Political intrigues in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is largely blamed on personal ambition of members. In this report, Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports on the latest intrigues over alleged Abubakar Atiku’s quest for prominence
Fresh internal wrangling may be on the way within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) unless something is urgently done to curb the soaring personal ambitions of some of the leading chieftains of the party. Fueling fears of looming feud are indications that a power bloc within the party, led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, may be hatching a plot to hijack the party’s machineries by suppressing all other blocs and interest groups in the ruling party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The Atiku-led group are understood to be plotting to sideline prominent party chieftains, especially the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his associates in the party. The plot, which reliable sources claim was hatched immediately Atiku lost the presidential ticket of the APC to President Muhammadu Buhari last December, is intended to place the former Vice President in a good stead for his next political aspiration.
Barring any alteration of their plan, the Atiku camp are expected to go full blast from now in their attempts to hijack the party’s affairs from the current officials perceived to be loyalists of Asiwaju Tinubu and President Buhari. Already, some of the plans of the group have been carried out while others in the pipeline are currently being fine-tuned ahead of their execution.
The Nation leant that one of the script of the Atiku-lec bloc played out during the last controversial National Assembly leadership elections. “Because Atiku needed to ensure that he returns to prominence in the APC where he has failed to attract much recognition since joining the party, he, alongside other seemingly aggrieved persons, especially within the ranks of the defunct New PDP group, intentionally encouraged and supported some lawmakers to go against the APC’s directive on who would become leaders of the National Assembly.
Their action is largely due to their alleged desperation to have maximum control over the party structure so that party decisions could favour them at all times. Consequently, the ruling party’s preferred candidates in both the Senate and the House of Representatives were defeated by party members who contested the elections against the wishes of the party. This also led to the emergence of Ike Ekweremadu, of the opposition PDP, as the Deputy Senate President. And sources said this is just the first of many such plots to return Atiku to prominence in the APC at all cost,” a party source, claiming anonymity, said.
The Nation also learnt that Atiku and some forearm governors of the All Progressives Congress met severally to work out the modalities that saw to the victory of Senator Bukola Saraki, an ex-governor and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively, on June 9, 2015.
“It was easy for Atiku to get some prominent chieftains on his side because like him, they are not comfortable with the current clout of the national leader of the APC, Senator Tinubu, on the ruling party. To them, with Tinubu still as respected and deferred to as he currently is, it would be difficult for Atiku and others to ply their types of politics successfully within the party. There are also talks that some of the principles of the party as enshrined by Tinubu and his associates, would need to be done away with if people like Atiku are to remain in the party.
Hence, their decision to work against their party with the ultimate aim of cutting Tinubu’s loyalists to size. In their calculations, with the failure of Lawan and Gbajabiamila to win the Senate Presidency and the Speakership, the Tinubu influence has been punctured. They used their influence to make Saraki emerge Senate President, stopping Ahmed Lawan, who is believed to to be Tinubu’s candidate. But Lawan was the party’s candidate, not Tinubu’s and what they did was against the party, not Tinubu,” Chief Fola Laoshe, chieftain of the party in Ogun State, said.
“To imagine that a prominent chieftain like Aliyu Wammako, former governor of Sokoto State, reportedly used his successor, the new governor of the state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, to reach out to returning House members to support Dogara in emerging the House of Representatives Speaker just because some people are not comfortable with Tinubu is terrible. But if this is the type of politics we have to put up with in APC, then the worst is not over yet,” Laoshe added.
Signs that the Atiku camp may be up to something emerged during the tussle for the endorsement of the APC by contenders for leadership positions in the National Assembly. Atiku, it was learnt, openly opposed the party’s decison to conduct a mock election within the APC’s senators and House of Representatives members before the actual elections on the floor of both Houses.
Contrary to insinuations that the mock election was Tinubu’s idea, it was actually a suggestion by the National Executive Committee led by Odigie Oyegun. Sensing that Lawan and Gbajabiamila were ging to win the mock poll, the former Vice President encouraged Saraki, Dogara and their supporters to boycott the process.
It is no longer news that he supported the Saraki and Dogara camp all in a bid to reduce the influence of Tinubu on the party. But while it may be correct to say Gbajabiamila was favored by Tinubu, same cannot be said of Lawan, who was simply the party’s choice. But arguing that the current members of the APC’s National Working Committee are Tinubu’s loyalists, the Atiku camp were determined to control the National Assembly.
Further plans unfolding
And as the dust raised by the National Assembly leadership election settles, the Atiku camp seems to have swiftly moved to the next stage of their plot which is to grab control of the leadership of the party itself. Sources say last week’s call by one of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) members, Timi Frank, for the immediate resignation of the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, is meant to kick start a process aimed at further throwing the party into crisis.
Frank, who accused Oyegun and some members of the APC’s NWC of fueling rancor in the party, said it was unfortunate that the leadership of the party played hide and seek and over indulged themselves in the choice of Senate President and House Speaker. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Frank who is the Assistant National Publicity Secretary, stated that the chairman and leadership of the party ought to resign for throwing the party into internal crisis with the conduct of an embarrassing mock election.
“If my party could not keep to the promise of change, then we must correct them to keep to that. I have no fear or favour than to say that the current leadership of the party has practically failed. With this incident alone, the chairman should resign from his position after taking a position against the people and the people’s position has finally come to stay. In the Western world, by today the party’s national chairman would have resigned honourably.
“Not just the national chairman but the entire leadership that took this decision of conducting mock election against the outcry of the larger members of the party. Against the bigger picture of Nigerians. A hand-full of? the party leadership came to take a decision, and by today the people have shown that the voice of the people is the voice of God,” Timi Frank stated.
He specifically faulted the APC chairman, Oyegun for clearly failing to consult widely before embarking on the mock election, which he said ridiculed the party.
He said, “You ?could see the way the party, including the national chairman, was speaking? before the NASS leadership elections; it showed clearly that the chairman had totally taken sides which wasn’t meant to be. I understand, he took some of those decisions based on pressure. In this century, APC as a party, does not need a chairman that will be under pressure.
“?And the party’s national chairman caused it because times out of numbers, some of the leaders told him to come up with a zoning formula from the beginning. He was as?ked to take a decision and let people follow that but he didn’t do that. They were playing hide and seek with the issue until the last minute when they saw the danger, and they wanted to play hanky-panky, which led us to lose one position at the Senate,” Frank said.
But reacting to the call, the national chairman said he would not resign as advised by Frank, who he said acted out of ignorance. Oyegun said that he was not under any kind of pressure to conduct the election, saying that as the national chairman of the party, it was incumbent on him to moderate various interests that emerged during the time of the election.
“It is neither here nor there. That’s his opinion and views. And I suppose he’s entitled to them. But I read the statement. He’s not a member of the National Working Committee (NWC). He’s a member of NEC alright. But not of the National Working Committee. So, it is neither here not there. When things happen, people look for scapegoats and it is a pity that he told the press instead of coming to say, look, chairman, what happened? How did things go the way they did? He might have just benefited from the education.
“I was not under any pressure in the sense that he’s taking it but a party chairman is constantly under pressure, especially when the time comes for dividing the spoils of office, naturally, people of different interests, it is for the national chairman to moderate all these interests. And usually not everybody will be pleased. One way or the other, whatever decision you take, somebody is bound to be unhappy. That’s the way things run,” Oyegun said.
Ministerial nomination too
The Atiku group is also said to be taking the battle to the ministerial nominees list as they have perfected plans to frustrate nominees from Tinubu’s camp. According to sources, the group is determined to reduce the number of Tinubu’s loyalists that will make it into the federal cabinet to the barest minimum. This, they hope to achieve with their current control of the National Assembly leadership.
“With the leaderships of both the Senate and the House firmly in their kitty, the Atiku group are poised to stop Tinubu loyalists from populating Buhari’s cabinet. It is unclear how they intend to do this but I guess they are banking on the National Assembly to help them shrink the number of Tinubu’s people who will become ministers,” our source added.
Already, leaders of the party have scheduled a meeting with President Buhari on the need to expedite action and achieve a harmonious selection of the new cabinet members. The meeting, which is to hold after the return of the President from the Africa Union (AU), meeting in South Africa, will centre on the need to streamline the party’s position on the new cabinet.
Allaying fears that the party may be in dispute over the appointment of Ministers, Oyegun said no person or group can dictate who will emerge as ministers as the function of appointing people into the federal cabinet is largely an executive function. Oyegun said further that Buhari and the party are more interested in appointing technocrats and other competent hands than playing to party sentiments. The chairman made the statements while speaking to journalists in Abuja.
“There is absolutely no dispute between the party and the president. We agreed that we shall use all manner of people: politicians, technocrats, all manner of people even if not politicians, who can deliver and who subscribe passionately to the agenda of the president to move this country forward, irrespective of where the people come from; irrespective of whether the person is a card-carrying members of the party,” Oyegun said.
“What is important is the qualification of the person and the ability of the person to deliver on the ideas of Mr. President. What we are interested is in the ability of the people to bring up the ideas that will help Mr. President achieve the set objectives and the ability to deliver on what the President wants,” he added.
“Secondly, this is an executive function and the President has the right to consult as widely as possible. This means he might pick people within the party; people outside the party. It is a prerogative the President should exercise and we cannot question that. We are quite happy about the way he is proceeding,” Oyegun said.
2019 calculations
Meanwhile, The Nation learnt that current moves by Atiku and his associates to hijack the party is informed by permutations in some quarters that President Buhari should do only one term of four years in office as President and a feeling that the Tinubu camp may be disposed to supporting him for a second term in 2019.
“Buhari will do one term. Considering the difficulty in selling his candidacy to Nigerians on account of his age, it is not advisable to field him again in 2019. But the north should be allowed to have a second shot at the presidency. Talks of who that would be is unnecessary. Already, Atiku, who is still interested in the presidency is showing his intention. That is what allegedly informed his recent renewed interest in the power equation within APC. It may be true that Saraki too will want to run for the presidency.
But I think with the new working relationship between their camps, Saraki will remain Senate President and allow Atiku to take over. Thats the thinking in Atiku’s camp and he is planning towards it already. You know that in politics, four years is a very short time. The game is on already, Alhaji Wahab Yunus, Co-ordinator of Saraki United Front and a chieftain of the APC, told The Nation.
The Nation also learnt that his 2019 aspiration is one of the reason the former Vice President opposed the aspiration of Senator Lawan for the Senate Presidency. “Fearing that the sudden attention being given to the North East for the Senate presidency was ostensibly to pave way for Senator Ahmad Lawan to garner national clout and prepare him for eventualities in 2019, as an alternative candidate from the zone aside Atiku, the former number two man asked his loyal senators-elect within APC and PDP to side with Senator Bukola Saraki for the Senate top seat.
The PDP option
It is also being bandied around that should the Turaki’s camp fail to hijack the APC ahead of the next presidential election, he may hearken to overtures from his troubled former party, the PDP as some of his erstwhile allies in the party have already begun moves to woo him back. Already, several meetings have been held in various locations to discuss how to get the former VP back into the PDP with the party’s 2019 presidential ticket being used as a bait to lure him.
The move, sources claim, is part of PDP’s quest to recapture power by any means in 2019. “The party sees Atiku as one man that can help them regain power, and they have started making moves aimed at luring back to their fold. Should all entreaties to Atiku fail, Kwankwaso, is another person we want because of his firm grip on Kano which has always produced the largest bulk votes in recent elections.
But the desire of the PDP for now is to have Atiku back. That is why some of his erstwhile allies within the PDP are now being given special attention by the party. They have the mandate of luring him back to the PDP,” a source said.
