and that is not fair.
People like Saraki and Dogara need somebody
who is courageous enough to confront them.
Atiku is hand in glove with them, and if he
becomes BoT chair, he will tolerate whatever
they do.”
Similarly, a professor of political science in the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Onyebuchi Ezeani,
agreed with Adeniran, adding that Atiku could
not be held to the commitment of the party’s
founding members because he formed the party
late.
“Most of the groundwork that was laid for the
party’s formation was already there long before
he arrived. As a result, I don’t think he has what
it takes to hold such a position. Atiku is what I
call a latecomer,” the professor opined.
But the Director-General of the Atiku Media
Office, Mr. Paul Ibe, when contacted on Monday,
said the former vice-president “is eminently
qualified to occupy the position.” He added, “We
are not aware that the APC has thrown open the
race for the chairmanship of the party’s BoT.
But if, in the wisdom of the party, it elects to
appoint (Atiku) Abubakar as chairman of its BoT,
the Turaki Adamawa will be amenable and well-
disposed to it because he is eminently qualified
to offer his services to the party at that level.”
For Akande, the battle for a top job in the APC is
not entirely new. On June 11, 2013, the erstwhile
national chairman of the now defunct Action
Congress of Nigeria was reported to have been
in a fierce contest with Tom Ikimi, another
chieftain of the party, for the position of interim
national chairman of the newly formed APC.
The battle between Akande and Ikimi followed
the decision by stakeholders of the APC — a
merger between the ACN, the Congress for
Progressive Change, and the All Nigeria Peoples
Party — to cede the chairmanship to the ACN.
But the APC, following a meeting behind closed
doors in Abuja on June 26, 2013, named Akande
its national chairman.
Spokesman for the Congress for Progressive
Change, Rotimi Fasakin, said the appointment,
which was, “part of the requirements (set by the
Independent National Electoral Commission) for
the registration of the new party was a collective
decision of all the merging parties.”
The APC was then registered by INEC on July
31, 2013, after which the party was joined by
aggrieved PDP members, including Atiku, Saraki,
and seven governors, between November and
December of the same year.
On June 14, 2014, Akande handed over his seat
as chairman to a former Governor of Edo State,
John Odigie-Oyegun, who became the first
substantive national chairman of the APC,
following a consensus arrangement by the
leadership of the party at the inaugural national
convention of the APC.
By August 21, 2014, the party was reported to
have appointed no fewer than 74 persons,
including Buhari and Tinubu, as members of its
BoT. Others listed were Atiku, Ikimi, Akande and
Ogbeh.
The BoT also comprises serving and former APC
governors still in the party as well as two
senators representing each of the six geopolitical
zones and a member representing each state and
the FCT.
However, in a provocative statement on June 28,
Akande alleged that the members of the APC,
who left the PDP, came into the ruling party with
vested interests, which he claimed were fuelling
the APC crisis.
The APC chief said, “What began as political
patronages, which was to be shared into APC
membership spread among ethnic zones,
religious faiths, (as well as) political rankings
and experiences, has now become so
complicated that the sharing has to be done by
and among PDP leadership, together with
cohorts of former New PDP affiliations in the
APC, by and among gangs against Buhari’s
presidency, and certain APC legislators and party
members who dance round the crisis arena to
pick some crumbs.
“After the elections, which saw the APC to
victory all round, a meeting was reported to have
been held by certain old and new PDP leaders in
(former National Chairman of PDP) Kawu
Baraje’s house in Abuja to review what should
be their share in this new Buhari’s government
and resolved to seek collaboration with the PDP
with a view to hijacking the National Assembly
and, having got rid of Goodluck Jonathan, with
an ultimate aim of resuscitating the PDP as their
future political platform.”
But Baraje, in a summary rebuttal, described
Akande’s claims as unfortunate and expressed
disappointed that the former interim chairman of
the APC would make such claims.
Baraje was not the only one who had a bone to
pick with Akande. The APC chieftain’s claims
also drew the ire of party chairman, Oyegun,
Saraki, Dogara, the Arewa Consultative Forum
and the northern caucus of the party, among
several others, leading to speculation that
Akande’s chances of emerging the APC BoT
chairman had been hurt.
But Adeniran disagreed. On the contrary, he
argued, the same reason that made some party
members allege that Akande was being
sponsored by Tinubu proved his suitability for
the job.
“He told no lie within the submission he made.
He has said he didn’t make any sectional
statement that was credited to him and nobody
has disproved him since. Confronting them with
past records that they have is not supposed to
be seen as a disadvantage. It should, instead, be
seen as an index of courage, which is why I
believe he has adequate courage to confront
anybody that wants to sabotage the good
fortune of the party,” Adeniran told SUNDAY
PUNCH.
Commenting on speculation that Tinubu is
behind Akande’s candidature, the activist said
the national leader of the APC is a proven
political tactician whose prowess would serve as
an advantage.
“Take it or leave it, Tinubu is a political
strategist with a level of sagacity that no other
politician has been able to achieve in the
(Nigerian) political landscape. If Tinubu is
supporting Akande, it should be seen as a plus,
rather than a minus,” he opined.
Citing Akande’s tenure as governor of Osun
State, Adeniran described Akande as an
articulate leader and a Cicero in his own right,
whose wealth of experience would position him
well for the job.
Akande’s former Chief Press Secretary, Adelani
Baderinwa, also expressed conviction of
Akande’s capability to lead the APC’s BoT.
Baderinwa, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH,
described the party chieftain as well qualified for
the position. He highlighted Akande’s run at the
party’s interim national chairmanship, and his
role in laying the groundwork for the party’s
formation.
“He knows Nigeria very well and so there is
nothing so spectacular about being the BoT
chairman. By virtue of being the (interim)
national chairman of the political party, he must
have met quite a lot of the stakeholders in the
process of managing the party, especially to the
level that it became a success in terms of what
the APC is. My take is therefore that he is found
to have an advantage,” he said.
But Ezeani expressed opposition to Akande’s
advantage, arguing that Ogbeh is the candidate
to beat.
The professor of political science said, in
comparison to Akande and Atiku, Ogbeh stands
out because, “he does not have the baggage
that comes with being linked to Tinubu. He is
untainted, which is a crucial consideration in
picking the man for the job.
“If we are talking about those who have
experience and contributed to the formation of
the APC, Audu Ogbeh has the advantage. Let us
not forget that he has held top positions in the
PDP, so he has the most experience and the
best understanding of what the party needs to.”
Adeniran, however, expressed mixed feelings
about Ogbeh’s candidature, arguing that though
Audu Ogbeh is not known to accumulate wealth,
his gentlemanly disposition would translate to a
reluctance to want to rock the boat, which the
political expert believes, is contrary to the
demands of politics in Nigeria.
“Save for the possibility that he might be too
conservative for the dynamism that Nigerian
politics deserves, he could have been the best
candidate. But he may not have the guts,
courage or political will to discipline erring party
members and he doesn’t have the charisma with
which he can carry everybody from different
sections of the country together the way some
other leaders are expected to. He is likely to
tolerate the intolerable and that would be a
minus against him,” Adeniran opined.
Attempts to get Ogbeh’s reaction were
unsuccessful, as he did not answer calls by our
correspondent to his mobile telephone number on
Wednesday.
On the consequences of a fierce BoT
chairmanship race to the already embattled part,
Ezeani told SUNDAY PUNCH that the crisis in the
APC came as a shock to many political
observers.
According to him, the rift in the party is proof
that the parties that came together to form the
APC did so out of selfish interests, rather than a
shared ideology.
“I would advise the President to maintain his
objective position and not meddle in the political
dealings of the party. That is the right decision; I
think that it is best that he stays away from the
crisis rocking the APC so as not to be distracted
from governance,” he added.
But Adeniran argued: “Everybody was surprised
that the (primary) election conducted by the APC
went as smoothly as it did and that the general
elections also went smoothly. It could be yet
another surprise that, after this race, everybody
will go back to his camp calmly without any
strife.” |
Re: Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by ANBAKO: 4:27pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
House leadership has created cracks in the wall of APC, I hope that this BOT thing will not be the earthquake that will tear it apart irreparably. APC-Change!!! |
Re: Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by stepsy: 4:31pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
1) house of commotion part 2 ; watch out for the said party supremacist orubebying the process. 2) there is a general consensus which says a sequel cannot be as the original. 3) my people when things fall apart..................? |
Re: Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by doublewisdom: 4:32pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
Tinubu may get it. I hope not sha. I want his people to fume as usual. |
Re: Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by kazmanbanjoko(m): 4:33pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
"Battle of the thrones" or "game of thrones" which is more okay to caption dis post 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Bot Chair: The Stormy Battle Ahead For APC Titans by merry02(m): 4:34pm On Jul 12, 2015 |
Apc is nt ready for governance! |
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