Heightened intrigues over zoning
BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
All is set, or so it seems, for the February 26, 2022 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress. The ruling party, led by Mai Mala Buni as the Chairman, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, foreclosed all doubts when it officially wrote to inform the Independent National Electoral Commission, as part of the legal requirements, of its readiness to conduct its National Convention.
To be sure, the APC stands a very bright chance of electing a high-caliber national chairman from the catalogue of seasoned politicians jostling to superintend the affairs of the ruling party leading into the 2023 general elections.
However, political pundits posit that for the APC to habour the dream of remaining in power beyond May 29, 2023, the party has no choice but to open its eyes wide and critically look into the records and antecedents of the 14 top political contenders who have littered the city of Abuja with their posters seeking to occupy the plum position of the party’s chairmanship.
The talk in town from investigations by The Point is to the effect that most of the aspirants are puppets in the hands of powerful and influential power brokers who have pushed them forward with predetermined objectives in mind.
Most of the aspirants are former this and former that, ranging from former governors to former senators to former party executives.
“Nobody would want to have a Chairman who would become an albatross that does not have personal carriage or charisma to put the party together and do the kind of job that is required. Anything short of that will amount to total destruction of the party”
Stakeholders opined that notwithstanding their rich and intimidating credentials, which are convincing, it should not begin and end there. They are asking that emphasis be place on the considerations for what the outcome of the forthcoming elections will be, in case the now ruling party turns out to be an opposition party at the end of the elections.
The big questions agitating the minds of top party chieftains as the party heads to the Convention are: “Can our choice of chairman truly lead us to victory at the forthcoming elections? And “should things turn around and we become an opposition party, can he manage our party?”
However, it was learnt that among the aspirants, some wouldn’t have dared if not that their Governors called and asked them to contest. Then there are those who have been pushed, so to say, by some well-heeled top party leaders. But for these party leaders, they would not have given it a thought to join the battle for the post if left to make a decision and are now lobbying seriously to have the endorsement.
An APC chieftain who preferred anonymity stressed that the party was enjoying the goodwill of the people and the influence of being the party in power. He, however, warned that all these could be lost with a twinkling of an eye and argued that it would only take the loss of the 2023 general elections, particularly, the presidential election, for the party to be tested.
He said, “We saw it happen to the PDP in 2015. Prior to that, they were the ruling party but when they were defeated by our party at the polls, they turned to be the opposition party and their troubles began. You know they suffered from searching for a quality leader that could stabilise the party, yet, they could not. Even as they elected the Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee, the matter dragged till they finally removed him.
“His removal was orchestrated by the man who told him to contest and who also sponsored him. This is no longer news. That is why I am warning us in the APC.
As we go into the national convention, we have noticed that there are puppeteers, working assiduously to influence the zoning of the Presidential Flagbearer as well as that of the National Chairman. We must not allow those who are only interested in their personal gains and wellbeing to drag the party to avoidable errors. The Buni-led CECPC has done so much to reposition the party and pull it back from the brink and precipice.”
He noted that the APC might zone the presidential ticket to the South but argued that “if the party does that, there is the possibility of the party zoning the Vice Presidential position to the North Central and that would create an avenue for the frontrunner, Governor Yahaya Bello, who has unequivocally made his interest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari known and who is gaining support across the country on a daily basis.”
The source added, “Believe it or leave it, those pushing for North Central chairmanship are only doing it hoping to halt the fast-moving popularity and acceptance of Governor Bello and of course the North Central’s chance of becoming the Vice President in 2023. This is the truth but it will not stand. I don’t want to call names but I want you to know that no chairmanship candidate from the zone came out on his own.
“They were all asked by their governors or some party top chieftains, who claimed to have been so close to the President from the era of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC. Look at their posters everywhere but go and investigate, they don’t have the support of their people.”
“I am not preempting the party, but what I am saying is that for fairness, if the party zones presidency to the South and the vice presidency is zoned to the north, then it should be the North Central that should produce that. It is natural and Bello being the frontrunner will be in a better position to clinch the ticket,” he noted.
However, news making the rounds has it that the leadership of the party’s National Reconciliation Committee is working towards using the tools of the assignment to feather its nest by throwing up one of its members.
This, it has been alleged, is the main reason behind the recent push for the party to zone the position to the north-central.
Another APC chieftain and former member of the House of Representatives, Cletus Obun, argues that the APC must tell itself the truth as it approaches the date for the national convention.
Obun said anyone disputing zoning of posts at the forthcoming national convention was being economic with the truth and could be best described as a hireling whose mission in the party was to scatter and not to build.
He emphasised that if there was anything the party must open its eyes clearly to, it was to elect a national chairman who “can keep it afloat regardless of troubles that may arise from different quarters.”
He said, “That should be at the 26 February national convention because any mistake made at the convention will definitely cause a deadly slip in 2023.
“Nobody would want to have a Chairman who would become an albatross that does not have personal carriage or charisma to put the party together and do the kind of job that is required. Anything short of that will amount to total destruction of the party. You saw what happened to us in 2015.
“Whether ruling party or opposition party, the consciousness is that you as a party must have a Chairman, a national leader that is up and doing; that can carry the energy of leadership; that can navigate the affairs of the party without sinking the ship. Anything short of that, we are in deeper shit. There is no room for speculations or dilly-dallying if we must remain a force in the country’s political space.”
The former lawmaker maintained that APC could not afford to allow unnecessary sentiment to becloud its decision-making, saying that only an unserious political party would trade reality for sentiments.
He said zoning was inevitable in choosing someone for a position in any facet of Nigeria’s political or social appointment.
He stated, “The issue of zoning or not zoning is subject to our multi lingua and multi-ethnic nature. This is part of our politics. I am not one of those who believe that Nigeria has suddenly become so sophisticated that the best can come. Who told you that the best is only resident in any geopolitical zone and is not located in any other side?
“The best is found in every man in Nigeria. Therefore, whether zoning, macro-zoning or not, physical zoning is the solution. We have the issue of federal character in our constitution. We even have a commission dedicated to it. When you fill out forms, you are asked the state of origin, local government area, religion, etc. What is that?”
Obun reiterated that the issue of zoning, which was spelt out in the federal character commission, was established to ensure fairness and equality in a multi-ethnic and multi-national polity like that of Nigeria.
“We have over 250 languages in Nigeria, India has over 400 and yet they have not had this kind of crisis there because they manage it well. I am a candidate for zoning and macro zoning. Zoning is legal, it’s constitutional. Those who are condemning it are only playing the Ostrich and deceiving themselves. The only thing I can say is that they are living a life of self-deceit and denial,” he argued.
The APC chieftain maintained that a contest in a political party in any state in a democracy was very important for democracy to thrive.
“If President Buhari did not hijack the party, I don’t think he will watch any politician, regardless of popularity or affluence within the party to hijack the APC”
“It is wrong not to have people contesting at all than you have people coming out because they are pushed or sponsored by some individuals. Look at the calibre of men and women jostling to contest for one position or the other. If you look at the posters, apart from very few ones like Yari and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, from the North West and North East, the rest are from North Central. It makes the contest very interesting,” he noted.
The spokesman of Abia State chapter of the party, Okey Ezeala, in his reaction, said the party’s national convention was long overdue, adding that it was the opportunity for the NEC and indeed every chieftain of the party across the board to sit and take decisions once again with regard to those who are to pilot the affairs of the party at the national level.
He said, “It is going to be a new dawn for the newly revamped APC. I can tell you that the APC of 2015 is not the same as the APC of 2019 and I am sure that the APC of 2023 will be quite different from those two. The APC which will be heralded with the coming in of a new National Working Committee (NWC) on the 26th of this month will be an APC that will galvanise the interest of its members across the board, not APC that would be decided by one man as you had in the case of Adams Oshiomhole in the past. And it will be an APC that will listen to all the states’ structures and run in tandem with the party constitution.”
Ezeala recalled that the APC had weathered so many storms from its inception and formation in 2014.
“And I can tell you from my capacity as the publicity secretary of Abia State chapter of the party that the convention will be a united force within the ranks of the party. The convention will decide so many things and we are hopeful and everybody is looking forward to that date,” he noted.
Speaking on the kind of NWC and calibre of men and women the members of the party are expecting to emerge from the convention, Ezeala said, “For sure, the new NWC will be made up of men and women of timber and calibre, men and women who have seen almost all in the political field. Men and women who have paid their dues in building alliances, in creating more ambiance of peace and working relationship between the party and the presidency at the national level, the state government and of course the local government and the grassroots units of the party.”
He warned against electing a chairman who would turn out to be a puppet in the hand of kingmakers and some cabals or cliques.
He said, “Nobody can hijack this party. Not even President Buhari can hijack this party. And one good thing going for us in APC is that our President is a Democrat to the core. He has the interest of the party at heart. He is a General, yes, but he has not militarised the party and, of course, he has not even shown interest in running the party. It’s only in his time and in APC government you hear of the national leader not being the President.
“We witnessed PDP’s 16 years administration and how their party was in the hands of the President then. So, if President Buhari did not hijack the party, I don’t think he will watch any politician, regardless of popularity or affluence within the party, to hijack the APC.”
