The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will hold an all-important NEC meeting which will be as decisive as it is meant to chart the course of the party going forward. Andrew Essien examines the dominant issues ahead of the meeting.
This is a busy week for the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). The party would be locked in marathon meetings that would define its trajectory not just in the interim but ahead of future elections.
Establishing constructive interface between party and government has been key to development at the one end and sustainability of governing capacity at another.
After successfully dislodging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the last general elections, APC has had to deal with internal issues that threatened its smooth running of the party.
For the first opposition party to translate into the governing party in Nigeria’s recent political history, APC, naturally grappled with the challenges of filling government positions.
From the tussle in the National Assembly leadership to the intrigues in the appointment of ministers, the governing party, very wantonly wasted the whole nation’s time with its intra-party struggle.
But like every political organization, the governing party is faced with issues that need to be addressed just as it constantly has to be subjected to assessments through the lens of PDP.
The coming Caucus, BoT and NWC meetings will greatly define the path which APC will tread going forward and there are some issues that must be deliberated upon.
Finance
One of the major issues that has been coming up again and again is how the party hopes to raise money other than what has hitherto been the norm. The party has had to also suffer from a lean purse and operate with such thin budget that there were speculations that the party is broke. The Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun admitted that things are not the way they ought to be and the party leadership is putting heads together in order to change the financial fortunes of the party. He also dispelled the rumours that the party had written to the Presidency for bailout gratis.
Oyegun had said in an interview, “The party too is suffering from the stresses and strains of funding just like every institution in our polity. That also goes to tell you that we are not a party that withdraws money from security votes or from any government agency. We are working on plans to raise money from within the membership. That plan has matured and will soon be put it into operation. We have not, because I saw reports to that effect, that we have written to the President to rescue the party. That is not part of his national duties and he has no intention because there are no funds for which he can draw from which is the way it had been done.
“The party has to come up with fresh and innovative ways as to how to raise resources for its operations and that, we have done. The plan is ready and will go into operation in the next month or two.”
The former ruling party, PDP, had been accused of getting secret funds from the Presidency to run its operations. As such, the initial expectation was that APC, coming on the mantra of Change would not toe that path. So far, indications are strong that President Muhammadu Buhari is not open to such idea.
It is hoped that the membership of the party would drive its financing just as measures are taken to ensure that funding sources are legitimate.
Constitution of BoT and its chairman
Speculations have reached fever pitch as to who will eventually emerge as the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the APC. Permutations and calculations, deft moves and all have been the norm in the party.
The chairman of the party had said that “there is no issue surrounding that. It’s just that there has been so much to do and the President wants to personally participate in it, a date has been scheduled for all organs of the party to meet before the month ends.”
Already, speculations are that all things being equal, a former governor of Osun State and former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande might emerge as the pioneer chair of the party’s BoT. But some northern leaders in the party are of the unyielding view that the North should produce the chairman, specifically, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku since the National Chairman comes from the South.
The Southwest is however putting up the argument that it should take a shot at it with the candidature of Chief Akande since the Northwest produced the resident, Northeast brought the Speaker, while North-central produced the Senate President. It was gathered that one of the national leaders of the party from the Northeast who was nursing the ambition had dropped it based on advice from other leaders.
This goes to show that the issue must be rested if the party will make any meaningful progress devoid of unnecessary distractions. This issue is surely going to be on the front burner.
Replacement of vacant NWC seats
For various reasons, some seats in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has been vacant and the need to fill them has become as imminent as it has created intrigues. These meetings will provide such opportunity since they have to be elected. Chief among these is the position of the national publicity secretary which has generated controversies with several positions and counter-positions being put forward as the reasons for the party’s inability to replace someone in that position since the elevation of Alhaji Lai Mohammed to the federal executive council, who was the erstwhile party spokesperson.
The issue again came to the fore last week when Chief Oyegun, while reacting to a question posed to him on arrangements to fill vacant positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, after resuming work from a 10 day leave, said that the issue was getting somebody that can be as close as possible to the outstanding performance of the present Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, which was why it has taken the party a long time to get a replacement for the party’s spokesperson and other vacant NWC seats of the party.
Hardly had the issue died down when the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank, fired back insisting that he and indeed other members of the party were eminently qualified to be the party’s spokesperson. Relying on the party‘s constitutional provisions, Comrade Frank said he was indeed already empowered to step in.
In a statement, Comrade Frank described the argument as “reckless, baseless and unwarranted” urging the party chairman to retrieve the statement and desist from making such “malicious statement” in future.
Frank said: “I disagree with Chief Odigie-Oyegun on his comment with regard to replacement of Lai Mohammed. The statement made by him is reckless, baseless and unwarranted.
“I am the deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party and as such, can act in the absence of the National Publicity Secretary. I am also qualified to act as the substantive publicity secretary of the party.
“His statement is malicious, insulting and meant to discredit my person as well as the party by saying it’s difficult to fill the office from the present calibre of party men and women we have.
“As a good party man, Chief Odigie- Oyegun ought to have informed the public about the next convention date to fill all vacancies but not to use the medium to discredit my person and the party.
“I’d like to use this medium to call on him to retrieve the statement and desist from making further malicious statement in the future.”
This will surely be a hot issue to be thrashed thoroughly.
Adherence to party manifesto
There is likely to be discussions on strict adherence to party manifesto from all office holders on the platform of the party across the political spectrum so that it will not be caught hanging in the balance. Political office holders that may not be toeing party lines would be reminded of the issues and advised accordingly.
It is going to be an all-important meeting of party heavyweights and stalwarts which, analysts say, would provide the chance for the party to thrash out complex issues if it intends to maintain the popularity with which it rode to the corridors of power.
Like the chairman admitted: “Yes, there has been stress originating from the nature of the party itself but they are all part of the settling down of the party itself and we are resolving them eventually. The power structure and tussle in the party is normal and desirable and the earlier we sort out these issues and challenges within the party, the better it gets for the administration. So I will say it is good that within the first few months of our administration that issues to be addressed are brought forward at the early stage of our government. In another few months, I believe all these issues will be put behind us and we will have a truly Consolidated APC.”
After all said and done, the expectation is that APC would not make the mistakes the PDP made.
-Leadership