APC congresses: THE BIG LOSERS

The cracks in many chapters of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC manifested in parallel congresses conducted across many chapters of the party on October 16. The Nigerian Xpress spotlights the biggest losers in the battle to control structures of the party at the state level, given the stated position of the national leadership of APC to the parallel congresses.

Akani Alaka

Doubts about the future of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was again brought to the fore with the outcome of congresses, which had left many chieftains of the party contemplating their future as members of the ruling party.

The congresses came to an end with the election of state executives for the party on Saturday, October 16. And just like what was witnessed at the ward and local government levels, the state congress again revealed what now seems like implacable infighting among chieftains of the party to take control of the APC structures in their various states ahead of the 2023 general election. 

Following the conduct of parallel congresses during the ward and local governments’ chapters, the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee of the APC had set up an appeal committee with a view to listening to the contending forces and harmonising membership of the party’s executives in the affected state chapters. But the parallel congresses at the state level on 16 October showed that the appeal committees have failed.

However, speaking after the conclusion of state congresses, Sen. John Akpanudoedehe APC secretary Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) declared as illegal all parallel congresses held in parts of the country.

According to him, the party would only recognize exercises conducted by duly inaugurated National Congress Committees set up by the party. He also warned that the party would not hesitate to take adequate and lawful measures against any person or interests sabotaging the collective party interest and efforts to achieve peace and unity.

He added that the party would continue to seek reconciliation among its contending members.  “Where contestations exist, adequate conflict resolution measures have been put in place to address them. The party has appeal committees for every congress,” Akpanudoedehe said while congratulating members on the ‘successful conduct’ of the state congresses across the country.

Sources told this newspaper last week that it may be difficult to bring the contending forces in many of the states to the contending table ahead of the National Convention of the party.

Akpabio, Enang, others lose out in Akwa Ibom

Many of the aggrieved chieftains of the party also believed that members of the APC Caretaker Committees are biased and they may not get justice from them. Thus, some of the APC chieftains behind the parallel congresses may have lost out finally.

In Akwa Ibom, Akpanudoedehe himself was in the tick of factionalisation of the APC which led to the election of three chairmen for the party in three different parallel congresses held at different venues in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State.

The other two congresses were held by factions of the party loyal to Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Senator Godswill Akpabio and presidential adviser, Senator Ita Enang. While Akpabio’s faction elected Steve Ntukekpo as its state chairman, Austin Ekanem emerged as chairman of Akpanudoedehe’s faction. Also, Enang’s faction elected Douglas Pepple as the state chairman at its congress.

But only the congress of Akpanudoedehe held at the Sheergrace Events Centre in the state capital was monitored by the congress committee from Abuja, led by Sheriff Banki, though it was learnt that Akpabio and Ita Enang had tried to lure them to the venue of their exercises without success.

Enang and Akpabio have been telling their supporters to keep calm with a promise that the issue of the leadership of the party in the state would eventually be settled at a roundtable ahead of the 2023 general election. On the contrary, Akpanudoedehe, said there was no parallel congress in Akwa Ibom. He declared that the congress held at Sheergrace Arena in Uyo, which produced Mr. Augustine Ekanem as the state chairman was the authentic one. 

The APC secretary can be said to be standing on solid ground given that his congress was monitored by the team from the Abuja National Headquarters of the party. Thus, Akpabio and Enang may have lost the battle for the control of APC in Akwa Ibom at least for now.

Magnus Abe

They are indeed in the same boat with Senator Magnus Abe, a chieftain of the APC in Rivers, who has been at war with the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi over control of the structure of the party in the state for some years now.

The intractable court battle between the two former allies and their loyalists over which of the factions’ executive is the authentic one denied the party participation in governorship and legislative election in Rivers State in 2019. But the two APC chieftains and their loyalists seem not to have learnt their lessons as demonstrated at the congresses of the party. Loyalists of Amaechi had during their congress elected Emeka Bekee, an associate of the minister as the party chairman.

Though it pulled out of the congress monitored by the team from Abuja, the Abe faction last Monday announced Golden Chioma as the Rivers APC State chairman. Chioma told journalists at the inauguration of the state executives of his faction of APC in Port Harcourt that he and his colleagues were duly elected at the congress of the party.

However, Chris Finebone, the publicity secretary of the Amaechi faction denied that parallel congress was held in the state, describing Chioma as an impostor.

“What qualifies as parallel congress is when the team sent by the APC CECPC conducted two congresses with INEC and security agencies observing. There was no such thing that happened in Rivers State last Saturday. The team from Abuja conducted the only congress that took place in Rivers State at the Polo Club. That exercise saw the emergence of Chief Emeka Bekee as the state chairman with other officers for various positions,” said Finebone.

Lokpobiri

In Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva seemed to have the upper hand against his major rival for the control of the state chapter of APC,  Senator Heineken Lokpobiri. Dennis Otiotio, a lawyer was elected state chairman along with 35 other executive members at a congress boycotted by a faction led by Lokpobiri.

The supporters of the former minister of state for agriculture said they boycotted the exercise and did not hold a parallel congress as a result of subsisting injunction before the Court of Appeal. “We met and thought it wise not to go ahead with the congresses because of the subsisting injunction. For all I know, the other party is disobeying a court order,” a chairmanship candidate in the Lokpobiri camp, Chief Peres Peretu said.

Ogboru, Keyamo, others

Speaking after the Congress of Delta APC held at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, described the exercise as peaceful and an indication that the party is poised to take over the state in 2023.

“The Congress is very peaceful; members conducted themselves in a very good manner,” said Omo-Agege whose loyalist, Omeni Sobotie was elected Delta State APC chairman. The deputy Senate president’s loyalists were also elected unopposed by affirmation of the accredited delegates to the other executive positions.

The congress was conducted by the National Congress Committee headed by Senator Ajibola Bashiru. But what Omo-Agege failed to say was that the congress was peaceful because chieftains of the party in Delta including the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo decided to boycott the exercise over allegations that Omo-Agege had hijacked the structure of the party through the earlier ward and local government congresses.

Some chieftains of the party including Keyamo, Dr. Alex Ideh, Cairo Ojougboh, Victor Ochei, Mariam Ali and Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru under the aegis of Delta APC Leaders’ Council and the State Sorting Committee members in a joint statement reaffirmed their opposition to the congress. “We are not a part of that kangaroo state congress being organised by Senator Omo-Agege and his cohorts,”  they said while asking the national leadership of the party to cancel and declare what they described as the “sham they call congress null and void.”

They added that “We would not recognise any other executive other than the consensus executives put together by the leaders and stakeholders, which have been affirmed as the wards, LGAs and state executives, by all APC faithful across the State.”

But it remains to be seen if Keyamo, Ogboru and others will have their way against Omo-Agege whose congress was supervised by a team from the national secretariat of the party.

Rochas Okorocha

Just like the Keyamo group, the faction of APC led by former governor Rochas Okorocha also boycotted the Imo State Congress of the APC.

But this did not stop the emergence of Dr. MacDonald Ebere, as the state chairman of the party at a congress organised by a faction loyal to Governor Hope Uzodimma.

“I will give you all the required support. I thank members of the party and urge the new executives not to betray the confidence and trust reposed in them,” Uzodimma said after the election of the new executive for the party.

The Okorocha faction of the party had also not participated in the ward and the local government congresses, as it had insisted that its chairman, Dan Nwafor, remained the authentic chairman of the party in the state as declared in a court judgment. 

Okorocha, in a statement by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, described the state congress as an ‘advance birthday party’ for Governor Okorocha.

He added that appeals were pending at the Appeal and Supreme Court over the leadership of APC in Imo. He added that in addition to the substantive Appeal Court judgment, there was an appeal pending in the Supreme Court over the issue. “An appeal is pending in the Supreme Court and the case has not been decided and somebody said he is conducting a congress,” he added.

A camp of the party loyal to Senator Ifeanyi Araraume also boycotted the state congress.

Ken Nnamani, Onyeama, Others

In Enugu, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, ex-governor Sullivan Chime are crying foul after ex-deputy state chairman of the APC, Adolphus Ude and former Commissioner for Works in the state, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah were elected as chairmen from parallel congresses.

Agballah belongs to a faction of the APC in the state led by Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffery Onyeama. Agballah’s emergence had earlier been opposed by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and ex-governor, Sullivan Chime, on the allegation that he was not known to the party.

But it was the congress where Ude emerged as the winner that was held at the Enugu Secretariat of the party and supervised by the Enugu State Congress Committee led by Jonathan Akaya.

Ude belonged to a faction of the party led by former State Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party, Dr. Ben Nwoye. Speaking at the end of the congress, Nwoye lambasted Nnamani, for spearheading a parallel congress outside of the state party secretariat, contrary to the directive of the national leadership of the APC.

Nwakpa, Others

The situation was the same in Abia where the Donatus Nwankpa and Chief Ikechi Emenike factions of the party elected different chairman at parallel congresses in Umuahia.

But the congress conducted by the group loyal to Emenike was supervised by the State Congress Committee, led by Rep. Kolawole Babatunde.

The committee returned Chief Enyinnaya Harbour as the state chairman in an election in which all the contestants were without opponents. In an acceptance speech, Habour warned that his executive would not condone anti-party activities by members, a jibe aimed at the rival congress held at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

However, former governorship candidate of the party, Chief Uche Ogah, and Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Dr Alex Otti, who decamped to APC in 2020, former lawmakers, Sen. Nkechi Nwogu and Sen. Chris Adighije, kept away from the exercise.

Lagos4Lagos, Ambode

In the South-west, there were parallel congresses in Ogun, Lagos and Osun states.

In Lagos, the faction of the party loyal to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu held its congress at the Onikan Stadium, while the faction of the party led by Jide Adediran (Lagos4Lagos) held its own at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

Also, a faction of the party made up of supporters of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on the platform of Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organisation, AMCO, held their congress at Baptist Academy, Obanikoro.

The Sanwo-Olu faction elected a former commissioner for rural development, Cornelius Ojelabi, as its chairman.

On the other hand, Sunday Ajayi was elected the chairman of the Lagos4Lagos faction. Mrs. Beatrice Omotayo Tugbobo was elected as the chairperson of the Ambode faction of the party.

However, the congress of the Sanwo-Olu faction of the party was attended by all the state and national legislators and supervised by the National Congress Committee, led by Mr. Bayo Adelabu.

But the other factions of the party in Lagos also insisted that their congresses were conducted in line with the party’s constitution.

When asked to respond to the other congresses, Sanwo-Olu said he was not aware of them. He added that the congresses were just a waste of time.   “I am not aware of any other congress. Maybe because of your work, you can see those who are engaging in a tea party,” the governor said.

Aregbesola

In Osun, the battle for the control of APC which resulted in the parallel congresses at the ward and local government levels between loyalists of Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola also manifested at the state exercise.

The Ilerioluwa Group which is loyal to Governor Oyetola held its congress at the Osogbo City Stadium, where Gboyega Famodun was re-elected as state chairman of the party.

However, the Osun Progressives group made up of associates of Aregbesola elected the immediate past Secretary of APC in the state, Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile, as the state chairman of the party at their congress.

The APC National Committee Chairman for Osun State congress, Gbenga Elegbeleye told journalists at a news conference on October 17 that any other congress apart from the one held at the Osogbo City Stadium was a “mere funeral ceremony“. Elegbeleye added that on no account could any congress be held outside the knowledge of the committee, as prescribed by the party’s principles and guidelines.

“As you all know, we were saddled by the leadership of the party at the National Secretariat to conduct Osun APC Congress. When we arrived, we announced the venue of the congress. So, if anybody goes to the shrine to do another thing, that may probably be a funeral or marriage ceremony, not a congress. The only congress we organised at Osogbo City Stadium is APC congress and so we cannot recognise or assume that there was a congress anywhere”, he said.

He added that the congress supervised by his committee was successful, hitch-free, fair and credible, as it was conducted under the constitution, principles and guidelines of the party.

Amosun, others

In Ogun, parallel congresses which have produced parallel executives at the ward and local government levels by loyalists of Governor Dapo Abiodun and his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun was repeated at the state level.

Abiodun led his supporters at the congress of his faction of the party held at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta. Amosun’s loyalists held their congress at the Ake Palace ground, Abeokuta.

The executives at the two congresses emerged through consensus arrangement.

The governor’s faction elected former chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state, Chief Yemi Sanusi as the chairman of their faction of the party.

On the other hand, Amosun’s faction elected former chairman of the party in the state, Chief Derin Adebiyi as the new chairman of the party in the state after their congress was initially disrupted by hoodlums.

Amosun himself was not present at the congress, but Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olalekan Adegbite; the senators representing Ogun East and West in the National Assembly, Lekan Mustapha and Tolu Odebiyi respectively; and a former governorship candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, among others were part of the exercise of the faction.

However, the National Congress Committee led by Wale Ohu supervised the Congress of Abiodun’s faction. Ohu insisted that any congress held outside the MKO Abiola Stadium was nothing but an “exercise in futility.”

Lai Mohammed

In Kwara, the two factions of APC led by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq respectively also elected different chairmen for the state chapter of the party.

Sunday Fagbemi, said to be a strong ally of Governor Abdulrazaq was elected chairman at the congress supervised by Professor Emmanuel Dan-Daura, the National Congress Committee chairman for Kwara. 

But a faction of the party belonging to the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, in a parallel congress, announced Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, as the re-elected state chairman of the party’s faction in the state.

What Next For Disenchanted APC Chieftains?

There were also parallel congresses in Adamawa, Niger and Cross River states.

A source told this newspaper that those behind the parallel congresses would keep the courts busy by taking legal steps in their desperation to be recognized by the national leadership of the APC ahead of the party’s convention.

But the party had warned that it would take disciplinary action against any member who dragged it to court without exhausting all the internal mechanisms for settlement of conflicts. So, this is an option that even portends another problem for the disenchanted party chiefs.

Aside from this, some of the chieftains of the party may also start looking for defection or taking over some of the smaller parties, since the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP may be out of consideration. This, said a source, is because many members of PDP are also taking positions in the party ahead of the 2023 presidential elections. There are also fears of implosion, especially in many of the chapters of the party in the South. This, may make the party weaker and affect its chances in the 2023 elections.