By Abbas Musa Sadiq
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) took 16 years to self-destruct. But it appears, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), will self-destruct even faster.
Judging from the internal squabbles dogging the primaries of the APC, it appears that the ruling party didn’t learn from how the PDP was brought to its knees.
Already, there are cracks within the ranks of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, with a national vice chairman of the party accusing the National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu of highhandedness.
There are indications also, that the national chairman is plotting to impose a presidential candidate for the party.
Across many states, the APC primary elections were bogged down in controversies. In Nasarawa State in particular, there were complaints of consistent doctoring of the delegate lists to favour particular candidates.
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This adulteration of the delegate lists, has resulted in several aspirants withdrawing from the race, citing inability to access the delegates.
This indeed, is a dangerous gamble. First, the APC stands to lose out at the general election if the candidates fielded by the party got disqualified by the courts. The new electoral act is categorical on how delegates are elected. There is no room for the whimsical substitution of delegates without an election. A death delegate will only be replaced through an election.
Even while some vested interests seek to take advantage of the loopholes in the country’s electoral law, still Nigeria’s democracy has advanced such that any attempt to impose candidates will be resisted by the people.
The obvious attempt by the national leadership of the APC to take side in an exercise that demands neutrality, may finally succeed in working against the interest of the party. This is a huge gamble that ought not to have even been contemplated.
Prior to now, the APC in Nasarawa State has become a role model for other states to follow. The party under the leadership of Governor A. A. Sule has been fair, just and well coordinated in its activities. However, no sooner had the party constituted its NWC, with Senator Adamu as the national chairman, things took a turn for the worst.
The APC is carrying on as if it doesn’t need the support of the people. The APC is threading the ignoble path that led the PDP to self-destruct. If this is a gamble, then there’s time and need for a rethink.
The party has a government in Nasarawa State that by every standards, is focused and effectively repositioning the state towards greater heights. Governor Sule is exemplary and a leader who’s determined to give his best in service of the state.
However, vested interest within the party must not be allowed to work at crossroads with the laudable objectives of the Governor Sule administration. Those daredevil politicians seeking to control and determine who gets elected and into which office, are not being fair to the governor.
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It’s incontestable to assume that a person like Senator Adamu, while being governor, will allow any interloper to interfere in the activities of Nasarawa State.
Senator Adamu is merely taking advantage of the situation and seeking to impose his will on the people of the state.
If indeed, what is presently happening in Nasarawa State, as well as other states, regarding the attempts to impose candidates on the party, replicates itself at the national level, in electing the presidential candidate of the APC, then certainly, the party may be on its road to perdition.
The only way the party will build on the legacies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, is to entrench fairness, justice and the rule of law in all its dealings.
Nigerians will not tolerate any attempt at imposition, where some few individuals, will seek to determine the fate of the majority of the people whether they like it or not.
…Sadiq, a public affairs analyst, writes from Karu, Nasarawa State
