POLITICS
2023: As APC, PDP Sink into Crisis
By Jude Opara
As the 2023 general elections draw closer, there are no doubts that the two dominant political parties in Nigeria are currently in a dirty in-fighting that could threaten their very foundation. Interestingly, the crisis rocking the ruling-All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nothing but self implosion occasioned by the illicit struggle for power and control.
While it is normal in any political setting for politicians to struggle for power, what makes what is happening in both the APC and the PDP strange is the fact that both political parties usually main the same pattern.
They usually campaign with high sounding promises and when they get into office, they will shut out the electorates that elected them into power. They will operate like masters over lording it over their subjects, but with few months to another circle of elections, they will begin to warm themselves back to the people.There is really no political ideology that one can say is a hallmark of the two political parties because usually you could see a political officer jumping from one party to then other depending on his selfish calculation and interest.
The APC clinched power in 2015 when General Muhammadu Buhari defeated the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP. One would have thought that given the robust campaign and promises made by the APC, their administration would be a sharp contrast with what made Nigerians to reject the PDP.
However, few years down the line, it has been clearly proven that there is really no difference between the two parties except in their names and logos. The APC has been like an accident waiting to happen because after their electoral victory, most of the party stakeholders cried out that they were ignored especially in appointments and placements.
President Buhari was said to have recoiled to his inner circle appointing mainly his friends and allies while ignoring most of those who fought for his emergence as the president. In fact at a point, his wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari queried where most of the people now calling the shots now were during the campaigns.
After the 2015 victory, some elements in the APC began the policy of fencing some other stakeholders. For instance, there was the leaked memo by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna warning President Buhari to be wary of the acclaimed national leader of the party and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. In deed Tinubu used to be a frequent caller at the Aso Rock but shortly after, he was more or less fenced off. There was the rumour that the President was keeping him at arm’s length.
Tinubu had worked very hard for the emergence of Buhari as the president and also immediately after their electoral victory, he ensured the ouster of the former Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun and the enthronement of his loyalist and ally, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Oshiomhole who had just left office as the governor of Edo state began operating as the lord of Manor, running the party more or less like his private empire and always talking as if he had immunity from removal. His overbearing influence came to a head in 2020 when he insisted that his estranged ally, Governor Godwin Obaseki must not re-contest the Edo state governorship election. In his attempt to replay the record of Lagos state where Tinubu was said to have rejected the former governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode from returning, Oshiomhole ignored all pleas to allow Obaseki be but all to no avail.
The disqualification of Obaseki by the APC forced him to join the PDP who wasted no time in handing him their ticket to represent them in the election. And it is instructive to note that angered by Oshiomhole’s obstinacy, even some APC governors secretly supported Obaseki to win.
Shortly after the victory of the PDP in Edo state, the governors moved against Oshiomhole and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC met in the Presidential Villa in June and summarily sacked the National Working Committee (NWC) led by the former Edo state governor.
The APC in their wisdom appointed a Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) headed by the Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state. The CECPC was given six months to organize and conduct a convention where a substantive NWC was to be elected by December, 2020. But more than one year after, Buni and his men are still occupying the National secretariat of the APC.
In fact Buni and his team gave reasons to believe they were never intended to leave in six months because as soon as he arrived at the party’s secretariat, he began by renovating the office of the National Chairman. Many analysts saw that as a sign that he was not ready to leave office soon.
But the chicken seems to have come home to roost because of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ondo state governorship election where the apex court ruled that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC won the Ondo 2020 election.
The tribunal dismissed the joint petition of Eyitayo Jegede and the PDP lodged against the declaration of Akeredolu of the APC as the valid winner of the Ondo gubernatorial contest.
Jegede and the PDP had in their case, queried the legal validity of Akeredolu’s nomination by the national caretaker committee of the APC headed by Mai Mala Buni, Yobe governor.
They specifically asked the court to determine whether Buni, as a sitting governor, could double as national chairman of the APC to sign Akeredolu’s nomination form for the governorship election.
According to section 183 of the Nigerian constitution, “the governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever”.
Akeredolu narrowly escaped in a split verdict of 4-3. It was said that the governor got judgement because the plaintiffs did not join Buni in their suit.
Minister of state for Labour and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Festus Keyamo had advised the party against going ahead with the Ward Congresses last week. Keyamo advised that Buni should resign to give the party the opportunity to put somebody who may not have the baggage Buni has as a sitting governor.
Surely, going into the events that will lead to the next general elections, already different factions are germinating within the APC and surely this will not augur well for the party and also the country.
In the PDP, the story is no better because since losing power in 2015, the party had failed to play the critical role of an opposition party. They have failed to take advantage of the numerous errors of the APC to warm themselves into the hearts of Nigerians.
What they have been doing is to hope upon hopes, believing that Nigerians will vote for them given the failure of the APC. Only intermittently the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan will issue statements attacking the APC and their policies.
Many stakeholders have made calls for the Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus to resign, but somehow the Rivers state administrator has managed to hold on to his position.
But on Tuesday, the news filtered in that seven members of the NWC had resigned their position sighting highhandedness and lack transparency on the part of the party leadership. The truth is that the mass resignation is nothing but a sign that there are powers behind that action and it is aimed at forcing Secondus out.
In the last one year, the PDP has lost three governors and several members of the parliament both at the national and state levels.
Many analysts believe that one real problem the PDP is having is the fact that since after losing power in 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan has not really played that role as the leader of the party. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo publicly tore his membership card and had said he no longer plays partisan politics. So the seeming absence of a figure in the mould of a former president has left the party in the cold.
It is only Governor Nyesom Wike of River State that is now playing the real opposition by intermittently challenging actions and policies of the federal government. The other PDP governors are simply seen but not heard.
Yes, many people have also blamed Wike for the emergence of Secondus because during the convention, he threatened the party until he had his way of enthroning his kinsman as the Chairman.
So going into the 2023 elections, there are huge uncertainties over which between these two parties that Nigerians can trust, given the fact that they are merely two sides of the same coin. There have been rumours that people like Tinubu who may not have his way in the APC will team up with some other aggrieved politicians from both the APC and the PDP to form a third force that could wrestle power from the two dominant political parties.
A Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, says the state chapter of the party will find its bearing after the yet-to-be-fixed state congresses.
Pearse, a former member, Atiku Abubakar 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, disclosed this in an interview on Saturday in Lagos.
The PDP has been faced with some internal crisis among the party leaders and state executives, which led to the poor outing in the 2023 general elections.
Pearse revealed that the state leaders had inaugurated three different committees to help the party find its way ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the Lagos State PDP is now being run by the three committees to bring members together.
“The PDP congresses will begin soon and this will make the party find its way. The status quo is intact in the PDP.
“The PDP is now running through three committees that were formed about three or four months ago,” he said.
Pearse listed the committees to include the Disciplinary Committee under the leadership of Mr Tai Benedict, the state Deputy Chairman of the party and the Reconciliation Committee under the chairmanship of Alhaji Muritala Ashorobi, a former PDP state chairman.
Pearse added that the Finance Committee had been put under his leadership.
The chieftain said that despite the infighting within the party, the PDP’s structure in the state was still intact across electoral wards and local government areas.
Pearse said that all the 20 PDP local government chairmen and ward leaders were within the party main structure.
Speaking on PDP’s poor performance in the 2023 governorship election, Pearse blamed the development on the party’s national leadership and the gubernatorial candidate, who he said, failed to carry elders along.
“That was an exceptional election in the history of PDP. We have never had it so bad where our governorship candidate scored five per cent and the presidential candidates scored six per cent.
“What happened in the last election was that, going to the primaries, the national leadership made the mistake of handing over the selection of delegates to whom they perceived as the leader of the election at that point in time.
“The national leadership handed over the selection of delegates to the party’s Governorship Candidate, Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor).
“However, Jandor had just come into the PDP. It was about six or seven months when he got the opportunity to select delegates to the primary election of the PDP in Lagos State.
“So the party was in disarray, that was what happened in 2023
“The structure of the party at the ward and the local government areas did not work because the structure had rebelled against imposition. That is what happened,” Pearse recounted. (NAN)
Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Rivers, Chief Tony Okocha, says unless Gov. Siminalayi Fubara abides by the law, the political crisis in the state will persist.
Okocha said this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja while reacting to the recent court ruling on the state with regards to the disbursement of local government allocations.
An Abuja Federal High Court had, on Wednesday, retrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from further releasing local government allocations from the Federation Account to the state.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, in her ruling, held that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to constitutional provisions.
She described Fubara’s receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January 2024 as nothing short of a constitutional aberration that must not be allowed.
The judge further held that Fubara’s action in implementing an unlawful budget stood as a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.
Okocha, in his reaction, said blackmailing President Bola Tinubu and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over the court ruling would not solve the political crisis in the state.
He described Fubara as Wike’s political investment who was a mere civil servant before he was lifted from a state of relative political obscurity to political crescendo by the FCT minister.
Okocha further stated that the governor was brought to politics and limelight by Wike.
“Wike is not, in any way, suffocating Fubara as is being alleged.
“Blackmailing President Tinubu and Wike psychologically over the recent court ruling will not help the case in Rivers because the law has to be followed.
“We stand with and by the court, and not with any strong man’s morality. It is not right for anyone to start proclaiming self-righteousness.
“Wike is innocent in the political crisis in Rivers and should, therefore, not be dragged into it,” Okocha said.
He said the only way to bring peace to the state was for Fubara to follow the law and abide by the court ruling, adding that “the law does not recognise sentiments but facts as presented.
“Wike brought Fubara to where he is today. He lifted him from obscurity to political crescendo. Nobody is suffocating anybody. The fight in Rivers state is between Fubara and Fubara,” he said.
The APC chairman added that the political crisis would have long ended if Fubara had obeyed Tinubu’s intervention in the first place.
According to him, Fubara has been running the state without an approved budget, which is against the law.
He said it was unfortunate that those playing up unnecessary sentiments and backing the governor failed to see the illegality going on under his administration.
The way out of the political crisis, according to him, is for the governor to obey the law of the land, including the law regarding the state budget.
“We use this opportunity to speak against attempts to disparage innocent persons, namely: Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister. In all the cases in court, they are about 32, he is not a party to any of them.
“If the governor had obeyed Justice Omotoso’s judgment; if he had listened to the counsel of President Tinubu; if he had listened to the Court of Appeal recently, all of these would have disappeared,” Okocha stated.
On the recent attempt by some stakeholders and elders in the Niger Delta zone to reconcile the gladiators in Rivers crisis, Okocha said such a move was too late.
He added that there was no point crying over spilt milk, wondering where those elders were when the political crisis started.
“If you ask me, the only other hurdle to escape is the Supreme Court. What are the elders coming to do at this late hour, if they actually would want to come?
“They are the same people who told the governor that he is a know-all and do-all; they encouraged him to believe that his head was bigger than his pillow.
“They told him his powers are elastic and the governor agreed to that,” he said.
Okocha added that most of the elders had disappeared into thin air after lining their pockets while the governor was now on the hot seat.(NAN)
Gov. Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, on Friday, said he assented to 18 Executive Bills in his one year in office.
Nwifuru made the disclosure in a speech at the 2024/2025 Judiciary Year celebration in Abakaliki.
He said that his administration had so far employed at least 150 judiciary staff.
He also said that the judiciary would remain the last beacon of hope, fairness and justice to all citizens.
The governor expressed the need to uphold the integrity of the Bench “to do justice to all men without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”.
Nwifuru described the theme of the celebration, “Law as an Instrument for Social Engineering” as apt in shaping the society.
“I commend the organisers for echoeing the power of law, which our government wholeheartedly believes is critical to social engineering.
“In the context of the law, it is critical in shaping societal behavior, norms and values.
“As social engineers, legal professionals have the power to advocate for reforms that address the pressing issues of our time, setting the foundation for a society that is equitable and just for all.
“The judicial arm of the
government remains the only and last beacon of hope, fairness and justice to all citizens,” he said.
According to him, the legal profession has a vital role to play in promoting the cause of justice, protecting human rights and upholding professional standards.
“It is for this purpose that the Government of Ebonyi has been quite responsive, supportive and understanding on many issues that affect the judiciary.
“I want to assure you that within the limit of our resources, we shall continue to strive to improve on the welfare of our judges, magistrates and, indeed, the entire workforce of the judiciary,” the governor said.
Earlier, the state Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Elvis Ngene, thanked the governor for his support to the development of the judiciaryand pledged more commitment to qualitative justice delivery system.
Ngene said that 13,919 cases were pending in the High Court at the beginning of last legal year.
“A total of 5,343 cases were filed.
“The cases disposed off stands at 10,250 and the pending cases at the close of the period is 9,012.
“At the Magistrate’s Court, 4,213 cases were pending at the beginning of the period, 2,145 were filed, 2,318 were disposed off and 4,040 were pending at the end of the period under review.
“At the Customary Court of Appeal, 893 cases were pending at the beginning of the last legal year, 71 were filed within the period.
“A total of 86 cases were disposed off and 878 were pending at the end of the period,” the CJ said. (NAN)
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