Unless it does something drastic, the All
Progressives Congress, APC, Nigeria’s main
opposition party, may implode before the 2015
general election, which are only six months away,
PREMIUM TIMES’ extensive analysis of the
situation within the party has shown.
The party, which is barely one year old, has found
it extremely difficult to halt the exit of key
members in rapid succession to the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and also to
resolve internal disputes within its state chapters,
which have festered for months.
PREMIUM TIMES checks showed that in the last
eight months, no fewer than seven key members
of the Joint Inter-Merger Committee, JIMC, the
central body that supervised the fusion of some
hitherto opposition parties, have left the party,
either due to irreconcilable differences with fellow
leaders or to pursue other political ambitions.
The APC was formed last year following the
successful merger talks between the Action
Congress of Nigeria [ACN], Congress for
Progressives Change [CPC], All Nigeria Peoples
Party [ANPP], and a section of the All
Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
The Independent National Electoral Commission,
INEC, registered the party on July 1, 2013.
In the run-up to its formation, the party had
described itself as “Noah’s Ark which Nigerians
who are tired of the endless drift of Nigeria must
enter,” in reference to the biblical vessel God
directed Noah to build to save himself, family and
all the world’s animals from flood.
Shortly after the birth of the party, five governors
and some prominent members of the PDP joined
the fold. Also, former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar, 11 senators, 37 members of the House
of Representatives and members of some State
Houses of Assembly and leaders of local
government councils also crossed to the party
from the PDP.
However, the party soon descended into crisis
across the country leading to the departure of
some of its influential leaders. Those who have
left so far are former Governors Ibrahim Shekarau
(Kano), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), Ali Modu
Sheriff (Borno), and Achike Udenwa (Imo).
Others are a former Minister of Aviation, Femi
Fani-Kayode, a former Chairman of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], Nuhu
Ribadu, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom
Ikimi, a former senator, Annie Okonkwo and a
prominent political leader in Edo State, Osagie
Ise-Iyamu.
A former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba
is believed to be so deeply aggrieved that he
might quit the APC as the party’s leadership
appeared unable to resolve the rift between him
and Governor Ibikunle Amosun over the battle for
the soul of the party in Ogun state.
Similarly, a National Secretary aspirant at the
party’s last convention, Kashim Imam, who
played a key role in convincing the five former
PDP governors last October to join the APC, is
also believed to be considering quitting the party.
The development, analysts say, does not only
seem to have belittled the entry of a former Vice
President Atiku, the governors and other former
top members of the PDP into the APC, but also
raises concern about the ability of the leadership
of the opposition party to resolve disputes.
Mr. Shekarau, a two-time governor of Kano State,
who led the ANPP to the merger talks and
participated actively in all the meetings, was the
first to quit the APC last January. Shortly
afterwards, Mr. Shekarau, the presidential
candidate of the ANPP in the 2011 presidential
election, took up appointment with the PDP-led
federal administration as Minister of Education.
Mr. Shekarau’s major grouse was the alleged
shoddy process that led to the admission of his
successor, Governor Kwankwaso to the APC last
year. He felt deeply disrespected that an APC
delegation, consisting top leaders of the fold,
visited the Government House, Kano, to woo the
governor into the party without consulting him or
at least give him a heads up.
On his part, former Governor Bafarawa, who was
a member of the Constitution sub-committee of
the JIMC, allegedly felt uncomfortable with the
admission of his political rival, Governor Aliyu
Wamakko of Sokoto State to the APC. He
defected to the PDP in January. He also
complained that he was left out of the
arrangements that culminated in the admission of
Mr. Wamakko to the party.
Mr. Sheriff also left the party last month for the
PDP. Although he was not a member of any of
the sub-committees of JIMC, the former senator
featured in virtually all the meetings of the leaders
of the ANPP where negotiations were made.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Sheriff was
disturbed by the manner he was perceived by
some of the APC leaders who had suspicious of
his closeness to the PDP as well as his alleged
role in the birth of the Boko Haram sect when he
was governor.
It was also learnt that the former governor was
also concerned that the leaders took sides with
Governor Kashim Shettima in the face-off
between him and the governor.
A few months ago, Mr. Sheriff almost came to
blows with a leader of the party and former Lagos
State Governor, Bola Tinubu.
Mr. Udenwa, who is also a former Minister of
Commerce, served in the Manifesto Committee
(which also considered the APC Motto, Slogan
and Message) of the JIMC. But he suddenly
dumped the party earlier in the year although he
gave no reason for his exit. He has since returned
to the PDP on whose platform he was governor
between 1999 and 2003.
Mr. Okonkwo left the party following his inability
to secure the governorship ticket of the party in
Anambra State for the November 2013 election
and his subsequent disagreement with Chris
Ngige, who picked the ticket.
Mr. Ize-Iyamu, who functioned as the ACN
Chairman in Edo State was a member of INEC-
Legal and Constitution Compliance Committee
during the merger. He however fell out with
Governor Adams Oshiomhole who he accused of
exhibiting “anti-democratic posture.”
On his part, Mr. Ribadu, whose exit from the APC
on August 16 appeared the most shocking of all.
After he joined the PDP, he obtained the PDP
nomination form to contest the vacant seat of the
governor of Adamawa State. He has since
withdrawn from the race.
Although, the ACN presidential candidate in 2011
did not serve in any of the merger subcommittees,
he attended some of the meetings of the leaders
and also accompanied them to woo prominent
politicians into the APC.
Mr. Ikimi, who dumped the APC late August, did
not only lead the ACN to the merger talks, he
hosted the meetings of the merger committee in
his Abuja home.
His main grouse for leaving the party was
because he was blocked by some leaders of the
party, notably Mr. Tinubu and the governors from
contesting the position of the national chairman
during the June convention of the party.
He had issued a statement shortly after the
convention accusing the governors of the party
and Mr. Tinubu of manipulating the process to
pick Mr. Oyegun as national chairman.
In an advertorial on Tuesday, the former minister,
who was the founding national chairman of the
defunct National Republican Convention, NRC,
again blamed the defections of some chieftains of
the party on Mr. Tinubu.
“It is not a coincidence to me that the prominent
members of APC targeted by Bola Tinubu such as
Alhaji Bafarawa, Sen Ali Modu Sheriff and myself
are former NRC members or those perceived as
Conservatives,” Mr. Ikimi alleged. Mr. Ikimi is
already on his way to his former party, the PDP.
Mr. Osoba, a two-time governor of Ogun State
who served in the Constitution sub-committee of
the JIMC. The former Ogun governor, those close
to him say, has commenced discussions with his
loyalists on the possibility of floating another
party or joining an existing one.
Internal Wrangling in States
Many state chapters of the APC are also
bedevilled by internal wrangling, which pundits
believe might lead to implosion in the party if not
carefully handled.
We present a snapshot of the crises in some of
the states below.
Katsina: In this northwestern state from where a
leader of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, hails
from, the opposition party is swimming in trouble
waters. The main characters in the leadership
crisis are a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Masari; a former Senate
Chief Whip, Kanti Bello; Abu Ibrahim, also a
former senator; Abdullahi Aminchi; a former
member of the House of Representatives, Usman
Bugaje; Abdulazeez Yar’ Adua, a retired colonel
and younger brother of the late President Umaru
Yar’Adua; Ismaila Isa and Sada Ilu. All the
combatants are nursing governorship ambition.
The source of the crisis was the outcome of the
membership registration and ward congresses
organized by the party, which produced Mustapha
Inuwa, a crony of Mr. Masari as state chairman.
Adamawa: The impeachment of former Governor
Murtala Nyako may have reduced the power
tussle in the APC. Mr. Nyako was among the five
PDP governors that defected to the APC last
October. His entry generated heat as the original
members of the party, including Buba Marwa and
Marcus Ginduri, both CPC and ACN governorship
candidates in the 2001 election, kicked against it.
Their main grouse was that the APC structure
was handed over to the former governor who was
believed to have come alone into the party from
the PDP.
Kwara: It was the first state that showed signs of
crisis when the five PDP governors, including
Abdulfatah Ahmed left PDP for APC. The ACN
governorship candidate in the 2011 election, Dele
Belgore faulted the national leadership for
accepting to admit the governor and the handing
over of the party structure to the PDP. The
coming of Bukola Saraki, seen as the godfather of
Kwara politics, worsened the situation. Before
long, Mr. Belgore dumped the party for the PDP.
Plateau: In Plateau, the APC crisis has been
enmeshed in crisis over the outcome of its state
congress, especially the chairmanship position,
won by Latep Dabang, a former aide to former
Governor, Joshua Dariye. It was however
aggravated by the procedure adopted for picking
members of the Board of Trustees, BoT. The
crisis generated to some aggrieved members of
the opposition party locking out some of their
leaders during a meeting. A former senator, John
Shagaya and Amos Gombi, contested for the
position.
Abia: The crisis is also traceable to the congress.
A faction of the APC in the state, which styled
itself ‘Integrity Group’ warned after a meeting in
Aba that the party would be doomed in the state
if the party did not keep its promise to its
members in the state.
Bayelsa: In Bayelsa, the APC chairman, Tiwei
Orunimighe, was at the receiving end when
aggrieved members under the aegis of Third Force
descended on him, accusing him of high-
handedness, and disrespectful cum autocratic
conducts. They also accused the chairman of
squandering N7.2 million given for the
inauguration of State Executive Council (SEC)
without the approval of the executive committee
members. The group also lampooned a leader of
the APC and former governor of the state, Timipre
Sylva of leading the party from leading it from
outside the state using his cronies. The matter
has not been resolved.
Ekiti: The party was thrown into crisis when the
leader of its caucus in the House of
Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele declared his
interest in the June governorship election in the
state. However, the governor, Kayode Fayemi saw
the move as being one against his plan to return
for a second term in office. Mr. Bamidele was
believed to have shown interest in the
governorship seat based on a purported
agreement that the governor would spend one
term in office. The crisis snowballed into a
situation where the lawmaker was booted out as
caucus leader. While the crisis raged, the party
held all-inclusive meeting in Ado-Ekiti, the state
capital. In attendance were the then interim
National Chairman, Bisi Akande, Ekiti APC
Chairman, Olajide Awe, former Lagos State
Governor, Bola Tinubu, APC South West zonal
Chairman, Niyi Adebayo, Tony Adeniyi, Dele Alake,
Senators Femi Ojudu and Olu Adetunmbi.
The meeting could not however resolve the crisis,
but instead endorsed Mr. Fayemi for a second
term. The decision infuriated Mr. Bamidele who
angrily defected to the Labour Party, where he
was handed over the party’s ticket. Both Messrs.
Fayemi and Bamidele lost the election to the PDP
candidate, Ayo Fayose.
Oyo: The crisis in the Oyo State chapter of the
party reached its apogee when the senator
representing the Central Senatorial District, Ayo
Adeseun about a month ago dumped the party for
the PDP and declared his intention to take
Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s job come 2015. The
senator, who was originally a member of the PDP,
said he left because there is more internal
democracy in the PDP than the APC. Only on
Tuesday, the second APC senator, Olufemi Lanlehi
dumped the party for the Accord Party, a
development that could jeopardise the chances of
Mr. Ajimobi in next year’s election.
Edo: Sometime in April, long before John Oyegun,
a former governor of Edo State became the APC
national chairman, some of the party leaders in
the state allegedly held a secret meeting with
President Goodluck Jonathan and the Chairman,
Board of Trustees, BoT, of the PDP, Chief Tony
Anenih in Abuja.
They afterwards gave the Edo State Governor,
Adams Oshiomhole a seven-day ultimatum to
cancel what they referred to as “fraudulent
membership” registration exercise and ward and
local government congress, or face the
consequence. When the governor did not yield to
the pressure, the aggrieved members made good
their threat by defecting to the PDP.
Predictions of implosion
Before and after its registration, some politicians
had predicted that the APC would collapse
because it was the coming together of strange
bedfellows.
The Presidency, which spoke through the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Public
Affairs, Doyin Okupe, had said the APC was
destined to implode.
He said, “The APC boat is destined for the Red
Sea and in fact, I remember that when we went to
Israel, we prayed to God to remove all the people
troubling Nigeria. So, by what is happening now, I
believe that God is working quietly to gather these
people. By the time Jonathan defeats those
giants, God will take all the glory and people will
know that the APC is heading for failure.”
The chairman of the PDP, Lagos State, Tunji
Shelle said, “From what I can see in the merger
and registration of APC, all of them are strange
bedfellows. They will start fighting one another
over positions, opportunities and party structures.
At the end of the day, sharing of offices will
polarize them and ideological differences will
divide them. And if the centre cannot hold,
everybody will go back to his own tent. That is
what I see happening to APC between now and
2014, not even 2015.”
The immediate past National Chairman of the
PDP, Bamanga Tukur, had dismissed the APC as
an unserious party. “There is a desperate political
coalition in the country now known as the APC;
whose stock in trade is insults, attacks and lack
of decorum because the party and her members
have nothing to offer the people of Nigeria except
only a desperate plan to take over power at all
costs.”
Hope in the horizon
Mr. Oyegun assured the party would resolve all
the misunderstandings and crises currently
bedevilling the party, especially those that arose
from the conduct of the congresses.
“A committee is working on that,” he told
PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.
A member of the defunct merger committee, Osita
Okechukwu said the APC was highly concerned
about the defections and the crisis.
He, however, said the consolation was that those
who defected did not leave with their supporters.
“Between the PDP and APC, their memberships do
not make up to 10 per cent of the Nigerian
electorate. We are concerned more about the
electorate,” Mr. Okechukwu told PREMIUM TIMES.
“Is the Nigerian electorate aware that APC is a
change agent? It is not about those who defected
or who did not defect. These are ingredients of
any election in liberal democracy. PDP had
boasted that they are master poachers and so
what we pray for is that INEC remains
transparent.”
The APC chieftain dismissed allegations made
against Mr. Tinubu by Mr. Ikimi.
According to him, two days before the JIMC
concluded its meeting, a former governor of
Zamfara State, Sani Yarima moved a motion that
Messrs. Ikimi and Shekarau be adopted as interim
national chairman and national secretary of the
APC, respectively.
Mr. Yarima, he said, also said a former deputy
governor of Bauchi State be made the deputy
national chairman.
Mr. Okechukwu said it was he (Okechukwu) who
moved a counter motion saying there was no
such provision in the merger documents that says
its committee members be nominated into those
positions.
On the crisis in the states, he said they were not
unexpected because three or four groups were
coming together and so there would be
agitations.
The Chairman, Partnership for Electoral Reforms,
Ezenwa Nwagwu, said he was not surprised by
the defection of politicians from APC.
“The movements have been meteoric. But If you
proceed from the assumption that there is a
difference between the PDP and APC, then you
will be surprise at the what they are doing,” he
said.
Mr. Nwagwu, a member of the just-concluded
National Conference said the nation’s political
institutions would not develop if the parties are
simply vote-catching machines.
He expressed concern that Nigerian voters are
more concerned with individuals than parties.
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