New Telegraph

APC chairmanship: Musa on the radar

The senator representing Niger East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Sani Musa, might be seen as a dark horse in the race for the national chairmanship of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) but indications point to the fact that he is the candidate to beat given his support base. FELIX NWANERI reports

The formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, two years of the 2015 general election, was like a bolt out of the blues, not because Nigerians were unaware of the party’s coming but because nobody expected that then main opposition parties would close ranks and fuse into one platform. APC is an amalgam of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), factions of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) otherwise known as New PDP.

While many were skeptical about the workability of the merger, especially against the backdrop of assumptions that previous attempts never worked, founding members of the party, however, expressed optimism of a possible defeat of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Their dream turned to reality, when against expectations; the APC defeated the PDP in the 2015 presidential poll by 15.4 million to 12.8 million votes. The victory cut shot the PDP’s dream of being at the helm of affairs for 60 years as its leaders boasted at a time.

It also marked the first time an incumbent president would lose election in Nigeria’s political history. Besides winning the presidency, the APC also won in 20 out of the 29 states, where governorship elections held at the time. The states were Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Bauchi, Kaduna, Plateau, Benue, Jigawa, Zamfara, Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, Yobe, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kano and Imo.

The party also gained control of both chambers of the National Assembly. It won 60 out Senate’s 109 seats and 212 out the 360 seats in the House of Representatives. At the end of the elections, the APC was in control of 22 states, but the figure rose to24 as the party later won governorship polls in Kogi and Ondo states. Many had thought that the APC would build on its victory at the poll and most importantly avoid internal wrangling that caused the downfall of the PDP, but the party witnessed a crack shortly after it formed government in 2015.

Many had said then that the crack was expected given the party’s various tendencies, it however did not take time before it dawned on most political observers that all was not well. The cold war that saw APC constituting opposition to itself assumed a worrisome dimension, when it degenerated to a fierce political battle.

The infighting first came to the fore at the eve of the September 2016 governorship election in Ondo State, when APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, called for the sack of the then National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and one of the arrowheads of APC’s formation, not only described Odigie- Oyegun as a fraud and regressive element, who cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which the party was founded, but added that he (Odigie-Oyegun) was hell-bent on guiding the party into the ditch.

While Odigie-Oyegun described as false all issues raised against him by Tinubu, saying they were figment of his (Tinubu) imagination, he noted that he decided to respond to the issues because they were already causing disaffection within APC, and as well, painting the party in bad light. But, definitely, there was no disputing the fact that APC was then enmeshed in crises in all fronts going by battles for the control of its structures at all levels. There was hardly any state chapter that was free from crisis.

President Muhammadu Buhari had to step in, when it became clear that the crisis in the various chapters of the party could affect its chances of retaining power in the 2019 general election. The President, who also doubles as leader of the party, appointed Tinubu as the head of a national reconciliation committee.

The committee was charged to consult, reconcile and build confidence for the party. While the national leadership of the party initially kept mum over the development, apparently over the claim that it was not consulted before the decision was arrived at, it later pledged to cooperate with Tinubu. But the peace move rather than heal the wounds, widened the crack in the APC as Tinubu alleged that Odigie-Oyegun was frustrating the reconciliation effort. The APC national leader particularly accused Odigie-Oyegun of seeking to undermine the mandate given to him by the President to reconcile aggrieved members and ensure party cohesion by engaging in dilatory tactics.

The accusations, not only changed the narrative in the party, but set the stage for Odigie-Oyegun’s ouster. He was succeeded by a former labour leader and ex-governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who was elected at the June 23, 2018 second elective convention of the APC. It was assurances that the party would be stronger after the national convention despite a few lingering issues over the ward, local government and state congresses in some states at that time.

The assurances, notwithstanding, it did not take time before the party became polarized. The aftermath was the emergence of faction – Reformed All Progressives Congress (RAPC) led by a longtime ally of President Buhari, Alhaji Buba Galadima and defection of the party’s chieftains such as Bukola Saraki (then President of the Senate), Yakubu Dogara (then Speaker, House of Representatives) and several of APC members in the National Assembly to the PDP. Perhaps, the last straw that broke the camel’s back for the party, was its primaries to elect candidates for the 2019 elections.

From controversies over the directive by the Oshiomhole- led NWC for adoption of indirect voting in some states and direct voting in others, APC battled with crises in almost all of its state chapters until the expiration of the December 1, deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for substitution of candidates for the elections. Among the affected state were Ogun, Delta, Imo, Zamfara, Oyo, Ebonyi, Katsina and Ondo.

The case of Rivers State was peculiar as the primaries that produced the parties candidates in the state were nullified by the court. Despite the discord, the APC was able to win the presidential election. Its candidate, President Buhari polled 15.1 million votes to defeat PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, who garnered 11.2 million votes.

The President won in 19 states, while Atiku won in 17 states. But, it was not smooth sail for the ruling party in the governorship elections held in 29 states. Shockingly, the PDP won in 14, while APC won in 15 – a difference of one state. After the polls, APC had 20 states, PDP (15) and APGA (one). But, for the PDP, it added more states to its kitty.

Remarkably, the main opposition party tookover four APC controlled states – Adamawa, Imo, Oyo and Bauchi. APC, on its part, won two PDP controlled states – Gombe and Kwara. APC’s narrow lead over the PDP in the number of states won by both parties in the polls, however, changed on May 4, 2019, when the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal that challenged the nullification of the ruling party’s primary elections in Zamfara State. As a result, the apex court voided all votes cast for the party during the general election at the state level, from the governorship to state Assembly elections and ordered that the runners-up be sworn in.

Apparently irked by the Zamfara loss, the party’s Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu, called on Oshiomhole to resign from his position. The ensuing cold war among members of the APC NWC later snowballed into a full scale crisis.

A chain of events, including Oshiomhole’s insistence on stopping his successor’s (Godwin Obaseki) second term bid and a legal battle over his suspension by the Edo State chapter of the party, brought an end to his tenure on June 16, 2020. A 13-member Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) headed by the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, was set up on June on June 25, 2020, by the APC National Executive Council (NEC) to oversee affairs of the party for six months. However, the CECPC’s tenure has been extended twice since then.

The first was in December 2020 for six months. Another six months was given to the caretaker committee last month. Also approved was the timetable for APC ward, local government and state congresses scheduled to hold on July 24, August 14 and September 18, respectively. Though the congresses, which would have been forerunners to the APC national convention, have been postponed indefinitely, the jostle for the national chairmanship of the party has not waned as the intrigues are still playing out.

So far, three former governors – Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Ali Modu Sheriff (Borno) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara); a former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the senator representing Niger East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Sani Musa. While there is no doubt that the trio of Al-Makura, Yari and Sheriff are serious contender for the APC national chairmanship, the odds seem to favour Senator Musa. Apart from having the backing of his state chapter of the party, the lawmaker’s bid has also been endorsed by most APC senators, who are rooting for one of their own to assume the leadership of the party. Equally working for Musa is the clamour for the chairmanship of the APC to be zoned to the North Central.

Those rooting for the senator are of the view that the party should avoid handing its leadership to another former governor given what it went through in the hands of Oshiomhole. According to them, what the ruling party needs going into a general election is a team player as the “Buhari factor” is not going to be there again.

They also insisted that Buni’s successor must be a party man and not what they described as “fair weather politicians,” who are good in jumping ship at will. For them, besides being a founding member of the APC, Senator Musa is a highly organized, dedicated, passionate and hardworking person with a proven integrity in all the places he has served in both public and private sector from 1986 to date.

The lawmaker is also described as a great mobilizer, a bridge builder and a strategist, who is not only passionate about the wholesome development of the nation but has the capacity required to manage diverse people and interests irrespective of tribe, religion.

These according to them, are what APC needs going into the 2023 general election. The belief that Senator Musa, who chairs the Senate Services Committee, is the right for the APC top job, perhaps, explains the various endorsements for his bid. Just recently, a group under the aegis of APC Stakeholders for 2023 Elections Victory, in declaring support for the senator, said he has experience both at the state, in the business and legislative class to position him well to lead the APC.

Coordinators of the group, Yemi Adeleye and Sabiu Ali, in a statement, described Musa as a grassroots mobilizer and bridge builder, adding: “With the current state of the APC, the party needs to leadership qualities of Senator Musa to continue the reconciliation and peaceful rehabilitation approach that has been entrenched in the party by the Governor Buni-led caretaker committee.”

The group added: “This is the time for the APC to have someone in the capacity of Senator Musa as APC national chairman to pilot the affairs of the party to victory in 2023 and beyond. “Musa is a committed manager of people and resources, using exceptional leadership organization and communication skills to manage high performance across sectional teams.

“He has proven skill in developing consensus at party, committee and legislative levels and has also exhibited qualities that could stand him out as a solid party man that can deliver the APC in all future elections.” A first term senator, Musa’s political career is just as accomplished and rich with experience as his academic and business pursuits.

He was in 2014, an aspirant for the Niger East Senate candidacy and a gubernatorial aspirant in 2007. He was also an ex-officio of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He developed and promoted the electronic voting for the first time in Nigeria. This manifested in the introduction of Card Reader and Permanent Voters Card (PVC), the revolutionary steps is the instrumental to the transformation of election in the country by INEC in 2015 and 2019.

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