The recent Supreme Court judgment, which saved the mandate of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), came as a sudden blow...
The recent Supreme Court judgment, which saved the mandate of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his party, the All Progressives Congress , came as a sudden blow on the fabric of the federal governing party.
The fact that the formation of the party was very superficial was all too evident to all, such that the former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, declared that the party would flounder at birth. Bafarawa had disclosed that while he was doing a course in the United States, Tinubu visited US as part of guests to the inauguration of Barack Obama as first black President of US. Bafarawa explained that after exchanging pleasantries and analysing the historical change of baton in the world’s greatest democracy, he told Tinubu that unless opposition parties came together in Nigeria, it would be hard to dislodge PDP.
There was a temporary snag. With the 2011 experience at the back of their minds, some of the stakeholders expressed the need to appease Tinubu. The former Lagos State governor was said to have told Buhari that I have been a Senator, a governor, what remains is the Presidency. Sources disclosed that it was at that point that Tinubu was promised that if Buhari wins the Presidency, it would then be the turn of Lagos to take over and re-enact the magic of the Babatunde Fashola years.
Barely two years into the administration, the internal discontent within the party exacerbated. Out of the sheer mistrust among the component parties, APC failed to hold a mini convention during which it would have filled vacancies in the National Working Committee occasioned by the exit of former occupants after their appointment into the Federal cabinet.
True to expectation, while on an official visit to commission some projects in Edo State, President Buhari commended Governor Adams Oshimhole for the marvellous projects his administration had initiated and completed in the state. The President pleaded with Edo people to allow Oshiomhole to come to the centre, stressing that the Federal Government had work for him to do.
One year into the office as chairman, Oshiomhole led the party to another presidential victory. But, his utterances, including claims that he would not tolerate the excesses of Buhari’s ministers and insistence that APC’s control of the National Assembly should not pander to inclusion of the opposition, peeved a lot of stakeholders.Oshiomhole was accused of being very mercurial more than conciliatory, in the management of intraparty affairs.
Although the court brought the legalistic aspect of the electoral contention, it also exacerbated the political infighting within APC. Because, while some stakeholders believe that the Oshiomhole-led NWC was removed to deny Tinubu’s hold on the party structure through the members and to ensure that presidency did not go to the South in 2023.
“So, whether you drive away Tinubu’s supporters or whether it was a reason the action was taken, because some people believe they are Tinubu’s supporters, then who is that person going against the constitution of the party supporting? While most of the voices tended towards erring on the path of caution, others saw the political booby trap and insisted that Buni’s headship of the committee was in order and that yesterday’s congresses should go ahead.
“He contends that this is against Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution, which states that a sitting Governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever. In other words, had Buni been joined in the suit, the story may have been different today as we would have lost Ondo State to the PDP.”
But in what came as a strong counter, the AGF, Malami, who is from the CPC flank, discovered as follows: “The Supreme Court did not consider nor determine the justice of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution vis-à-vis the peculiar case of the position of Buni as the chairman of our party’s CECPC. Malami maintained that “it remains to be seen how the court will hold that an ad-hoc caretaker committee chairman exercising the powers of, and subject to the supervision and control of NEC and the Convention of his Party, is occupying an executive position.”It would be recalled that the AGF’s position on the 2015 Kogi State governorship election impasse helped the Independent National Electoral Commission to navigate its way out of the peculiar logjam.
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