Unless it does something drastic, the All
Progressives Congress, APC, Nigeria’s
main opposition party, may implode
before the 2015 general election, which
are only six months away, PREMIUM
TIMES’ extensive analysis of the
situation within the party has shown.
The party, which is barely one year old,
has found it extremely difficult to halt
the exit of key members in rapid
succession to the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, and also to
resolve internal disputes within its state
chapters, which have festered for
months.
PREMIUM TIMES checks showed that in
the last eight months, no fewer than
seven key members of the Joint Inter-
Merger Committee, JIMC, the central
body that supervised the fusion of some
hitherto opposition parties, have left the
party, either due to irreconcilable
differences with fellow leaders or to
pursue other political ambitions.
The APC was formed last year following
the successful merger talks between
the Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN],
Congress for Progressives Change
[CPC], All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP],
and a section of the All Progressives
Grand Alliance, APGA.
The Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, registered the party
on July 1, 2013.
In the run-up to its formation, the party
had described itself as “Noah’s Ark
which Nigerians who are tired of the
endless drift of Nigeria must enter,” in
reference to the biblical vessel God
directed Noah to build to save himself,
family and all the world’s animals from
flood.
Shortly after the birth of the party, five
governors and some prominent
members of the PDP joined the fold.
Also, former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar, 11 senators, 37 members of
the House of Representatives and
members of some State Houses of
Assembly and leaders of local
government councils also crossed to
the party from the PDP.
However, the party soon descended into
crisis across the country leading to the
departure of some of its influential
leaders. Those who have left so far are
former Governors Ibrahim Shekarau
(Kano), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), Ali
Modu Sheriff (Borno), and Achike
Udenwa (Imo).
Others are a former Minister of Aviation,
Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission [EFCC], Nuhu Ribadu, a
former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom
Ikimi, a former senator, Annie Okonkwo
and a prominent political leader in Edo
State, Osagie Ise-Iyamu.
A former governor of Ogun State,
Olusegun Osoba is believed to be so
deeply aggrieved that he might quit the
APC as the party’s leadership appeared
unable to resolve the rift between him
and Governor Ibikunle Amosun over the
battle for the soul of the party in Ogun
state.
Similarly, a National Secretary aspirant
at the party’s last convention, Kashim
Imam, who played a key role in
convincing the five former PDP
governors last October to join the APC,
is also believed to be considering
quitting the party.
The development, analysts say, does
not only seem to have belittled the entry
of a former Vice President Atiku, the
governors and other former top
members of the PDP into the APC, but
also raises concern about the ability of
the leadership of the opposition party to
resolve disputes.
Mr. Shekarau, a two-time governor of
Kano State, who led the ANPP to the
merger talks and participated actively in
all the meetings, was the first to quit the
APC last January. Shortly afterwards,
Mr. Shekarau, the presidential
candidate of the ANPP in the 2011
presidential election, took up
appointment with the PDP-led federal
administration as Minister of Education.
Mr. Shekarau’s major grouse was the
alleged shoddy process that led to the
admission of his successor, Governor
Kwankwaso to the APC last year. He
felt deeply disrespected that an APC
delegation, consisting top leaders of the
fold, visited the Government House,
Kano, to woo the governor into the party
without consulting him or at least give
him a heads up.
On his part, former Governor Bafarawa,
who was a member of the Constitution
sub-committee of the JIMC, allegedly
felt uncomfortable with the admission of
his political rival, Governor Aliyu
Wamakko of Sokoto State to the APC.
He defected to the PDP in January. He
also complained that he was left out of
the arrangements that culminated in the
admission of Mr. Wamakko to the
party.
Mr. Sheriff also left the party last month
for the PDP. Although he was not a
member of any of the sub-committees
of JIMC, the former senator featured in
virtually all the meetings of the leaders
of the ANPP where negotiations were
made.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr. Sheriff
was disturbed by the manner he was
perceived by some of the APC leaders
who had suspicious of his closeness to
the PDP as well as his alleged role in
the birth of the Boko Haram sect when
he was governor.
It was also learnt that the former
governor was also concerned that the
leaders took sides with Governor
Kashim Shettima in the face-off
between him and the governor.
A few months ago, Mr. Sheriff almost
came to blows with a leader of the party
and former Lagos State Governor, Bola
Tinubu.
Mr. Udenwa, who is also a former
Minister of Commerce, served in the
Manifesto Committee (which also
considered the APC Motto, Slogan and
Message) of the JIMC. But he suddenly
dumped the party earlier in the year
although he gave no reason for his exit.
He has since returned to the PDP on
whose platform he was governor
between 1999 and 2003.
Mr. Okonkwo left the party following his
inability to secure the governorship
ticket of the party in Anambra State for
the November 2013 election and his
subsequent disagreement with Chris
Ngige, who picked the ticket.
Mr. Ize-Iyamu, who functioned as the
ACN Chairman in Edo State was a
member of INEC-Legal and Constitution
Compliance Committee during the
merger. He however fell out with
Governor Adams Oshiomhole who he
accused of exhibiting “anti-democratic
posture.”
On his part, Mr. Ribadu, whose exit
from the APC on August 16 appeared
the most shocking of all. After he joined
the PDP, he obtained the PDP
nomination form to contest the vacant
seat of the governor of Adamawa State.
He has since withdrawn from the race.
Although, the ACN presidential
candidate in 2011 did not serve in any
of the merger subcommittees, he
attended some of the meetings of the
leaders and also accompanied them to
woo prominent politicians into the APC.
Mr. Ikimi, who dumped the APC late
August, did not only lead the ACN to the
merger talks, he hosted the meetings of
the merger committee in his Abuja
home.
His main grouse for leaving the party
was because he was blocked by some
leaders of the party, notably Mr. Tinubu
and the governors from contesting the
position of the national chairman during
the June convention of the party.
He had issued a statement shortly after
the convention accusing the governors
of the party and Mr. Tinubu of
manipulating the process to pick Mr.
Oyegun as national chairman.
In an advertorial on Tuesday, the former
minister, who was the founding national
chairman of the defunct National
Republican Convention, NRC, again
blamed the defections of some
chieftains of the party on Mr. Tinubu.
“It is not a coincidence to me that the
prominent members of APC targeted by
Bola Tinubu such as Alhaji Bafarawa,
Sen Ali Modu Sheriff and myself are
former NRC members or those
perceived as Conservatives,” Mr. Ikimi
alleged. Mr. Ikimi is already on his way
to his former party, the PDP.
Mr. Osoba, a two-time governor of
Ogun State who served in the
Constitution sub-committee of the
JIMC. The former Ogun governor, those
close to him say, has commenced
discussions with his loyalists on the
possibility of floating another party or
joining an existing one.
Internal Wrangling in States
Many state chapters of the APC are
also bedevilled by internal wrangling,
which pundits believe might lead to
implosion in the party if not carefully
handled.
We present a snapshot of the crises in
some of the states below.
Katsina: In this northwestern state from
where a leader of the APC,
Muhammadu Buhari, hails from, the
opposition party is swimming in trouble
waters. The main characters in the
leadership crisis are a former Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Aminu
Masari; a former Senate Chief Whip,
Kanti Bello; Abu Ibrahim, also a former
senator; Abdullahi Aminchi; a former
member of the House of
Representatives, Usman Bugaje;
Abdulazeez Yar’ Adua, a retired colonel
and younger brother of the late
President Umaru Yar’Adua; Ismaila Isa
and Sada Ilu. All the combatants are
nursing governorship ambition. The
source of the crisis was the outcome of
the membership registration and ward
congresses organized by the party,
which produced Mustapha Inuwa, a
crony of Mr. Masari as state chairman.
Adamawa: The impeachment of former
Governor Murtala Nyako may have
reduced the power tussle in the APC.
Mr. Nyako was among the five PDP
governors that defected to the APC last
October. His entry generated heat as
the original members of the party,
including Buba Marwa and Marcus
Ginduri, both CPC and ACN
governorship candidates in the 2001
election, kicked against it. Their main
grouse was that the APC structure was
handed over to the former governor who
was believed to have come alone into
the party from the PDP.
Kwara: It was the first state that
showed signs of crisis when the five
PDP governors, including Abdulfatah
Ahmed left PDP for APC. The ACN
governorship candidate in the 2011
election, Dele Belgore faulted the
national leadership for accepting to
admit the governor and the handing
over of the party structure to the PDP.
The coming of Bukola Saraki, seen as
the godfather of Kwara politics,
worsened the situation. Before long, Mr.
Belgore dumped the party for the PDP.
Plateau: In Plateau, the APC crisis has
been enmeshed in crisis over the
outcome of its state congress,
especially the chairmanship position,
won by Latep Dabang, a former aide to
former Governor, Joshua Dariye. It was
however aggravated by the procedure
adopted for picking members of the
Board of Trustees, BoT. The crisis
generated to some aggrieved members
of the opposition party locking out
some of their leaders during a meeting.
A former senator, John Shagaya and
Amos Gombi, contested for the position.
Abia: The crisis is also traceable to the
congress. A faction of the APC in the
state, which styled itself ‘Integrity
Group’ warned after a meeting in Aba
that the party would be doomed in the
state if the party did not keep its
promise to its members in the state.
Bayelsa: In Bayelsa, the APC chairman,
Tiwei Orunimighe, was at the receiving
end when aggrieved members under the
aegis of Third Force descended on him,
accusing him of high-handedness, and
disrespectful cum autocratic conducts.
They also accused the chairman of
squandering N7.2 million given for the
inauguration of State Executive Council
(SEC) without the approval of the
executive committee members. The
group also lampooned a leader of the
APC and former governor of the state,
Timipre Sylva of leading the party from
leading it from outside the state using
his cronies. The matter has not been
resolved.
Ekiti: The party was thrown into crisis
when the leader of its caucus in the
House of Representatives, Opeyemi
Bamidele declared his interest in the
June governorship election in the state.
However, the governor, Kayode Fayemi
saw the move as being one against his
plan to return for a second term in
office. Mr. Bamidele was believed to
have shown interest in the governorship
seat based on a purported agreement
that the governor would spend one term
in office. The crisis snowballed into a
situation where the lawmaker was
booted out as caucus leader. While the
crisis raged, the party held all-inclusive
meeting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
In attendance were the then interim
National Chairman, Bisi Akande, Ekiti
APC Chairman, Olajide Awe, former
Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, APC
South West zonal Chairman, Niyi
Adebayo, Tony Adeniyi, Dele Alake,
Senators Femi Ojudu and Olu
Adetunmbi.
The meeting could not however resolve
the crisis, but instead endorsed Mr.
Fayemi for a second term. The decision
infuriated Mr. Bamidele who angrily
defected to the Labour Party, where he
was handed over the party’s ticket.
Both Messrs. Fayemi and Bamidele lost
the election to the PDP candidate, Ayo
Fayose.
Oyo: The crisis in the Oyo State chapter
of the party reached its apogee when
the senator representing the Central
Senatorial District, Ayo Adeseun about
a month ago dumped the party for the
PDP and declared his intention to take
Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s job come
2015. The senator, who was originally a
member of the PDP, said he left
because there is more internal
democracy in the PDP than the APC.
Only on Tuesday, the second APC
senator, Olufemi Lanlehi dumped the
party for the Accord Party, a
development that could jeopardise the
chances of Mr. Ajimobi in next year’s
election.
Edo: Sometime in April, long before
John Oyegun, a former governor of Edo
State became the APC national
chairman, some of the party leaders in
the state allegedly held a secret meeting
with President Goodluck Jonathan and
the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT,
of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih in Abuja.
They afterwards gave the Edo State
Governor, Adams Oshiomhole a seven-
day ultimatum to cancel what they
referred to as “fraudulent membership”
registration exercise and ward and local
government congress, or face the
consequence. When the governor did
not yield to the pressure, the aggrieved
members made good their threat by
defecting to the PDP.
Predictions of implosion
Before and after its registration, some
politicians had predicted that the APC
would collapse because it was the
coming together of strange bedfellows.
The Presidency, which spoke through
the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Public Affairs, Doyin
Okupe, had said the APC was destined
to implode.
He said, “The APC boat is destined for
the Red Sea and in fact, I remember
that when we went to Israel, we prayed
to God to remove all the people
troubling Nigeria. So, by what is
happening now, I believe that God is
working quietly to gather these people.
By the time Jonathan defeats those
giants, God will take all the glory and
people will know that the APC is
heading for failure.”
The chairman of the PDP, Lagos State,
Tunji Shelle said, “From what I can see
in the merger and registration of APC,
all of them are strange bedfellows. They
will start fighting one another over
positions, opportunities and party
structures. At the end of the day,
sharing of offices will polarize them and
ideological differences will divide them.
And if the centre cannot hold,
everybody will go back to his own tent.
That is what I see happening to APC
between now and 2014, not even 2015.”
The immediate past National Chairman
of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, had
dismissed the APC as an unserious
party. “There is a desperate political
coalition in the country now known as
the APC; whose stock in trade is insults,
attacks and lack of decorum because
the party and her members have
nothing to offer the people of Nigeria
except only a desperate plan to take
over power at all costs.”
Hope in the horizon
Mr. Oyegun assured the party would
resolve all the misunderstandings and
crises currently bedevilling the party,
especially those that arose from the
conduct of the congresses.
“A committee is working on that,” he
told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone
interview.
A member of the defunct merger
committee, Osita Okechukwu said the
APC was highly concerned about the
defections and the crisis.
He, however, said the consolation was
that those who defected did not leave
with their supporters.
“Between the PDP and APC, their
memberships do not make up to 10 per
cent of the Nigerian electorate. We are
concerned more about the electorate,”
Mr. Okechukwu told PREMIUM TIMES.
“Is the Nigerian electorate aware that
APC is a change agent? It is not about
those who defected or who did not
defect. These are ingredients of any
election in liberal democracy. PDP had
boasted that they are master poachers
and so what we pray for is that INEC
remains transparent.”
The APC chieftain dismissed allegations
made against Mr. Tinubu by Mr. Ikimi.
According to him, two days before the
JIMC concluded its meeting, a former
governor of Zamfara State, Sani Yarima
moved a motion that Messrs. Ikimi and
Shekarau be adopted as interim national
chairman and national secretary of the
APC, respectively.
Mr. Yarima, he said, also said a former
deputy governor of Bauchi State be
made the deputy national chairman.
Mr. Okechukwu said it was he
(Okechukwu) who moved a counter
motion saying there was no such
provision in the merger documents that
says its committee members be
nominated into those positions.
On the crisis in the states, he said they
were not unexpected because three or
four groups were coming together and
so there would be agitations.
The Chairman, Partnership for Electoral
Reforms, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said he was
not surprised by the defection of
politicians from APC.
“The movements have been meteoric.
But If you proceed from the assumption
that there is a difference between the
PDP and APC, then you will be surprise
at the what they are doing,” he said.
Mr. Nwagwu, a member of the just-
concluded National Conference said the
nation’s political institutions would not
develop if the parties are simply vote-
catching machines.
He expressed concern that Nigerian
voters are more concerned with
individuals than parties.


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GEJ for 2015