Recent state congresses of All Progressives Congress (APC) threw up issues that, if not properly resolved, may affect the fortunes of the party in the coming elections, writes Head, News Desk, VICTOR EBIMOMI
Congresses of All Progressives Congress (APC) held nationwide at the state level on Saturday, April 26, has thrown up many questions about the party’s ability and preparedness to challenge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next year’s general elections.
Not in a few states that the congress was trailed by controversies. And reactions from political observers have situated the cause to lack of internal democracy and imposition, which, they noted, could be the greatest undoing of the party.
For instance, in Ogun State, two parallel executives were elected, while in Lagos, those elected were returned opposed.
Senator Olugbenga Kaka-led faction accused the Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, of discriminating against his group. He equally complained about the party being run as a one-man show.
He said: “Our party is not where a single individual will dictate to every other person in the party. In our party, God and the party must rule, not just a single individual.”
Amosun countered: “We must learn to give and take in order to be united. The task to move our party forward in this state is a collective responsibility.”
Despite the appeal, the polarisation of the party in the state seems to be getting wider.
In Ondo State where the Labour Party (LP) holds sway, the congress would have degenerated into free-for-all, but for the quick intervention of the police.
In fact, the chairman of the congress committee and former Lagos Deputy Governor, Femi Pedro, was reportedly whisked out of the rowdy atmosphere by the police, as aggrieved party members attempted to manhandle him.
Some delegates were said to have complained bitterly about alleged electoral irregularities.
The affected delegates said their names were missing in the voters register displayed by the electoral committee.
The delegates mainly from Idanre Local Government Area also alleged that the exercise was manipulated to favour Isaac Kekemeke who later won the election.
The party’s chairman in the council, Victor Alalabiaye, is one of those who faulted the congress, claiming that, even with his position, he was unable to find his name on the delegates’ list.
Protesting over the issue, Alalabiaye lamented that the action was meant to disenfranchise him and his people from voting. Many people from his area joined in the protest.
Earlier, a contestant for the party’s publicity secretary seat, Abayomi Adesanya, revealed that five wards in Okitipupa area were also short-changed and prevented from voting.
The issue of lists being doctored and people prevented from voting had initially raised controversy among the delegates and party supporters who tried to prevent the election from holding.
Kekemeke, however, stated that election was devoid of manipulation, even as he promised to reconcile aggrieved members.
“My primary aim is to reconcile the various tendencies in the APC. We are one family. We will make sure we visit all the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure we make a strong, united, indivisible APC that is ready to take over the government of Ondo State,” he said.
Other party positions, it was gathered, will be filled through consensus, which has already been agreed.
And in Akwa Ibom State, the story was hardly different, as former governorship candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the state, Sam Enwang, condemned the exercise, describing it as a fraud. He maintained that the result did not represent the interest of different segments of the party.
“We would like to protect our names, and I want to advise the APC leaders that if they want to be deceived, they are free. But if they want to win Akwa Ibom, they must cancel whatever has been called congresses in the state,” he added.
The congress was postponed in Edo, Adamawa and Katsina states due to logistic problems.
The APC publicity secretary in Edo, Godwin Erhahon, said the congress had been shifted to a date to be announced later.
Officials of the APC in Katsina said the congress was postponed indefinitely due to non-conclusion of the ward congresses.
The state congress was also suspended in Adamawa while it was shifted in Kano.
The chairman, Congress Supervising Committee, Kano APC, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa, said: “Shifting the congress is necessary to enable stakeholders make wider consultation and arrive at a consensus during the election.”
Oyo APC returned those who served in the interim executive, which stoked discontent among some members.
Abia State chapter, however, had a relatively peaceful congress, but not without accusations and allegations of bribery and lack of fairness.
The new executive headed by Fabian Okonkwo was elected unopposed at the National War Museum, Umuahia.
The interim chairman of the party in the state, Donatus Nwankpa, however, kicked against the election, describing the exercise as illegal and contrary to the directive of the national secretariat of the party.
He alleged that the chairman of the congress committee, Sunday Akere, took directive from Ikechi Emenike, who he accused of having hijacked the party.
But Akere, who is the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Osun, insisted that the congress went well and denied allegations that he was bribed to conduct the exercise.
He also described as false, the allegation that the congress was conducted by a faction of the party loyal to Emenike.
Okonkwo, the new chairman, has, however, tried to calm frayed nerves, describing the outcome of the exercise as that of “no victor, no vanquished”, assuring of an all-inclusive administration.
“I am going to extend the olive branch to the interim chairman of the party to support me in the task of building a strong party that will take over government in 2015 in Abia,’’ he added.
TheNiche gathered that more than 2,000 delegates defied an early morning rain to attend the state congress in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The delegates came from the 23 local government areas of the state.
Senator Magnus Abe said “the huge turnout is an indication that the people of Rivers have embraced the APC”.