₦airaland Forum

Editor’s note: Following the ongoing APC crisis tearing the party apart, Ini Akpan Morgan, Naij.com constant guest author, wrote another appeal to President Buhari. With regard to the current contest for the position of chairman of the Board of Trustees between two prominent party members, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Turaki Atiku Abubakar, Mr Morgan urges Buhari to make the right choice between commitment and opportunism.

READ ALSO: Buhari Should Be Concerned Over Senate President (Pt 1)

Buhari Should Be Concerned Over Senate President (Pt 2)

The recent APC leadership somersault raised some vital and very noteworthy issues including the present tussle between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC, and Turaki Atiku Abubakar for the party leadership. In my opinion, those eager to continue the scramble for political positioning in the party at this stage are at best infantile in their ambitions and selfish.

I believe the APC would not have attained the historic political victory it is presently enjoying without the dedicated and trusted party leadership. I find the news of the party leadership tussles so troubling because the APC is the political platform that has given Nigerians unparalleled hope for sociopolitical reinvention and techno-economic advancement in the country.

Having followed the period of the APC emergence (2010-2013), I can state that the party has up till now not had time to settle down and re-delineate its road map and strategies, and mobilize the available human resources to govern Nigeria for “the next 60 years”. At the same time, its main opponent, the PDP, daydreamt until it was awoken from slumber during its 16th year in power, when their roles switched.

I believe any government, especially democratic, should comprise the governing and the opposition parties working together in the interests of the common people. For me, therefore, a political party’s victory or loss in the election is only one side of the coin; the other one is managing the victory or loss to the benefit of a people. That’s why I am startled by the recent negative developments within the APC caused partially by the deliberate PDP actions.

The primary motive leading to the merger of the former opposition parties was to oust the PDP from power to rescue Nigerians from the corrupted selfish politicians. Otherwise, why is it that amongst 32 PDP founders we only hear about Atiku Abubakar, who himself lost face and dignity in the party?

I am sure that when merging, the parties agreed on the issue of leadership taking into account that at the time there were no immediate political offices to take. That was what bonded them as one entity even in the face of the present “divide and rule” character of the PDP members among them. They are always accusing others of what they are guilty of themselves.

Time limited the APC from electing its leadership before admitting the PDP colonialists. This delay allowed the latter to find accommodation in the party leadership. There is no any historical precedent when those decamping to the PDP got access to political privileges following their admission.

In view of the above facts, I opine that it was unfair for any PDP member to openly confront the APC leadership suffering from the National Assembly election outcome. Nevertheless, it should not surprise the ordinary Nigerians. What else can we expect from the PDP? These troublemakers have always been driven by self-interests. Despite the fact that they have embraced the change personality, we will sweep them out of political relevance with the brooms in their hands. Unfortunately for them, nowadays Nigerians are far more politically enlightened than they were before the APC emergence.

I decided to devote this piece to the men who are struggling to possess the APC soul: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former executive governor of Lagos state, and Turaki Atiku Abubakar, a former Nigerian vice president. I started following them from their days as members of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), on the platform of which Chief MKO Abiola won the annulled 1993 presidential election.

I knew Atiku Abubakar as one of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s lieutenants, as well as the national leader of the SDP and at that time one of the party’s vice presidential hopefuls. Atiku Abubakar lost the election to Babagana Kingibe, but remained, as I suppose, the most trusted ally of “Shehu”, as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Abubakar served as chief of staff, used to call him. This relationship was what, in my opinion, qualified Atiku Abubakar for his political ascension as vice president in 1999.

I did not hear about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu until he appeared candidate for Senate presidency on the platform of the SDP holding the majority in the National Assembly. At the time it was not clear if Abiola would be the SDP flag-bearer. However, “Shehu” was optimistic about him, so he persuaded the “Asiwaju” (editor’s note: Tinubu), also from the southwest, to drop his aspiration, and handed him the privilege of anointing Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who subsequently became the Senate president in that short-lived administration. Today, Atiku Abubakar is adverse to what his political benefactor and economic godfather enjoyed as a party leader, calling it “interference”. Is he honest? This is my first point of view.

The “Asiwaju” and the “Turaki” (editor’s note: Abubakar) both have nurtured different political platforms, and have joined the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the PDP respectively at the inception of the present democratic dispensation. Later both men found their own political parties. The “Asiwaju” raised the Action Congress (AC) in 2005 after his compatriots sold the AD out to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It was upon this political platform that “Turaki” flew his first and only flag as a presidential candidate. This is a clear testament of selflessness and patriotism. This is my second point of view.

Tinubu resisted Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s political interference in the southwest, and retained the AD mandate over Lagos state. His party evolved into the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), snatching power in the southwest from the PDP, and became part of the APC. At the same time, the “Turaki” was gallivanting from pillar to post like a political nomad serially applying for the PDP to enable him to show up at the party’s conventions. In my view, he looked pitiable.

I dare to say that Atiku Abubakar would perhaps have become our president in 2011 if he had not left the ACN to embarrass himself in the PDP. He was the hope I had for our redemption from the grip of the PDP. Losing the place in the ACN for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was the most ridiculous loss any politician could suffer because of political greed. In my opinion, Atiku was extremely naive. Not that he did not find a political party, I suppose he simply refused to invest himself in the party as the “Asiwaju” did. Atiku found the Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM), a duly registered political party, which he unfortunately treated as a colony of lepers.

He could be whoever he wished to be in the PDM. I believe, it was in Atiku’s power to unite the PDM and the APC and share the pains and struggles of the party, but he preferred to wait for the right political investment. In this regard, I think Atiku Abubakar is in politics for business, not for service. This is my third point of view.

When Muhammadu Buhari lost all hope of fulfilling his presidential ambitions after failing in the 2011 election, it was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, with the support of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who revived Mr President’s hope. At the same time, Atiku Abubakar was nursing wounds of humiliation in the PDP dreaming of bearing the presidential flag. When it became clear that the PDP would not remove the presidential candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan, he left the PDP. When Tinubu and El-Rufai supported Buhari to become the APC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar opposed him. It baffles me when people talk about those contributing to Buhari’s victory in the last residential election and mention the PDP colonialists. I am not contesting the fact that these men added much to President Buhari’s presidential campaigns, but it was clear they came into the APC to colonise the party and continue using the heads of Nigerians as their dining table.

This was the reason why we saw following Muhammadu Buhari after he won the elections taking impressive pictures with him. Today, while Bola Tinubu is satisfied with guiding the party appropriately, Atiku Abubakar runs errands for President Buhari eyeing the ripe fruits to shoot down. President Buhari must distinguish between political commitment and political sycophancy. This is my fourth and final but not exhaustive point of view.

This is the first part of Mr Morgan’s message; you may find part two here.

The real mud-slinging in APC have started. TINUBU vs ATIKU

Let us just stop fooling ourselves, I see no difference between Tinubu and Atiku or Odelli and Orji Kalu.
A thief is a thief; every single one of this group of people is responsible for this great country to be on her knees for this long.

We will never witness a new Nigeria as long as we continue to entertain leadership of any of these criminals.
There are too many other young magnificent Nigerians to be picked from... It is time for all these old thieves to stay home and give a sensible Future a chance for our country.

None of these 2 should be entertained under all circumstances... Nigerians deserve new beginning and great leaders.

AbuadStudent:
Editor’s note: Following the ongoing APC crisis tearing the party apart, Ini Akpan Morgan, Naij.com constant guest author, wrote another appeal to President Buhari. With regard to the current contest for the position of chairman of the Board of Trustees between two prominent party members, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Turaki Atiku Abubakar, Mr Morgan urges Buhari to make the right choice between commitment and opportunism.

READ ALSO: Buhari Should Be Concerned Over Senate President (Pt 1)

Buhari Should Be Concerned Over Senate President (Pt 2)

The recent APC leadership somersault raised some vital and very noteworthy issues including the present tussle between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC, and Turaki Atiku Abubakar for the party leadership. In my opinion, those eager to continue the scramble for political positioning in the party at this stage are at best infantile in their ambitions and selfish.

I believe the APC would not have attained the historic political victory it is presently enjoying without the dedicated and trusted party leadership. I find the news of the party leadership tussles so troubling because the APC is the political platform that has given Nigerians unparalleled hope for sociopolitical reinvention and techno-economic advancement in the country.

Having followed the period of the APC emergence (2010-2013), I can state that the party has up till now not had time to settle down and re-delineate its road map and strategies, and mobilize the available human resources to govern Nigeria for “the next 60 years”. At the same time, its main opponent, the PDP, daydreamt until it was awoken from slumber during its 16th year in power, when their roles switched.

I believe any government, especially democratic, should comprise the governing and the opposition parties working together in the interests of the common people. For me, therefore, a political party’s victory or loss in the election is only one side of the coin; the other one is managing the victory or loss to the benefit of a people. That’s why I am startled by the recent negative developments within the APC caused partially by the deliberate PDP actions.

The primary motive leading to the merger of the former opposition parties was to oust the PDP from power to rescue Nigerians from the corrupted selfish politicians. Otherwise, why is it that amongst 32 PDP founders we only hear about Atiku Abubakar, who himself lost face and dignity in the party?

I am sure that when merging, the parties agreed on the issue of leadership taking into account that at the time there were no immediate political offices to take. That was what bonded them as one entity even in the face of the present “divide and rule” character of the PDP members among them. They are always accusing others of what they are guilty of themselves.

Time limited the APC from electing its leadership before admitting the PDP colonialists. This delay allowed the latter to find accommodation in the party leadership. There is no any historical precedent when those decamping to the PDP got access to political privileges following their admission.

In view of the above facts, I opine that it was unfair for any PDP member to openly confront the APC leadership suffering from the National Assembly election outcome. Nevertheless, it should not surprise the ordinary Nigerians. What else can we expect from the PDP? These troublemakers have always been driven by self-interests. Despite the fact that they have embraced the change personality, we will sweep them out of political relevance with the brooms in their hands. Unfortunately for them, nowadays Nigerians are far more politically enlightened than they were before the APC emergence.

I decided to devote this piece to the men who are struggling to possess the APC soul: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former executive governor of Lagos state, and Turaki Atiku Abubakar, a former Nigerian vice president. I started following them from their days as members of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), on the platform of which Chief MKO Abiola won the annulled 1993 presidential election.

I knew Atiku Abubakar as one of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s lieutenants, as well as the national leader of the SDP and at that time one of the party’s vice presidential hopefuls. Atiku Abubakar lost the election to Babagana Kingibe, but remained, as I suppose, the most trusted ally of “Shehu”, as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Abubakar served as chief of staff, used to call him. This relationship was what, in my opinion, qualified Atiku Abubakar for his political ascension as vice president in 1999.

I did not hear about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu until he appeared candidate for Senate presidency on the platform of the SDP holding the majority in the National Assembly. At the time it was not clear if Abiola would be the SDP flag-bearer. However, “Shehu” was optimistic about him, so he persuaded the “Asiwaju” (editor’s note: Tinubu), also from the southwest, to drop his aspiration, and handed him the privilege of anointing Dr Iyorchia Ayu, who subsequently became the Senate president in that short-lived administration. Today, Atiku Abubakar is adverse to what his political benefactor and economic godfather enjoyed as a party leader, calling it “interference”. Is he honest? This is my first point of view.

The “Asiwaju” and the “Turaki” (editor’s note: Abubakar) both have nurtured different political platforms, and have joined the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the PDP respectively at the inception of the present democratic dispensation. Later both men found their own political parties. The “Asiwaju” raised the Action Congress (AC) in 2005 after his compatriots sold the AD out to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It was upon this political platform that “Turaki” flew his first and only flag as a presidential candidate. This is a clear testament of selflessness and patriotism. This is my second point of view.

Tinubu resisted Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s political interference in the southwest, and retained the AD mandate over Lagos state. His party evolved into the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), snatching power in the southwest from the PDP, and became part of the APC. At the same time, the “Turaki” was gallivanting from pillar to post like a political nomad serially applying for the PDP to enable him to show up at the party’s conventions. In my view, he looked pitiable.

I dare to say that Atiku Abubakar would perhaps have become our president in 2011 if he had not left the ACN to embarrass himself in the PDP. He was the hope I had for our redemption from the grip of the PDP. Losing the place in the ACN for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was the most ridiculous loss any politician could suffer because of political greed. In my opinion, Atiku was extremely naive. Not that he did not find a political party, I suppose he simply refused to invest himself in the party as the “Asiwaju” did. Atiku found the Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM), a duly registered political party, which he unfortunately treated as a colony of lepers.

He could be whoever he wished to be in the PDM. I believe, it was in Atiku’s power to unite the PDM and the APC and share the pains and struggles of the party, but he preferred to wait for the right political investment. In this regard, I think Atiku Abubakar is in politics for business, not for service. This is my third point of view.

When Muhammadu Buhari lost all hope of fulfilling his presidential ambitions after failing in the 2011 election, it was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, with the support of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who revived Mr President’s hope. At the same time, Atiku Abubakar was nursing wounds of humiliation in the PDP dreaming of bearing the presidential flag. When it became clear that the PDP would not remove the presidential candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan, he left the PDP. When Tinubu and El-Rufai supported Buhari to become the APC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar opposed him. It baffles me when people talk about those contributing to Buhari’s victory in the last residential election and mention the PDP colonialists. I am not contesting the fact that these men added much to President Buhari’s presidential campaigns, but it was clear they came into the APC to colonise the party and continue using the heads of Nigerians as their dining table.

This was the reason why we saw following Muhammadu Buhari after he won the elections taking impressive pictures with him. Today, while Bola Tinubu is satisfied with guiding the party appropriately, Atiku Abubakar runs errands for President Buhari eyeing the ripe fruits to shoot down. President Buhari must distinguish between political commitment and political sycophancy. This is my fourth and final but not exhaustive point of view.

This is the first part of Mr Morgan’s message; you may find part two here.

skewed write up to portray TINUBU as a saint