It sad that in the face of his “incompetence”, running mouth and empty arrogance, the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade-Excellency Adams Oshiomhole, keeps insisting that those who are presently campaigning for his removal as National Chairman of the party are seeking so because of his stand against “impunity” in the outcome of the nomination processes of his party. What impunity is the Comrade-Chairman talking about?
More than what Comrade Oshiomhole canvasses, he is the most guilty of impunity and he is a very insolent man – he is the worst of political party national chairmen in the anals of Nigeria. This article is to challenge the APC National Chairman on the “direct primaries” he order across many states of the federation, and pinning the exercise, as it happened in Akwa Ibom State, as unfortunate and a below-belt knock.
It is a shame that in all the years of the rule of impunity by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), no blood was ever let in any of the party primaries they conducted in 16 years and four political administrations – a round of applause for the PDP.
Now the APC came with their “change” mantra and what we all have now is a sad story of disappointments and pains. President Muhammadu Buhari was a beacon of hope to Nigerians before the 2015 elections, but after over 3 years of exercising the popular mandate given to him, his administration has shown to be rudderless and pitiful.
1. MR PRESIDENT’S FIRST ADMINISTRATIVEMISTAKE
Mr President ignorantly and tactlessly handed over the effectiveness of his administration to Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, when these men rode roughshod over the ruling party to become the senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives while Mr President turned a blind eye.
Mr President had claimed that he could work with anybody, but what is our situation today? Where are both men today? Yet Mr President still shows he is a slow learner by embracing Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio – now his “Warsaw saw war” man. Its absurd for Mr President to run a four year tenure as if he has forty years – what time does he have to study the strange new bedfellows on his bed? He is too slow to find competence to handle political surprises.
Mr President submitted to the lie of Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara in “separation of powers”, which was promoted by the agents they tactically smuggled into and planted in the presidency to advice Mr President on matters affecting them. Mr President was politically naive to have fallen for the trap of “separation of powers”, being ignorant of the fact that as long as the 7th Assembly had wound, and the 8th Assembly was yet to be inaugurated, the national assembly complex was under lock and key, having no members.
Both Saraki and Yakubu Dogara were also not yet members of the national assembly, being senator-elect and member-elect respectively, and so were incompetent to lay any claim to “separation of powers” in any way, as the new government was yet to be fully constituted.
Any claim to the separation of powers by any member of the national assembly can only be claimed when the certificates of return of members have all been received by the national assembly and seats assigned to every member constituting the national assembly.
This was the first administrative mistake of Mr President, which plunged Nigerians into the present level of poverty in the land because we are burdened with a national assembly leadership that cares more for their persons, than the collective interests of all Nigerians. This led to the open and present failure of the government in power.
2. MR PRESIDENT’S SECOND ADMINISTRATIVE MISTAKE
Mr President failed to understand how the bid for “tenure elongation” canvassed for the erstwhile national working committee of the APC by the national executive committee (NEC) of the party was geared to truncate the effectiveness of the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu “Reconciliation Committee”, which Mr President personally constituted to settle all grievances within the party. The hindrance to the working of the “Asiwaju Committee” was the continuation of the ploy of Bukola Saraki and company to hijack the APC for themselves.
The present crisis in the party stems from Mr President’s erroneous attention, consent to, and his delay in responding positively against the bid by the NEC of the party for “tenure elongation” of the former NWC of the party. Mr President allowed two full months, which could have helped in providing enough time for proper preparation for the conduct of the party congresses, to be wasted by using that period to contemplate “tenure elongation” unfortunately.
At the time he was ready, and called the NEC of the party to consider the discountenance of “tenure elongation” for “elective congresses”, time was already too short for the preparation for any tangible congress. The result of this led to, especially in Akwa Ibom State chapter, the party not having a properly constituted executive committee of the party at the local government area and ward levels of the party in the State.
This also led to the non competitive emergence of the misguided state chairman of the party in the person of Hon Ini Okopido and the reckless national chairman of the party in the person of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Both men refused to stamp their foot on appropriated agreements reached by stakeholders at both levels of the party concerning Akwa Ibom State. It was also Mr President’s error not to have been interested, as party leader of the APC, in knowing whether or not the executive committees at all levels of the party throughout the country were in place.
The duties of the President of a country is not just only in dwelling in high class mansion and sitting behind a swivel chair. It involves knowing what is happening in the remotest villages of the country.
This led to the abuse of process, as stipulated by the guidelines governing the conduct of the “direct primaries” ordered for the nominations of candidates to fly the party’s flag in the oncoming general elections in 2019. This led to the present crisis troubling the APC and clearly marks the failure of the ruling party and the question on the integrity of all who promote the party.
3. MR PRESIDENT’S IMPENDING THIRD ADMINISTRATIVE MISTAKE
It cannot be seen how the conduct of “direct primaries” to nominate party candidates of a political party can lead to bloodshed of any kind, except it happened in the process of abusing the process, in the attempt to exclude many eligible members of the party from exercising their right to choose their candidates, and hindering the numerous aspirants who paid direly for their aspirations, from enjoying the support of their followers on ideology.
This was exactly what happened in Akwa Ibom State on 30 September 2018: having compromised all the Divisional Police Officers in the state, and in the face of the non existence of acceptable executive committees at the LGA and ward levels of the party due to the self interest of the state chairman and his derelict response to reasons, materials for the nominations of governorship aspirants were handed over to officers of the Nigerian Police, employing them as Ad Hoc staff of the APC in the State.
This was contrary to the Nigerian Police Act and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Such acts should have been seen by Mr President, the national chairman of the APC and all sensible stakeholders of the party as the abuse of the Nigerian Police, making the outcome of the nomination exercise in the state null, void, unacceptable and disrespectful of law and its institutions.
In the process of the agents of Dr Nsima Udo Ekere, the eventual “winner” of the nomination exercise in the state, as announced by the Momoh led panel, hijacking balloting materials with the aid of policemen, 3 supporters of a front line governorship aspirant in the state, Senator (Dr) John James Akpanudoedehe, were shot dead in their prime – this was noveau, novel and unfortunate. The question arises: why should lives be lost in a process that should involve every registered member of the party?
With Comrade Adams Oshiomhole accepting the result stained with human blood from Akwa Ibom State, and endorsing the candidacy of Dr Nsima Udo Ekere, the picture of the bloodshed in 2019 in Akwa Ibom State is already made clear as enjoying the stamp of the approval of the national chairman of the APC.
Whether or not Mr President’s approval of this heinous acts has been got, is left to be seen when the list of the governorship candidates of the APC is published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) come November 2 2018.
It is expected that because of the deaths involved in the emergence of Dr Nsima Udo Ekere, Mr President, as leader of the APC, must put his feet down and consult wide on who has worked most for the strengthening of the party in the State. If state governors openly canvass for the candidates of their choices, there is nothing wrong with Mr President extricating himself from bloodshed, disqualifying Nsima Ekere as candidate, and nominating a consensus candidate to fly the governorship flag of the party in Akwa Ibom State.
Otherwise, it would seem that Mr President is not only having religious, sectional, ethnic, political and clannish bloodshed on his hand, although these have been a recurrent decimal in our polity, he would be introducing a new brand of killing in the country and during his regime – a brand known as partisan bloodshed. And this will make President Buhari a very bloody man. This is an impending administrative mistake everyone prays Mr President would not make.
If Senator (Dr) JJ Akpanudoedehe was faithful enough to his party when the entire balloting materials fell into his hands and he did not hijack it, and because the reward for his faithfulness resulted in the dead of 3 of his supporters, how much lose must he suffer to remain a faithful party man?
Unfortunately, the present men being favoured in the party in the state by the President, the Vice President, the National Chairman and the National Leader, are the same men whose agents opened fire on the campaign train of Dr Akpanudoedehe in 2011, killing majority of his supporters at the Ikot Ekpene township stadium. This can be patiently investigated – Vice President Osinbajo was Dr Akpanudoedehe’s lead counsel in that case and he knows.
In this opinion, no other APC chieftain in Akwa Ibom.State deserves to fly the APC governor flag in the State than Senator (Dr) John James Akpanudoedehe. He has suffered many political loss in the death of gis supporters, and he is foremost in strengthening the opposition politics of Akwa Ibom State, and never has he promoted a “Warsaw saw war”.
Well, if this is the new direction of the APC, and the interpretation of the “change” they promised us, we are watching to see how President Muhammadu Buhari will be returning to his military khaki, in order to ensure that the 2019 election is a “war saw Warsaw”. As for Adams Oshiomhole, he should threaten nobody with leaving the APC for the PDP when he is removed. He will be a good riddance to stenchy rubbish.
Ini Akpan Morgan is the Convener of the APC Patriots Grouping (APCpg) in Akwa Ibom State and he writes in from Uyo via ” time.subsidaries@gmail.com“
