• South West govs seek liberation from his grip
• Buhari hasn’t endorsed Akande, Ikimi says David-West
A battle for supremacy and nationwide relevance is being waged in the All Progressives Congress (APC), pitting former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, against other leaders of the party, including South West governors who are his proteges.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Tinubu is fighting for political survival, as adversaries within have banded to whittle down what APC chieftains described as his overbearing influence.
This past week, APC governors moved to hijack the leadership of the party, rooting to install a national leadership of Christian background and to force Tinubu to see the party as a national one, not to be dictated to by one man.
Two aces that will determine where the pendulum swings are (a) the party’s national convention on June 13 and 14 in Abuja and (b) who controls the committee that will oversee the election of its officers.
Signs that Tinubu has a battle to do with APC governors and other leaders began to show up at the party’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting on May 20 where his preferred candidates for convention committee, Kawu Baraje (Chairman) and Ajayi Boroffice (Secretary), were rejected.
Tinubu had stormed out of the meeting after his gambit did not fly.
In place of his candidates, APC governors chose Sokoto State Governor, Aliyu Wamakko, as Chairman, and Senator Chris Ngige as Secretary.
Sources said those who will supervise the convention will have a huge influence in the election of the national executives.
“The party belongs to everybody but Tinubu pretends that it belongs to him,” an APC chieftain said.
“We will tell him to go and form his own party if he refuses to recognise that everybody in the APC has a stake and that the only way for us to make the desired impact nationally is for all of us to do away with our selfish interest.”
Asked if South West governors, proteges of Tinubu, will agree to jettison him, the source said: “It may interest you to know that it is the South West governors who have been mobilising and seeking help to be liberated from Tinubu’s grip.
“When Rochas Okorocha (Imo State Governor) told the NEC gathering last week that the governors’ choice for chairmanship of the convention committee was Wamakko did you hear any dissenting voice from South West governors?”
According to our source, South West governors have complained secretly to APC big wigs and will welcome any move that will end the “virtual hijack of the leadership of their states by Tinubu.”
But the man is not sitting down and watching events unfold without putting up a fight.
One of his ardent followers and APC Lagos spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, told TheNiche that he is not afraid of popular views or of battles and gang ups.
“Whatever may have happened at the NEC meeting, and or is happening in the party, is something that should be anticipated in a political environment. Scheming, maneuvering, plotting, backbiting, they are all part and parcel of a healthy politicking, and Tinubu welcomes all of that,” Igbokwe stated.
“But you must have worked closely with Tinubu to know why his followers are huge and why his words are bond. When the time comes, I am sure everybody will appreciate the stuff he is made of.
“One thing you must bear in mind is that he has the interest of the party at heart and will not do anything to undermine it.”
When the national convention was being mooted, there were reports that Tinubu was plotting to install interim APC National Chairman, Bisi Akande, and interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, in permanent positions.
Both are Muslims, like Tinubu.
But Tinubu’s interest clashes with that of some governors who prefer a Christian national chairman – chosen from among former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom Ikimi; former Edo State Governor, John Odigie-Oyegun, and former Abia State Governor, Ogbonnaya Orji.
There is another twist, however.
While Akande and Ikimi are trying to outdo each other for the chairmanship, neither of them has been endorsed by one of the party’s national leaders, Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari, who commands a lot of respect in the APC, has refused to endorse any aspirant despite pressure from their backers.
Tinubu wants Akande, a Muslim, to become a permanent Chairman, the governors insist on Ikimi, a Christian.
Buhari’s confidante, Tam David-West, confirmed that the man has refused to join the fray.
“If Tinubu wants Akande, it is for obvious reasons. If Ikimi is also interested in the position, it is normal. But Buhari has refused to interfere. He simply wants the best person to emerge as APC chairman,” David-West said.
APC top shots are worried that most Nigerians see it as a Muslim party and the only way to correct that impression is to elect a Christian as chairman before electioneering begins. Tinubu thinks differently.
Since independence in 1960, the composition of Nigeria’s leaders and their deputies has been sensitive to the two main religions in the country.
Out of the 14 instances of leadership since 1960, it is only on three occasions that the head of state or president and his deputy belonged to the same religion.
• January 1966 – July 1966. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi (Head of State, Christian); Yakubu Gowon (Deputy, Christian).
• July 1966 – July 1975. Yakubu Gowon (Head of State, Christian); Olawale Wey (Deputy, Christian).
• December 1983 – August 1985. Muhammadu Buhari (Head of State, Muslim); Tunde Idiagbon (Deputy, Muslim).
If Moshood Abiola, who won the presidential election on June 12, 1993 had been allowed to rule together with his Deputy, Babagana Kingibe, the instances would have increased to four, as both of them were Muslims.
Nigeria’s population is nearly evenly split between dominant Muslims in the North and dominant Christians in the South.
With the upsurge in religious clashes, particularly since the return of democracy in 1999 – and the insurgency mounted by Islamic fundamentalist, Boko Haram, which has escalated since 2002 – the national mood has hardened that both the president and vice president should not be adherents of the same religion.
The religion balancing act also applies to the leader of a major political party and his deputy.
This is part of what some members of the APC are trying to achieve to make the party acceptable nationwide.