Politics
APC And The Race For Presidential Ticket
The All Progressives
Congress (APC) recently released the guideline for the conduct of its primary election upon which it would pick its presidential candidate for the 2015 general polls. According to the guideline, the collection of the expression of interest forms for the presidential primary election will commence on 24th September, 2014, while sales of nomination forms will start on September 25 and end on October 2.
To prepare the minds of aspirants ready for the presidential race, the APC has also slated October 25, 2014 for its special national convention when it will choose its standard flag bearer. Similarly, the APC has adopted what it called the “modified direct primaries” to pick the party’s candidates for the 2015 with a renewed hope to wrestle political power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is holding the helm of affairs at the centre since 1999.
APC, an amalgamation of three opposition parties of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Political Change (CPC) , the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a fraction of Governor Rochas Okorocha-led All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), says the formation of a mega opposition party is a better and sure strategy of dethroning the ruling PDP and installing the desired change in the polity in line with APC’s roadmap.
Political observers believe that the character and future of APC will be defined and determined by its standard bearers. The major standard bearer is the presidential flag bearer and contenders for the presidential ticket, however, are not living anything to chance in order to secure the ticket.
The modified direct primaries approved by the APC involve participation of about 300,000 party members who will be voting to determine the party’s presidential candidate. This has since caused a stir among aspirants, and in some cases, forcing them to change their strategies of winning the soul of the party.
Though, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) provided either direct or indirect primary, APC opted for the direct; a method that will ensure the participation of the largest number of party members. “We call it modified because we are also aware of certain constraints of getting our 20 million members or thereabout to queue for election, especially in areas, where we have security challenges like Yobe, Adamawa and Borno States. We are working out a formula that will still enable the largest members of our party to participate,” APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed, told journalists at the end of the inaugural meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja.
One of the strongest contenders for the APC presidential ticket is Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, a former head of state, who, if given the ticket will be taken the fourth shot at the presidency. Buhari, who many described at a serial presidential candidate, was the ANPP presidential flag bearer in 2003 and 2007 respectively, but lost to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2011, Buhari became the CPC presidential candidate, and again it was a fruitless attempt as he lost to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
Despite Buhari’s three unsucessful attempts at the presidency, many of his supporters maintain that the ex-head of state remains the best material for the APC presidential race.
The South East Zonal spokesman of APC, Osita Okechukwu, said “giving all the indices, the APC already has a de facto presidential candidate in person of Buhari.”
Relying on Article 20 of the APC constitution, Okechukwu argues that for nomination of candidates either for party offices or presidential ticket, the consensus option will be first explored.
While acknowledging that there are “a lot of quality people in the APC,” Okechukwu also doubted “any person who the leadership of the APC will tell Buhari to step down for.” This is why Buhari’s chance of becoming APC flag bearer is a fait accompli. According to Okechukwu, if the consensus option is explored, Buhari stands the chance of landing on automatic ticket.
Even though the APC spokesman was categorical that there will be no automatic ticket for Buhari and other presidential aspirants in the party, there are fears that the manoeuvres by certain forces in APC to make Buhari the party’s presidential candidate in 2015 is a bad omen, likely to tear the party apart.
A spokesman of the defunct CPC, Rotimi Fashakin, however, defended the plan to give Buhari automatic ticket. According to him, “of all the aspirants, only Buhari had the clout to defeat President Jonathan during the 2015 presidential election.”
Fashakin notes that “Buhari is the face against corruption in the country… Nigerians and the opposition know that it is only Buhari who can fight corruption in the country. He is the only one who can face President Jonathan during the election because of his antecedents.”
The claim that none of the other candidates in APC can match the popularity of Buhari either in the North or in the South is also strong. To seal the hope of those who may be rooting for another presidential candidate other than Buhari, Fashakin said it would be wrong for people to think that the supporters of Buhari would vote for any one that emerged apart from the former Head of State. He hinged his argument on the ground that “majority of the voters especially in the North, might not have faith in such a candidate.”
Another strong contender to APC presidential ticket is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Like Buhari, Atiku is an old bird to presidential race. In 2007, Atiku secured the defunct ACN presidential ticket and lost to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Another attempt by Atiku in 2011 under the Peoples Democratic Party ended at the primaries where he lost to Jonathan.
Many may argue that Atiku has not recovered from the political loses, yet some party leaders sympathetic to Atiku’s cause believed that “the former vice president has the reach and the required contacts to mount a successful challenge to Jonathan and the PDP come 2015.”
Buhari may be reputed to have most party members on board but sources said “Atiku has what it takes to get the job done.” Apart of Atiku’s strategy is his overtures to APC governors from whom he reportedly promised to pick his running mate in return for their support.”
Furthermore, at the state party and local council levels, Atiku is known to have held consultative meetings with the party chairmen at those levels; a situation that has added value to the political fortune of the former Vice President. It is rumoured that Atiku may make a formal declaration of his presidential ambition in a matter of days to apparently position himself for the presidential contest in APC.
Atiku is using every opportuned fora to sell his potentials and what he stands for. In his goodwill message to the 2014 second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Warri, Delta State, Atiku called on catholic bishops to pray for the emergence of a God-fearing administration that would make Nigeria spiritually, morally and socially sanctified.
However, the rumoured presidential ambition of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, appeared to have been put on hold. Tambuwal who is reportedly set to dump PDP and join APC may have dropped his presidential ambition after consultations with some prominent politicians
According to a relaible source, “one thing is that he (Tambuwal) is a realist and knows how to cut his coat according to his cloth. The moment he sensed that it would be difficult for him to challenge political heavy weights such as Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubukar in the race for APC ticket, he changed his mind.”
Barring any last minute twists, Tambuwal, upon joining APC would seek instant waiver from the party leadership to contest the governorship election in Sokoto State. But analysts opined that Tambuwal is heading to “political wilderness,”
The political heavy weights like Buhari and Atiku in APC presidential race, notwithstanding, there are others aspiring for the race. They include Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso; Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha; Senator Bukola Saraki and the publisher of the Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isiah. The Kwankwaso campaign group claimed that its candidate is still consulting, while many believed that the presidential aspirations of Okorocha, Saraki and Nda-Isiah only exist on pages of newspaper as they will soon bow to political exigencies.
Many see the battle for APC’s presidential ticket as a straight political contest between Buhari and Atiku with party leadership likely to settle for the former because, he (Buhari) reportedly enjoys greater popularity than the latter. Many people, however, expressed fear that the choice of either Buhari or Atiku for the APC presidential ticket portends danger for the party as supporters of the loosing aspirant may refuse to give their best in the 2015 polls. Worst still, the dust generated from the APC inaugural national convention is still unsettled. Resolving the acrimony arising from the convention is a herculean task the APC leadership will have to contend with.
Samuel Eleonu
Buhari and Atiku Abubakar
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.
He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.
Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.
“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.
“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.
“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.
“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.
“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.
Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.
“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.