Southeast APC and alleged marginalisation

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), described by many as a gathering of strange bedfellows, has been living up to the portrayal since it assumed power in 2015.

The crisis, power struggle and bitterness in the party started early with the controversy that trailed the choice of the leadership of the National Assembly and escalated with allegations of lopsidedness in political appointments by the Presidency.

Even though the crisis of confidence within its fold is glaring, the leadership of the party including governors, the presidency and members of its controversial kitchen cabinet, continued to carry on as if all is well.

Those who saw the handwriting on the wall and the danger inherent raised the alarm, stressing that party politics is about party loyalty, good governance, inclusiveness and reward.

They were however said to have been ignored by the leadership which was quick to dismiss them, arguing that it was too early for the party members to complain of being neglected or abandoned.

But a chieftain of the party, Buba Galadima saw the issue beyond party leadership saying, “A lot of people have accused the party leadership of so many things, but the government formed by the APC has not given the leadership the leverage to exert its influence and work according to the rules of the party.

“That is the way I see it personally. The problem is not about the leadership of the party. A lot of people think so, but I think the leadership of the party is helpless and cannot exert its influence.”

Now that more party faithful including former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, President’s wife, Aisha Buhari, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Timi Frank and others have complained of the same issue, the slumbering APC governors under the auspices of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) led by Rochas Okorocha of Imo State appeared to have woken up from their sleep. The governors met with the party’s national leadership in Abuja recently.

Okorocha said the governors noticed bitterness within the party, hence the need for communication and dialogue.

Okorocha said President Muhammadu Buhari, who is APC leader, would, in a few weeks, address the party leaders.

He said, “This is not an intervention, but a call for unity and to remind them that on our party, we still stand. This is APC and we are all stakeholders. I am here as a stakeholder of the party and I am here to reassure them that we are with them as governors, as a government and as a people. I am here to encourage them to uphold that which made our party strong.

“The restructuring we envisage in the party is not in terms of who comes in or go out. But in every human organisation, there comes a time when there is need for restructuring. It could be to add more people; it could be to strengthen the party at all levels.”

The question is whether Okorocha and his colleagues sought the Presidency’s permission to speak or intervene in this matter or is it another publicity stunt for Okorocha?

From the Presidency’s disposition, it is clear that there is no clear direction for the party and its members except for a few persons that are said to be dictating who gets what, how and when, to the detriment of others.

Unfortunately, worst hit by this ugly development in the party is Okorocha’s home base, the southeast zone. Core party faithful in the zone were not only abandoned from the inception of the government, they appeared to have been forgotten.

Many have insinuated that the plight of the zone is in line with the alleged statement credited to President Buhari that his government will only favour those who voted for him.  Even though, the presidency has denied it, its actions are proving otherwise.

For example in Enugu State, apart from Osita Okechukwu, who is a longtime ally of Buhari from their days in ANPP and CPC that was appointed Director-General, Voice Of Nigeria (VON), no other APC faithful in the state has been given any appointment.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who hails from the same community and senatorial zone with Okechukwu and was not in Nigeria during the campaign and election, allegedly got appointed through his relationship with Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.

Also appointed by the President as Special Adviser on Legal Reforms was the APC governorship running mate, Mrs Ibekaku Juliet, who also hails from the zone with Okechukwu and Onyeama.

Recently a retired military officer, Chris Eze from Enugu North was nominated as an ambassador-designate when the likes of the APC governorship candidate in the state, Barrister Okey Ezea, National Vice-Chairman APC Southeast, Emma Enukwu and others seem to have been abandoned.

In Anambra State, while former governor of the State, Chris Ngige was made Minister of Labour, the person calling the shots in the state in terms of appointments is Buhari’s longtime ally in the CPC, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor. She is rumoured to be the one deciding who gets federal appointment from the state without Ngige’s input or knowledge.

Sharon, who was former interim APC Woman leader was recently appointed the executive secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD).

Before her appointment, and allegedly on the Presidency’s directive, he was favoured by the party leadership to emerge as the senatorial candidate of the APC for the pending Anambra Central zone rerun. This was after the party’s initial candidate, Ngige declined participating in the exercise.

In Ebonyi State, the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Julius Ucha and other party faithful have been left in the dark by the Buhari government. Even Chief Ogbonnaya Onu that was appointed Minister of Science and Technology and other party leaders are finding it difficult to mobilise for party, simply because they are not being carried along.

The situation is not different in Abia where the likes of Ikechi Emenike, the party’s governorship candidate in 2015, Nyerere Anyim and others seem to have gone into political oblivion.

In Okorocha’s Imo, apart from the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Onwukah, APC Organising Secretary Osita Isunazo, not much appointments have been given to the state.

The Guardian investigation reveals that through the office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), two governors from the Southeast states of Anambra and Ebonyi are allegedly negotiating their way into the APC without carrying the membership of the party at the state and zonal levels along. Sources disclosed that if the plan works, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra will defect to the APC before next year’s governorship election.

One common thing in the party across the states in the zone is the continued influx of the estranged PDP members into the party ahead of 2019 poll. Such has not given the party the expected vibrancy, presence and popularity in the zone, because the people of the zone are quite disappointed with the APC especially on the way government treated members of the party in the zone.

Many may argue that the APC did not garner enough votes in the zone during the 2015 presidential poll, but it was the efforts of these APC members that frustrated the PDP from having enormous votes in the area, as it was the case in 2011.

It would recalled that in 2011 presidential poll, PDP polled 7 million votes in the zone, but in the last exercise, the APC faithful were more vigilant resulting in PDP managing to about 3 million votes. If the PDP had repeated the 2011 feat, it would have been difficult for Buhari to defeat Goodluck Jonathan.

This effort of the APC in the Southeast zone was acknowledged and commended by the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, who described the Igbos after the poll as silent forces ‎that played significant roles in the victory of Buhari.

According to Shettima, “Buhari’s election was a pan-Nigerian movement. I have heard some political analysts making some wrong conclusions that‎ the Igbos in the Southeast didn’t contribute significantly to Buhari’s victory, but I think they are missing the point because there are two key contributions to winning elections.

“One is to give votes and the other is to prevent opponent from rigging and both have equal relevance. In the 2011 elections, the PDP got a combined figure of about 7 million votes in the southeast, some of these states recorded or so they claimed, having almost 100 percent voter turn out.

But in 2015, Igbos in the southeast, especially our leaders in the APC, stood very firm, some of them put their lives on the line, resisting all kinds of humiliation and at the end, they prevented another seven million votes from coming out.

“In Ebonyi the PDP got less than 300,000 votes, in Abia, the party got less than 400,000, even in Enugu it got about 600,000 votes. In Imo the party got less than 600,000. All these were against the big numbers of 2011.

“We all saw what happened in Rivers, if that was repeated in the Southeast, it would have been a major source of concern for all Nigerians but the Igbos did very well by resisting every step against Buhari so they are heroes as far as I am concerned.”

But this is not the situation in the South-South zone, where the likes of Dakuku Peterside and Obong Umana, both governorship candidates in Rivers and Akwa Ibom, have been offered appointments by the Buhari government.

With the planned intervention of Okorocha and other Southeast APC leaders, the party could still be purged of the feelings of bitterness that resulted from the alleged dumping of those who contributed to its 2015 success.