2023: APC Boils As Power Blocs Go For The Kill By Akinwunmi King

LAGOS – It is now fairly obvi­ous that relentless in­trigues among the pow­er blocs that make up the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are snow­balling into self-consuming designs in the party ahead of the 2023 elections. At the moment, mem­bers of the ruling party are dealing with the issue of the Electoral Act Amend­ment Bill 2021. The National Assembly has deliberated extensively on the report of the Con­ference Committee on the bill as a way of returning democracy to the people. Following the consider­ation of the Conference Committee Report on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by both chambers of the National Assembly, the lawmakers approved direct primary for selecting party candidates. Before the passage of the Bill by the National As­sembly, there were moves by the leadership of the APC and some governors to alter the aspect of the bill which allows direct primary. As it was gathered, there was a meeting between the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordi­nary National Convention Planning Committee and the APC caucus of the NASS and at the meeting, the lawmakers were pre­vailed upon not to support direct primary. The lawmakers, howev­er, did go ahead to pass the bill into law. Not satisfied with this decision, the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), on Friday, launched a fresh tirade against members of the National Assembly, la­beling them products of the same indirect primary they now want jettisoned for direct primary. POLL The APC governors, who are believed to be out to resist the direct pri­mary method, are said to be mounting pressure on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minis­ter of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, to stop Pres­ident Muhammadu Buhari from signing the Bill into law. The PGF, which compris­es governors elected on the platform of the APC, also accused the federal law­makers of smuggling the controversial clause on di­rect primary into the Elec­toral Act Amendment Bill. The Director General of the PGF, Dr. Salihu Mohd Lukman, said in a state­ment in Abuja that the brains behind the inclu­sion of direct primary as the mode of determining party flag bearers for elec­tive posts in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill were quiet on its inadequacies when it worked for them. There are claims that the governors are mobil­ising for a showdown with lawmakers who have also vowed not to give up their position. The governors are said to be pushing for indirect primaries because such an approach will favour them in electing candidates of their choice. According to some politi­cal analysts and observers, the issue of direct primary, factions in some states, dis­agreement among federal legislators and their gover­nors, and some other issues going on in the party, may likely affect the fortune of the party in 2023. The outcome of the last state congresses held by the party is another issue begging for resolution, as the party is having a tough time on how to bring its members together under one umbrella. Investigations showed that serving governors, their predecessors, sen­ators and other major stakeholders in the party are involved in the fight for the soul of the party. Some former governors, who were not successful in the bid to install their successors in 2019, are also said to be steadily pushing against incumbent state chief executives and their godfathers as the logjam created by the recent con­duct of APC ward congress persists. Speaking with Sunday Independent, a political analyst and chieftain of the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups (COSEG), Gbenga Soloki, said the ruling party must exercise caution ahead of 2023. “Presently, the party is going through a lot of chal­lenges that if they don’t resolve before the general elections, may affect their chances. “In some states, they are having factions, the issue of direct primary has po­larised the party, the gover­nors are trying everything to take over the control of the party, and all these are not healthy for the party. If care is not taken, their members will work against them in the election. “So they just have to re­solve their differences be­fore the election because the opposition parties will capitalise on their loop­holes and mistakes and take advantage of those things,” Soloki said. A top chieftain of the party, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that one of the major prob­lems is the presidential ticket of the APC for 2023 The source stated that five power blocs within the party are hoping to get the backing of the villa. “Everybody wants to control the party struc­ture across the zones. Everybody is claiming access to the Presidential Villa and this is because it is the villa that installed the current APC national caretaker committee. Some governors are using Mai Mala Buni in the quest to achieve their desire. “Former governors and serving senators believe they have access to the Presidential Villa. Every­body is lining up their teams, hoping that the structure of the party will fall into their hands. “Where a governor has a candidate, some ministers and senators are deter­mined to protect their own candidates, so whoever is able to receive endorse­ment of the Presidential Villa will be in charge of the APC structures at the state level. “All former governors, ministers, senators and others who believe the governors are oppressing them, belong to this group. For example, a former gov­ernor from the South be­lieves he is the ‘son’ of Mr. President. He is fighting back because of perceived injustice meted out to his group by the other camp during the 2019 elections. Most of the party lead­ers, who still feel cheated during the 2019 governor­ship primaries and believe they are the pioneers of the party, have formed a camp.”