Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), the proxy campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term, has garnered praise, envy since its launch in April – and gripes for violating the Electoral Act.
By law, political campaign starts three months to the ballot.
Jonathan once visited TAN headquarters, where he met for over three hours with the man who bankrolls it, Ifeanyi Ubah, an oil magnate who has invested over N1.5 billion in the project to acquire the clout of a kingmaker.
Jonathan holds regular meetings with Ubah in Aso Rock. Patience, Alison-Madueke, and others close to Jonathan visit TAN headquarters regularly.
Oguda Close used to be an obscure street off the popular Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama, Abuja. Today, it is no longer an unknown address in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Thanks to TAN for locating its headquarters there.
TAN, a non governmental organisation (NGO) that is a major source of worry for the All Progressives Congress (APC), is funded solely by Ubah, Labour Party (LP) 2013 governorship candidate in Anambra State.
The TAN objective
The sole objective of TAN is to sell Jonathan’s candidacy in the 2015 ballot. Its corporate headquarters is at 10 Oguda Close, Abuja, a tastefully designed and furnished block of houses owned by Ubah.
The property housed highly placed American diplomats in the past.
TAN hit the road in April and within five months, its campaign has gone viral, dwarfing other groups belting out the same propaganda for Jonathan.
An inside source said Ubah has spent over NI.5 billion on the project mainly for media advertorials and rallies in the South East, South West, South South, and North Central.
A rally in North East was scheduled to hold yesterday, September 20, in Gombe State.
Each rally costs about N150 million, with almost every item personally sourced by Ubah. These include media advertisements, crowd renting, costumes, food items, banners, and posters.
During the FIFA World Cup, TAN sponsored over 60 Nigerians to Brazil to cheer the Supper Eagles.
The group has taken steps to get Nigerians to endorse Jonathan. At each rally, names are reeled out as those whose signatures have been obtained for this purpose.
But TAN has provoked debate over the charge that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) violate the Electoral Act by campaigning more than three months before election day.
IPAC’s grouses against TAN
Recently, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) complained to the National Assembly (NASS) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the activities of TAN and other proxy groups for politicians.
IPAC Chairman, Tanko Yinusa, said “the way things are going is worrisome to us. You can see that some people have already beaten the gun by campaigning on behalf of some political aspirants or parties. TAN is most guilty of this.
“We have taken the matter up with the National Assembly now that we are approaching amendment of the Electoral Act. The Act must prohibit pre-election campaigns as is being witnessed.”
The APC has also condemned the rallies and advertorials of TAN for Jonathan.
The gripe is not limited to the opposition parties. Some PDP governors are not comfortable with the mileage gained by TAN.
A source disclosed that other pro-Jonathan groups founded by governors are not making any impact, despite having existed before TAN.
He said the rally organised by Jonathan’s Political Adviser, Rufia Alkali, at the Eagles Square in Abuja on Tuesday, September 16, was an attempt to curtail the influence of TAN.
Governors grumble
Other pro-Jonathan groups are owned and funded by governors, ministers or PDP heavyweights; TAN is the only one run without a kobo from public coffers.
PDP governors are said to be worried by the possibility of Ubah coming to share the spoils of office with them if Jonathan wins a second term.
“Some of them don’t want Ubah to compete with them when it boils down to nominating people for political appointments. So they are working hard to curtail the influence of TAN,” said the source.
But Ubah, a shrewd businessman, is working hard to make it irresistible for Jonathan not to reckon with him after the vote.
Part of his calculation is to be a clearing house for political appointees during Jonathan’s second term.
TAN spin off
Besides the regular presence of Jonathan’s inner circle at the headquarters of TAN at 10 Oguda Close, residents of the short street, which has fewer than 20 houses, have been blessed in other ways.
Until Jonathan’s visit, half the street was in deplorable condition. After his visit, a contractor, GILMOR Nigeria, showed up and repaired it.
All the president’s groups
However, the closeness of TAN to Jonathan bothers other groups, and everything is being done to diminish its influence.
The claim by Alkali that there are over 8,000 Jonathan support groups may be true, but the reality on the ground is that most are faceless and have no structures.
The Leadership reported that “this is why the idea of Alkali setting up a committee to screen out the chaff from the substance is a welcome one” and only “10 of these groups have anything to offer Jonathan.
“The first is Goodluck Support Group (GSG), which is the structure developed by the former Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, who would later resign his position as the national coordinator of the group, following his sack by President Goodluck Jonathan in May.”
GSG coordinated the campaign for Jonathan’s election in 2011 and is on standby for his official declaration for re-election.
Although Gulak did not give any reason for his resignation from the GSG, he urged his then Deputy, Eddy Olafeso, to focus on mobilising support for Jonathan.
The second in the ranking of Jonathan’s support groups is the National Consolidation Group (NCG), which promotes good governance and visionary leadership.
NCG, established by Ajon Ugboho, mobilises support for Jonathan and the national leadership of the PDP across the country.
The third group is TAN, formed in April this year.
The fourth is Believe Nigeria, Trust Goodluck (BNTG), inaugurated last month by Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko.
Mimiko collapsed his political structure of many years, Iroko Frontiers, to build BNTG, whose National Coordinator is Idris Usman, the man who won the best state coordinator award of the defunct Neighbour To Neighbour which worked for Jonathan’s victory in 2011.
Usman is a grassroots mobiliser who has contacts across the country, especially in the North.
But BNTG is toeing a different line from other groups as it engages the populace through social media. It has over 2,000 facebook likes, large Twitter followers, and online community members.
The fifth Jonathan group is Protectors of Nigerian Posterity (PNP). Like TAN, it engages in massive media campaign to showcase his achievements and pitch for his re-election
The sixth group is Friends of Goodluck, headed by Tom Itua, which mobilises mainly the youth.
The seventh is Good Governance Initiative (GGI), which argues that “for the first time in the nation’s history, we have a president who is committed to transformation of institutions and all sectors of the economy.”
The eight group is House To House (HH), believed to be an incarnate of Neighbour To Neighbour.
The ninth is National Democratic Forum (NDF), led by Jonathan Vatsa, son of the late Mamman Vatsa.
NDF speaks out for Jonathan and enlightens the people on the need to support his transformation agenda.
The tenth is Patriotic Supporters of Good Governance (PSGG), which has a grassroots structure handy for the Jonathan campaign when he finally declares his run.
Counter view
The rating is, however, dismissed by TAN Media and Communications Director, Udenta O. Udenta, who maintained that “no other campaign group in Nigeria today can march what TAN has done, yet what you have seen is just a fraction of what we have the capacity to unfold when the time comes.
“While these other groups are funded from several sources, TAN’s funding comes from just one man who is not in government. We are doing what we are doing because we believe in it. For these other groups, I don’t know if it is the same philosophy.
“For us, this is serious business. The passion is not being driven by the desire to make money. It is a commitment to bring about a better Nigeria.”
Another political analyst, Charles Mbani, said TAN is the best thing that has happened in Nigeria’s political history.
“At the moment it remains the best support group for any political office seeker in Nigeria. It is the gathering of the best intellectuals in political campaigns in Nigeria today.
“You can see how they seized the air space with storm, to the chagrin of their rivals and opponents alike.
“No other group in the country’s political history has ever emerged on the scene to do what TAN is doing. It has in fact become the envy of other groups,” Mbani argued.
His submission may be apt. It may equally inform why Jonathan cannot do without TAN.