Emerging facts have shown that the
ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is
mired in serious internal wrangling and
crises that may culminate in its
implosion before the 2019 general
elections. Sources close to the party
identify cracks in the party’s leadership,
tracing it first to the absence of a virile
leadership at the national level which
could whip leaders into form, thereby
enabling it to form a common front on
all national issues.
“Those cracks have shown from the
outset when President Muhammadu
Buhari failed to take effective leadership
of the party and prevailed upon it by
choosing National Assembly leadership
of the party’s choice. The absence of a
rallying point has also led to the
emergence of various power blocs
within the party,” one of our sources
said.
“For instance, today, we have the blocs
that belong to the former Vice President,
Atiku Abubakar; Senate President;
another to the national leader of the
party, Chief Bola Tinubu and other
belonging to ministers and loyalists of
the President in Aso Rock. Each of these
is seeking some level of supremacy,” he
said.
According to another source, besides
the party’s alleged poor grasp of
governance at the centre, it is also said
to be suffering from lack of internal
democracy, the same malaise that
robbed the Peoples Democratic Party of
victory in 2015 – imposition of
candidates.
“Look at what happened at the just
concluded Osun West Senatorial election,
where an aspirant disqualified by the
APC defected to the PDP, picked the
ticket and emerged winner, against the
governor’s preferred candidate.
“In the same manner, move to Lagos
State and compare it with the imposition
of over 20 local government
chairmanship candidates in the
yesterday’s election and you will
understand what I mean. Already, while
some are calling for the suspension of
the party’s Legal Adviser, Mr. Muiz Banire,
the latter’s group is advocating the
dissolution of the party’s state executive
led by Chief Henry Ajomale.
Ajomale was miffed by Banire’s group’s
audacity to seek and obtain court
injunction to nullify the Odi-Olowo Local
Council Development Area primary
conducted by the party, stating that it
was obtained by default. Ajomale, in a
statement said: “This judgment in
respect of Odi-Olowo LCDA was obtained
by deception. It was an ambush.
The judge was misled into believing
those presented to him as genuine
members of the APC have nothing to do
with the conduct and organisation of
the primaries. “The court process had
been on for more than a month, but the
party only knew a day before Banire got
the judgment. This judgment is frivolous.
This is a pyrrhic victory.
The party has set in motion the process
of putting down the judgment by way of
appeal. We have put together a crack
team of senior legal practitioners to
properly defend the party. This
judgment cannot stand. “With the
appeal, the party’s arrangements for the
election as fixed by the Lagos State
Independent Electoral Commission
(LASIEC) would continue in Mushin and
Odi-Olowo and APC members should
intensify their ongoing campaigns. They
should not be distracted by this
irresponsible conduct,” Ajomale said.
A top member of the party said though
the APC government has made
remarkable achievements in the areas of
anti-corruption and security, “The point
right now is that our party has no
rallying point. When Chief \Olusegun
Obasanjo was in power, he either rose
to address problems when they arose or
asked his VP then, Atiku Abubakar, to
handle them. As at today, there is
nothing like that.
Even when President Muhammadu
Buhari was in the country, crisis would
have snowballed into something else
before he intervened. “Look at the
impasse over confirmation of the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, DCP Ibrahim Magu, as
chairman, in a government where the
same party has commanding majority.
This ding dung is not funny at all. “I can
tell you that they will have more crises in
the PDP when they start their
convention. It will be a free for all like it
happened at Lagos LG primaries.
Nobody can call anybody to order.
Too, you know they’re supposed to have
held their convention, but unfortunately
that is a violation of their constitution
which provides that the convention be
held every two years,” he said.
The PDP, after the partial resolution of its
leadership issue last week had said that
with the internal crisis, it would sink the
APC come 2019,- a point Governor
Rochas Okorocha countered, saying that
a party that defeated the incumbent
while in opposition will do so with ease
now that it holds the reins of power.
