They peddle themselves as progressives (whatever that means), but they are no more than a gang of pretentious opportunists and hypocrites fixated on a liberal but distorted and narrow vision of what they wish the world to be like and constantly evoke the name of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and MKO Abiola to gain popularity and acceptance among an unsuspecting and naïve public. The Action Congress Party of Nigeria (ACN) is a political party of contradictions and strange bedfellows. Its leaders preach something quite different from what they practice. They claim to be advocates of “justice for democracy”, but exhibit an abysmal lack of internal democracy by denying hundreds of people the opportunity to seek elective office through a fair and just primary process. In the ACN, imposition of candidates is the rule. They accuse others of violence but employ other people’s children to kill and maim for them. They indict their political opponents of corruption while most of their leaders cannot explain the sources of their stupendous wealth.

Mayhem, killings and protests characterized the ACN party primaries in Edo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Ogun states. In Edo state where Adams Oshiomole continues to wear khaki (doubtless of very high quality) to deceive the people, more than eight persons have been killed and many injured during the primaries. The story was the same in Ekiti state where confusion and violence were the order of the day. Former governor of the state, Ayo Fayose was forced to cry out that the state has been turned into a theater of war by the ruling ACN. In Ogun state, it took the deployment of a sizeable contingent of policemen to restore order at the ACN state secretariat when all hell broke loose as party members kicked at a strange and dubious procedure introduced by party leaders to select candidates. They called it “indirect primaries”, but I call it ORDER FROM THE ORACLE AT BOURDILLON, IKOYI. In Tinubu state, sorry, Lagos state, the will of the people forced the Oracle at Bourdillon to reluctantly endorse Governor Fashola for a second term but not before he imposed his wife, in – law and son as candidates for various legislative seats on Lagosians.

What accounts for this descent into madness? Apart from the fact that the ACN is a political party that lacks internal democracy, the excesses of one man are responsible for the acts of lunacy played out all over the country by members of the ACN. The ACN has been primarily assisted in this elaborate act of deception and destruction by a section of the media. For instance; the media has somehow overlooked the fact that the presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former honcho of the EFCC, once accused Bola Tinubu of high corruption. Now they are members of the same political party. Has Ribadu been taken up on this by left wing commentators? What does this teach us about the fight against corruption in Nigeria? It simply means that it is all a charade and many Nigerian journalists are hypocrites. The diminution of the media's ability to set fair and balanced boundaries of political debate in this country is therefore another reason for the high handedness of ACN leaders since they know that the press has been bought and paid for and will look the other way. Consequently the ACN continues to engage in a campaign of vilification of other political parties particularly the PDP, while busy engaging in all sorts of nefarious activities.

What about strange bedfellows? Everybody is welcome to the ACN from other political parties. Political philosophy or antecedents do not matter. You can be an axe murderer, drug baron, child trafficker, or corrupt public servant and still be accepted into the ACN as long as you can criticize the PDP and bear witness that the Oracle at Bourdillon is the infallible Dear Leader. It is all about personal interests and not principle and integrity. When you have a coalition of moneybags, economic opportunists, con men, killers and a few men of integrity, all vying for political office for different reasons in a political party like the ACN, there is bound to be a lot of confusion and violence on a scale witnessed in the last few weeks.

My fear is that given the level of sophisticated weapons that members of the ACN have used against each other, what type of weapons are they going to deploy against their opponents in the PDP and Labour party;  rocket launchers, surface to air missiles, AK47s?   

The list of questionable “progressive” converts to the ACN is long; Atiku, Ribadu, Amosun, Ajimobi and Bafarawa to name a few. It’s a diverse bag of principles coming together. Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku’s case is quite interesting. He moved to the ACN from the PDP after eight years as the number two man in a PDP government at the national level, and then it occurred to him that the party that brought him fame and fortune is undemocratic. Bola Tinubu and his merry band of followers, in a moment of raw political calculation, wooed him over to their party. They assumed that the political enemy of their political enemy is their friend. Then Atiku dumped them like a bad habit, ran back to the PDP and they screamed blue murder calling him all sorts of names.   

Another case is Kunle Amosun who was recently imposed by “indirect primary” as the ACN's gubernatorial candidate for Ogun state. Immediately after he was elected to the senate on the platform of the PDP in 2003, Amosun started day dreaming of becoming Ogun state governor, which may explain why he was completely anonymous in the Senate and did not introduce any single piece of legislation in four years. When Amosun was asked to do the job he was elected to do by the people, he left the PDP in a huff for the ANPP and picked up that party’s gubernatorial ticket in return. He lost the election at the polls and in the courts. Apparently still in a daze, he wandered into the ACN and much to the surprise and feeble protests of long standing members of the ACN, he was rewarded for his inconsistency with the party’s gubernatorial ticket.

Leaders of the autocratic contraption called ACN have demonstrated to Nigerians in the last few weeks that they do not represent the change that Nigerians demand. A political party that lacks internal democracy lacks democracy period. Such a body cannot be the vehicle to improve the lives of the people and this nation because it is rotten at its core, full of holes, revolting and soon to be consigned into the trash bin of history. That is what the ACN has become.

you are right in some parts of your reports but alot biase in others. You look more like PDP agent in the house.

If u think they all have d interest of d common man @ heart? You better wake up from your dream.ACN,PDP,ANPP e.t.c are all birds of the same feather. A yoruba elder once said that "gbogbo wa loole ti ile ba da" meaning "we are all thieves when d house is empty", nobody will get there and not steal. All I'll urge Nigerians 2 start doing right now is to pray to God to put those who'll fear Him and have d interest of d masses @ heart. It's not all about d party but d individuals, ACN has Fashola and PDP once had Donald Duke and now Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state.

Once u see a politician jumping from one party 2 d other all in d name of getting 2 a post, know straight up dat he's out 2 enrich himself. Take 4 example, Atiku, who we all see as a political prostitute, I guess he has spent billions of Naira just because he wants 2 rule d nation. What'll happen 2 us if he eventually gets there? Take Ibikunle Amosun as another example he jumped from PDP 2 ANPP and than 2 ACN, spendin billion of naira along d line. Now tell me if he has d interest of d common man at heart.

My prayer is 4 d will of d most high God 2 be done in dis Nigeria and Ogun state, because I look around but can't find some1 after God's heart. Na only God fit deliver us.

u are very right my brother. They are all same of the same