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.


https://www.premiumtimesng.com/headlines/167818-apc-in-disarray-as-key-leaders-leave-in-droves.html

Since TAN was kicked against, it seems projecting falsehood on the airwaves is their new agenda.

egift: Since TAN was kicked against, it seems projecting falsehood on the airwaves is their new agenda.

Stop shying away from the truth.

When u mix indian hemp kerosene amala gbegiri petrol sh.it piss and bomb in one pot and brew the result will be APC. Surely they shall gather and if their gathering is not of the lord but that of satan the father of the supporter of APC they shall scather.

Omexonomy: When u mix indian hemp kerosene amala gbegiri petrol sh.it piss and bomb in one pot and brew the result will be APC. Surely they shall gather and if their gathering is not of the lord but that of satan the father of the supporter of APC they shall scather.

When you step into a cult of criminals engaging in wizardry and sharing the prosperity/fortunes of Nigerians and plotting other evils - then you are right in the middle of PDP.

Even the Devil heard what PDP and their members have been doing in Nigeria, he shouted - the Blood of Jesus!

GEJ for 2015 wether u like it or not

egift:

When you step into a cult of criminals engaging in wizardry and sharing the prosperity/fortunes of Nigerians and plotting other evils - then you are right in the middle of PDP.

Even the Devil heard what PDP and their members have been doing in Nigeria, he shouted - the Blood of Jesus!

when the news of the megers to form APC went viral the devil and is evil minions went out shouting to high hevean knowing there would be an increase in human death and destructiön.
"And jesus wept" john 3:16. Go figure

Omexonomy: when the news of the megers to form APC went viral the devil and is evil minions went out shouting to high hevean knowing there would be an increase in human death and destructiön.
"And jesus wept" john 3:16. Go figure

^^You are incoherent my friend

watching..

Apc will never be registered

summary please

APC is dying slowly and steadily.

Gej till 2019 then David Mark will take over till 2027.

APC - Another Political Calamity

Obiagelli: Apc will never be registered

If APC last more than 6 months, call Okupe a Bastard