Despite the governorship elections coming up in three states less than three months, coupled with a series of by-elections, the major political parties are facing internal rumbling over sundry issues that predate
the general election, writes KUNLE ODEREMI.
MONTHS after the general election held in the country, the majority of the political parties are still gasping for breath due to protracted crises. Some of the difficulties arising from the choice of candidates for the elections, coupled with alignment of forces subsist with fresh afflictions bordering on the conduct and outcome of the seventh general election after the country returned to civil rule on May 29. The conflicts are multidimensional, especially as they affect the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as well as the Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). Their serious gasps for breath have led to factions in the executives of the individual parties, verbal exchanges among their chieftains, expulsion and counter moves by the belligerent elements, as well as suspensions and counter-suspensions by the various factions. Indeed, the last few weeks have been characterized by spasmodic exchanges and actions in different camps in the parties.
All Progressives Congress
It is recalled that the conflict of interest in the governing APC culminated in restructuring in the national leadership of the party. The resignation by some national officers, due to irreconcilable differences with some internal forces marked the peak of a prolonged internal power struggle at the national level. Issues surrounding key appointments by the APC-led Federal government became another major subject of discord and anger, as the party faithful lament over what they perceive as abandonment by their leaders after the election. Some disenchanted chieftains are leading the passive resistance; others sulked in subdued anger because of the fate suffered as dedicated party members to enthrone the immediate past APC federal administration. A secretary of one the mainstream campaign organizations of the party before the presidential election spoke on the matter under condition of anonymity. He said there was bottled up anger and frustration among party leaders because of a perceived vicious circle of use and dumped after the general election. According to him, “People are angry that it’s looking like the Buhari era, where those who toil for the success of the party are neither recognized nor properly rewarded. A principal officer at the campaign secretariat in Abuja was our field commander, who gathered all before the presidential primary, during presidential campaign, and during the conduct of the election itself. If such a person for whatever reason is far away from Mr President now, how will those who worked tirelessly under his coordination can be known, recognised, and ultimately rewarded?
“Some party faithful like me were appointed into the Board of a national agency of President Buhari, but President Asiwaju whom I worked for his success came on board to remove me from such appointment, how will people or persons like me across the country can probably be identified and rewarded? How about those who suffered humiliations in their states because of their commitment to [president Tinubu], and painfully those who tormented them are now rewarded with ministerial appointments to the detriment of our traditional supporters in these states. People who suffered for eight years in the hands of their former governor now watched helplessly how those Governors will be inaugurated tomorrow as a minister in the government of Asiwaju.
“What measures will be taken to placate these people in pain over these decisions? In the North-Central, we lost the position of National Chairman of the party to the North-West? This is against the background that the South-West retained their position of National Secretary? We can’t really understand what’s going on around Mr. President. It is very painful.”
New Nigeria Peoples Party
Considered as a potential bulwark of forces that could coalesce into Third Force in subsequent elections in the country, the NNPP is embroiled in a survival battle. The party made waves in the buildup to the general election, and its feat at the elections had raised the rating of the party. NNPP is currently enmeshed in an intense power struggle capable of weakening its structure across the country, with two camps led by powerful and influential forces at each other’s throat. Formed by a business mogul, Boniface Aniebonam in 2002, the party had lived in an absolute obscurity until former Governor and minister, Dr Musa Kwankwaso moved in with his Kwankwasiyya political machinery to raise the ante. He became the face of NNPP, while the founder, Aniebonam was chosen as the chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT). The relationship between them has gone awry and apparently collapsed evident in a directive issued by NNPP national leadership sacking the executives of the party in seven states over allegations of anti-party activities. But the chairmen of the dissolved executives spontaneously resisted the move, accusing Kwankwanso of trading off the party to President Bola Tinubu based on the egoistic interest. As the crisis festered, the chairmen and other chieftains of the faction proclaimed the expulsion of the presidential candidate in the last election. However, two top notch NNPP, Buba Galadima and Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo dismissed the pronouncement of the faction as a joke taken too far. The former said the decision to expel the founder of the party and others in his camp was based on due process and anti-party activities. According to Galadima, “Those that were expelled were Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam and Gabriel agbor major. All of them who were expelled were called to a disciplinary committee. They were drilled and they accepted their sins and it was on the basis of their acceptance that they were recommended to the national working committee for expulsion.” The NNPP stalwart said Kwankwaso got the permission of the party leadership[p to hold discussion with President Bola Tinubu and any other political group.”
Ambassador Oguntoyinbo also described the action of the aggrieved party members as a huge joke. The governorship candidate of the NNPP in Lagos State in March, said Aniebonam was particularly accused of forming a parallel group within the party with a view to disaffection in the NNPP. “All the suspended cohorts under Article 391 (7) have been involved in anti-party activities and conduct which might likely have an adverse effect on the party or bring hatred, contempt, disrespect or ridicule to the party,” Oguntoyinbo said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the main organ of the party has resolved to seal the fate of those regarded as dissidents under the Apapa faction of the party. Its communique at the end of a meeting on August 29 took a firm stand on the leadership crisis, it stated: “At the National Executive Committee meeting of the NNPP held in Abuja today August 29th 2023, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, Agbo Major and several others were expelled from the party. The NEC also moved several other motions relating to the Logo of the party, the Amendment of the constitution, ratification of the State caretaker committees, and suspension of two Articles in the constitution of the NNPP 2022. At the meeting were the Executive Governor of Kano State, the National Chairman, Distinguished Senator Kawu Ismaila, the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Engr Buba Galadima and many others. NEC noted that there were suspended (now expelled) persons who purportedly held a Board of Trustees meeting in Apapa, Lagos this morning. Naturally their meeting was null and void and to no effect.”
Labour Party
There is no let down in the power struggle in the Labour Party in the states and the national level, as the warring factions have kept loading their guns and firing without let or hindrance. The leadership under Julius Abure has been held by the jugular by the group loyal to another national officer, lamidi Apapa. Yet, the party has petitions awaiting adjudication before Tribunals. The factions also involved in a litany of litigation in states and the federal capital over the national leadership crisis and the choice of candidates for the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states.
Peoples Democracy Party
In PDP, the centre still cannot hold. The dog fight, which many chieftains of PDP and sympathizers said worked against the interest of the party at the elections, remains. Fresh reconciliatory moves initiated by the interim national leadership in Wadata House are still work in progress as the governorship elections in three states approach. Both the party and the camp of the G5, which bestrode two political divides at the presidential poll, are mutually suspicious of each other, months after the party resolved to pardon a number of leaders that erred PDP in the renewed spirit of name of conviviality and rapprochement. The party is almost in limbo in the South-West due to what its stakeholders have identified as the unbridled power struggle, ego, ambition of a few demagogues and self-acclaimed godfathers. For example, PDP chieftains in Ekiti fought themselves to a standstill before the elections and the party is yet to recover from the crisis. Trouble is brewing in Edo PDP as the state gears up for another primary preparatory to a governorship election in 2024. The leadership of the deputy National Chairman (North), Ambassador Umar Damagum, as the acting national chairman of the party, is beset with righting the wrongs of the past as soon as possible, even as PDP awaits the judgment of the Presidential Election Tribunal on the case filed by the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. The lack of compromise and inclusiveness, according to some of the party chieftains, is the bane of PDP in the zone. A former member of the Senate and member of PDP BoT, Dr Olu Alabi is among the leaders that find it gnawing at the predicament of the party that ruled the country for 16 unbroken years. He decried: “I cannot believe it’s 25 years already that we formed PDP at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja. It’s unfortunate that charlatans & political jobbers have occupied over 70% of the field and grabbed the party by the throat, having crisscrossed almost all political parties, looking for what they have not lost. When l consider the time l contested as the first PDP gubernatorial candidate in Osun State, fraud and money politics have destroyed both the leadership and fellowship of the party.”.
According to experts, the simmering crises in the major parties are due to lack of ideological roots for the parties, as they are only composed of many strange bedfellows who see the parties as either an extension of personal estate or mere vehicles to acquire power and assert their authority and control. Another school of thought is that certain individuals in concert with other godfathers deploy personal resources to undermine due process in the management of the parties. In the process, they create an atmosphere of confusion and discord that threaten the unity, stability and progress of the parties. Yet, others asserted that the incredible pecks office for elected public officers constitute the root cause of bitter struggle for positions. Those who are elected to pilot the affairs of the party also use their positions to harvest funds for themselves. In the opinion of a Professor Shola Omotola, of the Department of Political Science at the Federal University Oye Ekiti, the ongoing crises could tarnish the image of the parties, as it could lead to negative media coverage and portray them as lacking in discipline and leadership. He was quoted to have added that this could impact the parties’ ability to attract new members and supporters, and also focus on the various election petitions. He stated: “The leadership of the parties must be proactive in addressing the crisis. They must listen to the grievances of all parties involved and seek to find common ground. The party must promote internal democracy, where every member has an equal opportunity to contribute to the party’s growth and development. The parties need to promote democratic processes that promote fairness and transparency in the selection of candidates and party officials, avoiding the imposition of candidates or the use of violence. They need to enforce discipline within their ranks, promoting a culture of accountability and punishing members who act against the party’s interest.” Another major commentator, Rotimi Fashakin, insisted on the promotion of democratic principles within the party to address the ugly trend in the political circle. “The party must promote democratic processes, including free and fair primaries, to select candidates for elections. This will promote inclusivity and ensure that every member has a stake in the party’s success,” he stressed.
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