Ex-PDP Governors face first hurdle in APC

Ex-PDP Governors

In this piece, JOHN ALECHENU explores the likely challenge of sharing party offices based on the new  political understanding between aggrieved members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress

Like most marriages, the union of aggrieved members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress, is bound to come with its intended as well as unintended consequences.

Five out of seven aggrieved governors of the PDP, who joined the APC on Tuesday, will definitely seek to remain politically relevant whether or not they will be seeking for political office in 2015.

While the new entrants will be seeking for concessions to take care of their political interests, members of the legacy political parties namely: the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Congress, the Action Congress of Nigeria will definitely not be interested in playing second fiddle under the new arrangement.

Herein lies the challenge for leaders of the party at all levels. Signs that this challenge will be a daunting one began to unravel barely 24 hours after the historic announcement.

The Publicity Secretary of the  New PDP, Mr. Chukwemeka Eze, had in an interview explained that what 

transpired at the Kano Governor’s Lodge, Abuja on Tuesday, was the beginning of a process, because a Memorandum of Understanding which would detail who gets what, had yet to be signed.

He said, “One thing people seem not to understand about our understanding with the APC is that we have entered into an agreement with them, but we have not signed an MOU, where we will now detail what is due to us and what is due to them.

“This understanding has not been signed and that will be done by next week. We have gone very far while we are still sorting out other details.”

Although, he later withdrew the statement citing a clarification made by the Chairman of the defecting  New PDP, Kawu Baraje, the point was not lost on politicians who are conversant with the inner workings of political parties in alliance or outright merger.

The situation was also made clearer by the spokesperson of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, who denied suggestions that the issue of sharing of offices was on the table. He said “I can categorically tell you it is not true. I have spoken to all concerned and they denied it.” Mohammed equally denounced such speculations as an attempt by some people to use the media for mischief.

Political observers are of the view that much as those involved in this political understanding may want to deny it, not everybody appears comfortable with what may likely be the easy way out of a highly combustible situation.

Some of the serving aggrieved PDP governors, namely: Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), who are poised to take over the party structures in their states, have their predecessors and arch rivals already entrenched in the APC.

The leadership of the APC in search of political mileage in all the affected states is likely more favourably disposed to handing over the party structure to sitting governors. The problem is that they are considered new entrants by their entrenched rivals.

It is also expected that these governors may have a greater say in the sharing of executive positions within the party. The situation is even more pronounced in Kano and Sokoto states. In Kano State, for example, the incumbent governor, Kwankwaso will have to contend with one of the founding fathers of the merger of opposition political parties in the state, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, and his supporters who are former members of the ANPP.

Shekarau, who was the Permanent Secretary in the Kano State Civil Service, was demoted to a classroom teacher by  Kwankwaso during the latter’s first term as governor; he emerged as the ANPP candidate when he resigned from service only to defeat his former boss and emerge as governor in 2003.

The same Shekarau defeated another candidate, who enjoyed Kwankwaso’s full backing in 2007, to win a historic second term. On his return as governor in 2011, most of Kwankwaso’s policies have been criticized by Shekarau’s supporters as targeted at rubbishing whatever legacies their benefactor left behind.

Now, they are likely to be forced to work together. Director of Press and Public Relations to the Kano State governor, Baba Dantiye said, “His Excellency is ready to work with anybody.”

Spokesman for Shekarau, Malam Sule Ya’u Sule, insisted that his boss did not habour any ill-feelings towards his predecessor, who later became his successor. Sule said, “His Excellency, the former Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Sheharau welcomes everyone into the APC family, politics is about people.

“The only thing is that, no member of the party should be treated like a second class citizen. There should be justice and fairness to all.”

Unknown to many, however, long before now, Kwankwaso had made peace with a faction of the ANPP loyal to General Muhammadu Buhari as well as leading figures in the Congress for Progressive Change.

With benefit of hindsight, Kwankwaso knew that his loyalty to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo against the popular feelings among the people of Kano was partly responsible for his defeat in 2003.

Unlike in 2003 when even after his electoral defeat, he was rewarded with the plum portfolio of Minister of Defence; such prospects do not exist this time around. It was gathered that soon after the 2011 elections; President Goodluck Jonathan distanced himself from Kwankwaso and his colleagues, especially those from the North-West.

Having gauged the mood among the voting public which is currently not favourably disposed to a Jonathan Presidency in 2015, he did his political arithmetic and came to the conclusion that it would best serve his political interest to win Kano and allow the centre sort itself out.

To do this, he needs a platform which will distance him from the President, who is poised to clinch the PDP Presidential ticket. Some of Kwankwaso’s political appointments also speak volumes about how far he is ready to go to accommodate some of his erstwhile opponents.

In the interim, only known close associates of Buhari have been top on the shopping list. For example, Mr. Sule Hamman, a die-hard Buhari loyalist, was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the State owned North-West University. 

This is a demonstration of improved relations between the governor and the retired general and three-time opposition Presidential candidate. The same cannot be said about his relations with Shekarau and his loyalists. A similar scenario exists in Sokoto State; where there seems to be no love lost between Aliyu Wamakko and his former boss, Mr. Attahiru Bafarawa. Wamakko, who was served as Bafarawa’s deputy governor, has had a running battle with his former boss over the control of the structure of the now defunct ANPP.

The battle was so intense that Bafarawa was forced to leave the ANPP to join the Democratic Peoples Party, where he fielded a candidate who lost to Wammakko. 

Where the national headquarters of the APC stands on the issue of who it would prefer to do business with can perhaps, be best explained by the decision of the party leadership to go wooing the sitting governors leaving out their predecessors who played key roles in the merger that led to the formation of the APC.

Although, another delegation of leaders later visited Shekarau and Bafarawa to apologise for the “oversight,” both men and their supporters got the message.

For now, the APC is preparing for its membership registration exercise and will soon be holding a national convention where it is expected to formally elect members of the executive.

The top echelon of the Interim Management Committee of the APC as is currently constituted is spread amongst members of the legacy political parties.

For instance, the Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande and National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, are members of the defunct ACN.

Other slots given to the ACN are: National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Treasurer, National Publicity Secretary, Deputy National Youth Leader, two vice chairmanship seats and two ex-officio members.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari, and a former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, both of the Congress for Progressive Change are serving as Deputy National Chairman and Deputy National Secretary respectively.

The National Secretary of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Tijjani Tumsah, emerged as the national secretary.

Apart from producing the national secretary, ANPP also produced the National Financial Secretary, Deputy National Organising Secretary, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, two vice chairmen and two ex-officio officers.

The positions of National Organising Secretary; Deputy National Chairman, South; Deputy National Financial Secretary, Deputy National Women Leader; one vice chairman and one-ex-officio were given to All Progressives Grand Alliance, while the Democratic Peoples Party  will produce the position of national auditor.

Altering these and other positions in order to accommodate the interests of the five new heavyweights, may prove to be the greatest challenge of this new political understanding.