Ruling party crumbling under Oshiomhole Despite BAYELSA, KOGI VICTORIES
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, faces collapse over seemingly intractable crises attributed to mismanagement and dictatorial tendencies of its former labour union chairman, Adam Oshiomhole. This is in spite of the victories recorded by the party in the Bayelsa and Kogi gubernatorial elections, Akani Alaka writes.
With events of the past weeks, even the most faithful members of All Progressives Congress, APC, cannot but agree that the party is falling apart. The signs that things are no longer at ease in Nigeria’s ruling party were vividly on display in the power play, which manifested in expulsion and counter expulsion orders between the loyalists of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, which hugged media headlines for most part of last week.
Even more pointedly reflective of the crisis, rocking the ruling party was the disqualification of its candidates on the eve of Bayelsa State governorship election held last Saturday. A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja had last Tuesday disqualified Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, the running mate to the party’s governorship candidate from participating in the election over allegations of conflicting information and inconsistency in the spellings of his names in the certificates he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
With the decision, lawyers argued that APC could no longer claim to have a candidate in last Saturday’s election. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, a human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, argued in an article published a day after the judgment that the legal effect of the disqualification under the Constitution and the Electoral Act (except reversed) on appeal, simply means that the party has no governorship candidate at all in the election.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria based his arguments on section 187(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that “a candidate for the office of governor of a state shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated for such office unless he nominates another candidate, as his associate for his running for the office of governor, who is to occupy the office of deputy governor and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of deputy governor if the candidate, who nominated him is duly elected as governor in accordance with the said provisions.” APC swiftly commenced the process of the appeal of the judgment.
The Bayelsa debacle
But it was doubtful if the process had been completed before the party was hit with the thunderbolt of disqualification of David Lyon, its governorship candidate for the election because “the governorship primary conducted by the APC in Bayelsa State was not done in compliance with the guidelines and the constitution of the party.”
In another case instituted in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by Heineken Lokpobiri, one of the governorship aspirants in the governorship primary conducted by APC, the court ruled that the party had no candidate.
Lokpobiri, a former minister, had approached the court, seeking a declaration, that he and not David Lyon is the authentic candidate of the APC.
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APC immediately filed an appeal against the judgment and participated in last Saturday’s Bayelsa governorship election based on its claim that the higher court had granted a stay of execution of the judgment.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, told journalists that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had granted the APC a stay of execution on the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court, nullifying the primaries of the party: “I must tell you that the judgment, nullifying the primary was clearly a biased one with all due respect to the judiciary. The court in Abuja has granted us stay of execution. That means, we are fully as a party, in the position of contesting this election.”
Messy Primaries In Kogi, Bayelsa
However, APC eventually participated in the Bayelsa poll but critics, including members of the party, insisted that the party has no one to blame but itself for the messy situation.
For one, the suit was filed by a member of APC, who felt dissatisfied with the outcome of the primary. Even more, the suit mirrored similar cases also initiated by factions of APC over primaries in Rivers and Zamfara states that denied the party participation in the 2019 general elections.
The party has been enmeshed in crisis ahead of the governorship election with emergence of two factions being led by Sylva and Lokpobiri, respectively. The Slyva faction had suspended about 10 officials of the party, including the chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and others.
Members of the party, just like their counterparts in Kogi State where elections were also held last Saturday had also bickered about the mode of primary to use to choose their party’s candidate for the then impeding election.
While some of the members were in support of the direct primaries, others canvassed for indirect primaries.
But at the end, the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee, NWC of APC, approved direct primaries for Bayelsa and indirect primaries for Kogi. There were protests from party members over the decision of the NWC, who believed that the decisions were influenced by the Minister of State for Petroleum in case of Bayelsa and the incumbent governor in the case of Kogi.
As a result, some stakeholders refused to support the candidacy of Governor Yahaya Bello, who they considered a ‘bad product’ and did not campaign for him in the run up to last Saturday’s election.
In Bayelsa, Lokpobiri went to court over the outcome of the indirect primaries, which he was not in support of anyway and the result was the fiasco over the party’s candidate for the election.
Edo Fiasco: Oshiomhole versus Obaseki
Such protests and crises over the mismanagement and inconsistency in the mode of primaries by the Oshiomhole-led NWC were believed to be at the root of APC loss of Adamawa, Zamfara and Bauchi and Oyo states to the opposition PDP in the 2019 general election. There are already fears that the party may similarly lose Edo State to the opposition if the ongoing battle for supremacy between Oshiomhole and Governor Obaseki is allowed to continue.
The disagreement between the former governor and his successor, which began over nominations of candidates for the National and State Houses of Assembly positions for the 2019 general elections snowballed into a full blown crises last Tuesday with the announcement of a suspension order on Oshiomhole and state publicity secretary of the party, Lawrence Okah, for alleged anti-party activities by a faction of the party loyal to the governor. While Oshiomhole was suspended for allegedly being behind the crisis, rocking the party in the state, Okah was suspended for alleged anti-party activities.
Just when Nigerians were trying to wrap their heads around the absurdity of a state chapter of a party, suspending its national chairman, a group loyal to Oshiomhole, popularly known as Edo Peoples Movement, also announced that it had suspended Governor Obaseki, his deputy, Philip Shaibu, Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, and the State Chairman of the party, Anselm Ojezua.
EPM, which was convened by a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Edo State, Henry Idahagbon, and former minority whip of House of Representatives, also called on the NWC of APC to initiate disciplinary action against the suspended members.
Insincere NWC
“The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has watched with great concerns the political developments, within the party ranks in Edo State and is deeply disturbed by the recent turn of events. We note that this is happening in spite of the various steps the party has taken to find an amicable solution,” the Oshiomhole-led leadership of the party said in a statement on the messy infighting between members of the party in Edo.
The party also noted that party leaders, including Governor Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Kebbi State, who is the Chairman of Progressives Governors’ Forum, had been part of efforts to bring the crises under control without success. The party then announced that it was constituting ‘‘a high powered, fact-finding and reconciliation committee of party leaders to meet with all disputing parties to ensure that all issues are addressed and resolved.’’
But in the same statement, the NWC also announced its endorsement of the suspension of Edo State APC Chairman by the faction loyal to Oshiomhole. With this, the so-called reconciliation was dead on arrival and it was not a suprise that the Edo chapter of APC promptly rejected it.
“The problem is that Oshiomhole never believed that he is doing anything wrong. And until he is able to wean himself of his dictatorial tendencies, there will be no peace in Edo chapter of the party,” a source told this newspaper last week. He noted that the APC Chairman had encouraged 14 lawmakers not to go to the State House of Assembly for inauguration.
There have been speculations that Oshiomhole and the group loyal to him in the Edo chapter of APC are already shopping for replacement for Obaseki ahead of the 2020 governorship election.
The reported move by the Peoples Democratic Candidate, PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state’s last election to defect to APC was said to be part of the plan. There were also speculations that Governor Obaseki is also heading to PDP. The governor and his supporters have denied this.
The governor has also expressed confidence that his achievements will get him a second term. The governor enjoys the support of prominent people in and outside the Edo APC for his second term ambition. In a recent interview, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), vowed that he would personally demand the removal of Oshiomhole if Edo State was lost to the opposition.
Sagay, said he had unsuccessfully tried to settle the dispute between Oshiomhole and Obaseki and blamed the APC chairman’s aggressive attitude for the crisis within the party and loss of some states to the opposition in the 2019 general elections. “We lost Rivers State; we didn’t have a chance to contest. We lost Zamfara, where we won the election and all our victories were handed over by the Supreme Court to the PDP, all because of Oshiomhole’s aggression. I think there were also two other states which we lost because of his aggressive attitude.”
“So, I think Oshiomhole is creating more problems for the APC by his aggressive attitude. By this aggression, if we lose Edo State, which is the only state APC has in the South-South, I am personally going to call for his removal, as APC chairman. Otherwise, by the time he finishes his term, we will not have a single state left.”
In a letter written after the 2019 elections, the former deputy chairman, APC, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, had also called on the party’s national chairman to resign from office, especially over the Zamfara debacle. Shuaibu, who was suspended by the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee of the party had in a letter entitled: “APC: It’s Fortunes vs Misfortunes, Time to Act,” had described APC as a failing project. “In advanced democracies, people who fail to add value or build over and above what they met on assumption of duty show some civilised examples, they honourably bow out,” Buni said.
Even many months after the election, many state chapters of APC are still in crises as chieftains of the party continue their battle for the control of the structures. As a result, the forum of chairmen of the 36 states of APC had recently called for resignation of Oshiomhole over the lingering crises, bedevilling the party.
In a communiqué issued and signed by their chairman and secretary in September, Ali Bukar Bolari and Ben Nwoye, who are also chairmen in Borno and Enugu states respectively, lamented the neglect of the entire party structure, and the failure to produce a substantive National Secretary after the exit of Mai Mala Buni, the present Yobe State governor, among other complaints. But it was learnt that the chairmen, who gave Oshiomhole a deadline of 10 days to resign over troubles, afflicting the various chapters of APC, were convinced to sheath their swords after a recent meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Also, former Governor Rochas Okorocha had warned recently that with the crisis in its fold, APC may not survive post-Buhari presidency.
Yet, it was learnt that Oshiomhole is not likely to throw in the towel because of the support he still enjoins from some leaders of the party, especially Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and some governors, who owe their emergence to him. “Buhari is the only person, who can force Oshiomhole out now, but the possibility of doing that is remote,” said the source.
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Sack Oshiomhole to save APC
Nevertheless, calls for Oshiomole to quit to save APC is getting louder by the day. Salihu Mohammed Lukman, the Secretary-General of the Progressives Forum joined the call last week. He also called for the meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC, the highest organ of the party to deliberate on the problems afflicting the party. This, according to him, is for the survival of the party.
In the comprehensive statement, which captured the problems, bedeviling APC and Oshiomhole’s role in it, Lukman said, “Information coming from Edo State indicate that members of the State Executive Council of APC have passed vote of no confidence on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of our party, APC.
“In so many respects, it could be argued, it is a natural outcome of unfolding power play between Comrade Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki since June 2019 with the contentious inauguration of the Edo State House of Assembly. Possible retaliatory response from both Comrade Oshiomhole and groups, such as Edo Peoples Movement, who are loyal to Comrade Oshiomhole, should be expected. In other words, there could be counter pronouncement, suspending Governor Obaseki
“Side by side with the news of the vote of no confidence was also the discomforting report of the Federal High Court judgement in Abuja, disqualifying Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo, as our deputy governorship candidate for the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa election.
“While expecting that every necessary step will be taken to vacate the judgement, it is very depressing for every committed party member to be subjected to such ignominious reality, which only reminds us of our reckless conducts in states like Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and Adamawa, which chiefly gave away electoral victories to PDP.
“Instead of focusing on working to win elections, we are busy undermining ourselves. All these are ominous signs that we are about to re-enact the Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and Adamawa experiences in Bayelsa. It is Bayelsa today, Anambra, Edo and Ondo are being set up for similar experiences. Somehow, unfortunately, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party, which is the organ vested with the statutory responsibility of responding to all these challenges appear to be suspended. The last time it met was August 2018.
“In its place, the National Working Committee (NWC), which is an administrative organ with the responsibility of implementing decisions of NEC and other higher organs seems to have usurped the powers of NEC.
“Sadly, even the NWC, as at today, is a shadow of itself, as it has lost many members either on accounts of appointment into government or controversial suspension. For instance, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Deputy National Chairman (South) is today a Minister of the Federal Republic. Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, Deputy National Chairman (North) is allegedly suspended. Alh. Inuwa Abdulkadir, National Vice Chairman (North West) is similarly suspended.
“We may recall that in June 2019, the NWC allegedly suspended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN. During the 2019 general elections, on account of the roles of former Governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun against the candidates of the party, they were similarly suspended. Whether all these actions are permissible by provisions of the APC’s constitution is highly contestable.
“Why should all these be allowed to happen? Why is it impossible to convene NEC or even National Caucus meetings, which are supposed to hold every quarter to resolve all these issues? Why should the NWC under Comrade Oshiomhole continue to imagine that it can conduct affairs of the party without mandatory meetings of party organs? What legacy is Comrade Oshiomhole hoping to achieve as a national chairman by running the party in a way that suggests almost zero commitment to issues of party development?
“It is very painful for many of us, who have had the privilege of being mentored by Comrade Oshiomhole to see him being devalued to a local factional leader from a very high pedestal of an illustrious national leader. As National Chairman, Comrade Oshiomhole hardly appreciates that he now has a national constituency and not just a state constituency, which may have been responsible for his apparent intemperance in the handling of matters, affecting Edo State. I wish he paid similar attention to handling of issues affecting Rivers and Zamfara states during the 2019 election.
“In the current circumstance, nothing short of a NEC or National Caucus meeting of the party can resolve all our increasing organisational challenges as a party. It is either Comrade Oshiomhole respects the provision of party constitution and convene superior organ meeting to deliberate on all our challenges, or he should just accept his inability to manage the party and simply resign.
“Our national leaders must rise to the challenge facing us as a party and take all necessary measures to convene superior organ meetings to begin to resolve all our challenges as a party. The current public disgrace must end!”
