Politics
2019: APC And The Power Game
The five letter word, power can be so seductive and intoxicating that once a person gets it, he hardly let it go. Some kill, maim or carry out any scheme just to hold on to it as experienced in Africa.
The average politician who finds himself in an executive office and tastes its sweetness, does not like letting it go without a fight or being disgraced out of office.
Even when they are no longer in office, they still dictate who gets what, because to them, it is the easiest way to stay relevant and act as godfathers to the powers that be. Although, they cannot be under-estimated, their influence is so far- reaching that in their struggle to hold on to power, they don’t care if the structure that they have spent years to build crumbles.
Here in Nigeria, the political impasse between factional leaders of the various political parties has become so nuseating that one wonders why the quest for elective office has become a battle between nations. The crisis of the Peoples Democratic Party between 2013 and 2017 should have been a lesson to would-be politicians in Nigeria that internal strife needs to be settled amicably before it engulfs the party even at the national level.
Today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) seems to have bitten more than it can chew as the crisis in Rivers and Zamfara States has ensured that for the first time in four years, it would not be able to field candidates for the National and State Assembly elections as well as that of the gubernatorial.
The seeming crisis which started in 2016 between factions of the party later culminated in a court action which the party has to live with today. In Rivers State, prior to the purported APC ward congress held in May 2018, one Ibrahim Imah and 22 others who had paid for the nomination forms but were denied their rights to contest filed a suit in Port Harcourt to seek legal redress having been hindered and denied the opportunity to participate in the congresses before Justice Chiwendu Nwogu.
The suit apparently spurred Justice Nwogu to issue an interlocutory injunction restraining the APC from going ahead with the congresses. Rather than contest the restraining order, the party proceeded with the congresses, thereby incurring the wrath of the court which on May 30, 208 nullified the entire congresses. While the suit was still in court, the two factions; the Rotimi Amaechi and Magnus Abe factions went ahead to conduct primaries for the governorship, state and federal legislative seats ahead of the 2019 elections.
Also, an Abuja High Court judgement barred the APC from fielding candidates in Rivers and Zamfara States following the inability of the ruling party to resolve its internal conflicts and respect its own rules on the conduct of its primaries.
It is not only the APC that is facing legal challenges as even parties such as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for now has no presidential and vice presidential candidates. However, an Appeal Court in Abuja yesterday recognised Donald Duke as the candidate . In Imo, Ogun and Enugu States, the APC is still factionalised with some members opting to join other political parties where they feel their interest will be protected.
These crises are due to the failure to create a level playing field for all aspirants in the party. The APC prior to 2015 had been boasting that it is the only democratic party that has nothing to do with godfatherism and impunity in the conduct of its affairs but today, the same party members who were complaining that its main opponent, the PDP is not democratic cannot even put its house in order.
Power is transient but it seems most politicians hardly recognise this fact. However, to keen political observers, it is a battle for supremacy and who will be the ultimate godfather of Rivers State politics. And there is equally the fear of, the unknown gripping the political gladiators, as they do not want to fizzle out of the power game. For example, if the Amaechi’s faction wins the battle, the Abe’s faction will go into political oblivion and if Abe wins, Amaechi’s influence would have been curtained and his political career totally destroyed. So having tasted power, none of the factional leaders, is ready to come to a compromise.
Mr Rotimi Amaechi had tasted executive power for eight years, and was even a Speaker for eight years. As a Speaker, he was so influential that some Commissioners, Assembly members and local government chairmen including board members of parastatals and companies got their appointments or won their elections through him.
The implication of the power play is that Amaechi cannot afford to lose out to Magnus Abe as the stakes are too high. The same thing applies to the incumbent Governors of Ogun and Zamfara States.
As it stands now, the APC is in a dilemma as its loss is a plus for its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers and Zamfara States.
The leadership of any political party is supposed to be made up of men and women of integrity but when the National Working Committee of a party in question ceases to be neutral, eventually the outcome of its decision will be contested in the law courts. Political parties should always strive to act with decorum and fairness to all party members and learn to obey its own rules and guidelines to avoid embarrassment and crisis, the type which is clearly staring the APC in the face.
One lesson the gladiators of all the parties that have crisis which cannot be resolved internally should learn is that in the next dispensation, they should let every vote count so that all their members would have a sense of belonging in the democratic process.
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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