It is a shocking surprise that the cracks that many feared were appearing on the seemingly impregnable walls of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are being proved to be true daily with goings-on in that enclave of strange bedfellows. It was speculated that, at one of the meetings of the APC, when the going was good, two former governors, including the one that recently jumped ship, there was a blow-out between the two, which resulted in a funny exchange in which one said something that goes like this: “you are a former senator; I am a former senator; you are a former governor, I am a former governor; you have money, I have money; you take cocaine, I take cocaine….”
The story goes further that a former army General who was at the meeting did not find the reference to cocaine funny and he clearly made it known. That was said to be one of the dramas that led to the departure from the party of that chieftain, who is now battling to save his neck from an alleged association with a notorious terrorist group.
And recently while boasting of plans to overrun the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso, who undeniably has changed the face of Kano City (not Kano State) for good, was at a loss to explain the conspicuous absence of political heavyweight, General Muhammadu Buhari, at the North-West rally of the opposition party. None of the General’s own generals were there and a representative did not speak for him. It was obvious the show in Sokoto was put together by the hijacking Governors who seem to have the backing of the Asiwaju.
The desperate situation in which the Party finds itself with the loss of some bigwigs was manifested in the beggarly plea of Kwankwaso calling on Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido of Niger and Jigawa States to return to the fold of the rebel governors. His words, “I am calling on the G7 governors that we started this journey and movement together, especially Lamido and Aliyu to leave the PDP and join us…. We have been meeting and sharing ideas with Kaduna State Governor, Ramalan Yero, and as such, we are calling on our brothers to come back home because this is where they belong.”
For some inexplicable reason, the Governor made reference to alleged discussions with Kaduna Governor in his ploy to show that the North-West was going the way of the APC, a tactless revelation that sounded more like blackmail than anything concrete. And did he pound and throw mud at the PDP? “PDP has been ruling Nigeria for 16 years but left this country in ruins with insecurity challenges ravaging the North. We have the numbers and the large population to give us the required votes and we are ready to mobilize our people in the North-West to humiliate PDP in the 2015 polls,” he thundered.
His opponents may suggest that his reiteration of the situation in the north is a confirmation of the oft-repeated accusation that APC was the political wing of Boko Haram, using its military wing to exacerbate the trouble there for political gains; but it is hoped that with the movement of the creator of that wing from the APC to the PDP, peace may soon return. In Ogun, the chinks in the APC wall are widening to an embarrassing level with the newspapers daily publishing the widening gap among gladiators, with some lining up behind Governor Ibikunle Amosun, and others behind one of his former predecessors, Segun Osoba. In Adamawa, it is a sad tale for former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as he could not deliver his own preferred choice of APC flag bearer for the gubernatorial elections next month.
Already, one of his followers has been grumbling loudly, accusing the former number two man of insincerity. Yakubu Tsala, who claims he has been a faithful follower of Atiku for three decades, said he felt betrayed by the former Vice President, who he claimed did not keep his word not to back any of the candidates. He claims “his people” have been vehemently opposed to his political relationship to Atiku, but did not say what benefits kept him close to the man for 30 years.
“To my surprise despite all the promises made, Atiku was the person who bought form and drafted the candidate into the race. However the candidate also lost like I did. But I am not happy with the betrayal meted to me by Atiku because if there is any candidate that he should support I should be the one because I always followed and kept my part of the bargain to him and I have never betrayed him all these years,” he disclosed.
While one of Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, was busy denying that his boss supported a particular candidate, another, Garba Shehu, appeared to be confirming it when he told Daily Trust, “Well, there is no denying the fact that Atiku has a soft spot for him (Mijinyawa), but you are also aware that of the seven aspirants, Atiku bought form for four of them, so there is no big deal.”
Treachery may be the lot of politicians, but Atiku himself has suffered the same in the hands of the hawks he now hobnobs with, with one clearly telling him, in the ACN days, that he was not the leader of the party since he could not deliver his constituency of Adamawa to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Efforts are on to assuage his bruised ego from this recent Adamawa experience, according to newspaper reports that say leaders of the party want to extract a commitment from him to back its candidate, Senator Bindow Jibrilla, in the forthcoming elections.
With the myriads of troubles besetting the APC, the South-East zone of the party impoliticly denigrated the Youth wing of the Ohaneze Ndigbo by insisting it did not owe it any apology for asking that an Ndigbo son, General Azubuike Ihejirika, be tried over the comments by Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davies, that he was fingered as a sponsor of Boko Haram. While it may be obvious that the APC has no foothold in the geopolitical zone, save for the pretensions of Governor Rochas Okorocha, the party in the zone should have tapered its language to the Igbo youths.
Nonetheless, with the Adamawa election approaching; the APC primaries to pick its presidential candidate knocking on the door; party heavyweights leaving all too frequently; Buhari distrusting rebel governors from the PDP, it may just be time to compose APC’s dirge.
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Written by Abba Adakole.
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