*Al-Makura, Sani emerge leading chairmanship candidates

*10 other aspirants jostle with them

*All eyes on Buni’s CECPC to deliver

By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor

Ahead of the February 26 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, a battle for the soul of the party is raging between members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; and Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the two leading blocs that formed the party in 2013.

The raging battle, Vanguard gathered, yesterday, is one of the reasons the party is finding it difficult to zone its presidential ticket, National Working Committee, and National Executive Committee, NEC, positions less than four weeks to the convention.

The new Peoples Democratic Party, n-PDP, which broke off from the PDP; All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP; and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, the ACN and CPC, formed a granite coalition of legacy parties that morphed into the APC in 2013.

The coalition went on to snatch power from the PDP in 2015, the first time an incumbent party lost power at the centre in the history of electioneering in Nigeria.

Upon getting power, the spoils of electoral victory were shared among the legacy parties. While the CPC got the presidency (Muhammadu Buhari), ACN got vice presidency (Yemi Osinbajo), n-PDP got Senate presidency (Bukola Saraki). 

When the party held its national convention, ACN ceded the chairmanship to the ANPP with Chief Bisi Akande, the interim chairman handing over to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

In 2019, following the exit of a host of n-PDP members, who returned to the PDP, the dominance of the CPC and ACN blocs was entrenched further in the APC. 

Before and after the 2019 polls, the CPC retained the presidency but the ACN gained more mileage by retaining the vice presidency and recovering the national chairmanship through Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. 

It also got a foothold in the National Assembly by producing the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila. The ANPP filled the Senate presidency slot lost by the n-PDP via Senate President Ahmad Lawan.

Now, the battle for the top positions in the APC is being waged along the foundation blocs. Sources told Vanguard that the CPC bloc wants to produce the next chairman of the APC because the ACN and ANPP blocs had produced chairmen.

In a counter, the ACN bloc wants to produce the President that will be vacated by the CPC in 2023.

Top politicians from the ACN bloc eyeing the presidency include Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State. As it is, the APC is having a herculean task navigating these challenges.

Al-Makura, Sani emerge leading chairmanship candidates

In an attempt to surmount these hurdles, sources told Vanguard that former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, who is from the CPC bloc and Senator Sani Musa, from Niger State have emerged as leading aspirants among the crowd of 12 men seeking to lead the party.

The duo are said to enjoy the backing of some APC governors and stakeholders with their support bases across the country on the upswing.

APC governors are yet to agree on the two or any of the remaining 10 aspirants. When they agree, after which they would approach President Buhari for his buy-in and eventual ratification at the convention. 

Indeed, another source said the governors have respect for President Buhari and would not do anything to embarrass him.

A party source told Vanguard: “Before the convention, the governors will agree on one person and convince President Buhari to agree with their choice.

As much as possible, the governors want consensus. They will prefer going to the convention to ratify the consensus choice instead of voting for many candidates.

“Most of the  governors know the implication of going to the convention with a divided front.”

To prune down the number of chairmanship candidates “to a manageable number and perhaps arrive at a consensus,” Vanguard gathered that state chapters of the party would be asked to nominate two chairmanship aspirants from the crowd of 12.

Based on that, the figure would be subjected to further scrutiny and streamlining before the convention proper.

The 12 aspirants

The 12 chairmanship aspirants include a former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Saliu Mustapha; Senator representing Niger East, Mohammed Sani Musa; former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff; former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura; former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari; and former Governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda.

Others are Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume; Mr. Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe; former Borno Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima; former Gombe State governor, Senator Danjuma Goje; Mohammed Saidu Etsu; and a former National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, Sani Shinkafi.

Can Buni’s CECPC deliver again?

Speaking on the issues, a top party leader told Vanguard that the APC will surmount the hurdles and conduct a successful convention with the support of stakeholders The party leader noted that the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, has recorded some achievements since it came to power 19 months ago adding that the achievements should be consolidated at the convention. 

The leader said the CECPC leadership on assumption of administration of the party recognised that “it cannot entertain the flagrant display of impunity in the management of the party, most especially regarding the crucial processes that would lead the party into its national convention.

“These concerns of CECPC are the flagrant abuse of set constitutional and procedural steps that, if not promptly addressed, may create a volcano of crisis both for the coming party convention and general elections ahead.”

He continued: “To this end, CECPC has been judiciously guided to observe all prerequisite political processes to the convention, and has been working to set the party structures aright to ensure compliance with all sacrosanct rules and regulations of the party and the electoral law as regards to the conduct of National Convention of the party.

“The party, under the CECPC administration has done a commendable job of meeting the prerequisites of party convention preparation, having conducted relatively very successful Ward, LGAs congresses, and States congresses, across the wards, LGAs, the 36 states and FCT.

“It is appropriate and in the interest of the party that we recognise the noble achievements of the party under the management of CECPC and build on its many successes that have ably redefined the operational pedestal of the party.”

According to the APC leader, other achievements of the CECPC include: conscious efforts to bring the party totally out of conflicts that had bedevilled it, with the emergence of a reconciliation committee that worked assiduously and recorded huge outcomes.

“The CECPC came on board, and in no time was able to stabilise the party. It was on record that the party was bedevilled with numerous conflicts and litigations, with many strong members taking their leave from the party and the party losing its number of strategic political officeholders in its fold.

“The conflict resolution committee set up by CECPC did a good work that led to various consensus agreements that led to the withdrawal of almost all court cases against the party and among members of the party.

“We had earlier lost the governor of Edo state to the main opposition party, but CECPC was able to recreate trust in the party that swells the rank of governors in the party from 19 to 22 since its resumption of duty.

“For the first time in the history of a political party in the country, and as an aftermath of the peace that was restored in the party after the conflict resolutions, CECPC on behalf of the party puts together the plan for and executed a nationwide membership registration that has significantly swollen the membership population of the party and has allowed the intake of many bigwigs that trust the party enough to dump PDP for APC.

“Ïn the course of the period under review, CECPC successfully set up a constitutional review committee that reviewed the Party Constitution to give the party a more contemporary and proactive rules of engagement.

“The party under the administration of CECPC has assumed total ownership of the Party National Secretariat, after meeting all financial commitments with the former owners of the structure.

“Before now, the building has been held by the party on a yearly rental agreement, a situation that is unbefitting of the status of the party as a ruling party in the country.

“Also, when CECPC came on board, the party was hugely indebted to lawyers as a result of several lined up litigations in the immediate past. It is now on record that CECPC has offset the entire bulk of this debt in the course of the period under review.

“As part of the preparation for the party national convention and the 2023 elections, the party began its array of congresses with successful ward congresses across the 36 states and FCT.

“The LGAs congresses had followed suit with similar success levels across the local governments in the country.

“The state congresses were conducted towards the end of the year and recorded successes in about 80 percent of the states.”

Arguing that the APC has become better than anticipated, the leader said the CECPC will “round   up its assignment by delivering a successful national convention.”

Vanguard News