Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown: APC leadership crisis
Joel Oladele, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC), which came into existence on the 6th of February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria’s three largest opposition parties, is no doubt currently the largest political party in Nigeria and by extension, Africa.
Managing such a large party definitely must come with some challenges even for those who believe they have strong leadership skills as the most seasoned managers can face challenges and setbacks that can test their leadership skills.
A living proof of the saying “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” is the recent crises that brewed in the camp of APC following the announcement of officers to fill vacant positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
The National Secretariat of the party, Sen. Ajibola Basiru who announced the appointment on Wednesday August 23, noted that it was done in line with the directive given by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party on August 3, 2023.
As soon as the announcement was made, the party which has been relatively peaceful for the past couple of weeks after the emergence of its new chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje was rocked with protests as some stakeholders kicked against the decision of the NWC to announce some of the officers.
Prominent amongst such aggrieved stakeholders are the Governors of Kogi and Cross Rivers States, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and Bassey Otu, respectively. Others include some party loyalists from Abia State.
Yahyah Bello, the Oliver Twist versus James Faleke
The protest staged by Yahyah Bello cannot be far from the lingering rivalry between him and the running mate to late Abubakar Audu in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi state and the current House of Representatives member representing Ikeja Federal Constituency, James Faleke.
The Governor who came with a heavy security together with his aides, the newly inaugurated Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu and other party stalwarts in the state stormed the party secretariat to prevent the party from swearing in the officers earlier announced.
Bello was not pleased with Ganduje for giving the slot of Deputy National Publicity Secretary to James Faleke’s loyalist, Duro Meseko as against his preferred candidate Yahaya Ade Ismail.
Recall that the position of the Deputy National Public Secretary of the party has been left vacant since the current Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka dumped APC having fell out with Yahaya Bello following the outcome of the party’s governorship primary election held on the 14 April, 2023.
Further fundings by Nigerian NewsDirect revealed that President Bola Tinubu was not pleased with Governor Yahaya Bello for protesting against the NWC’s decision and he insisted there was no going back on the choice of officers earlier announced.
It was also gathered that Tinubu gave the slot to Faleke’s loyalist as a form of compensation as this is the first time since he came on board that he (Faleke) would be allowed to present a candidate.
James Faleke who also bought APC governorship form was asked by the President to step down for the candidate of Yahaya Bello, Ahmed Ododo from the same senatorial district with the governor.
Also, when it was time to present a candidate for ministerial slot, the governor was also given a free hand to present Shuaibu Audu in spite of the age long relationship between Faleke and Tinubu.
Although Yahaya Bello played a key role in winning the State for APC during the last Presidential election, analysts are of the opinion that he needs to tread with caution in order not to fall out of President Tinubu’s good book with his Oliver Twist’s attitude.
Ganduje having learnt of the presence of Bello at the party’s secretariat on Thursday refused to show up throughout the day and in his usual dogged spirit, Bello took the battle to his doorstep by going to his house to express his grievances later in the day.
It was also gathered that besides Duro Meseko, the Kogi state governor was also not pleased with the announcement of another candidate from Kogi State, Ikani Shuaibu Okolo, as Zonal Organising Secretary.
In a petition by the Chairman, Kogi State chapter of APC Abdullahi Bello to Ganduje, he stated that “The State Chapter ratified Hon. Yahaya Ade Ismail as the new Deputy National Publicity Secretary and Hon. Isiaka Musa as the Zonal Organising Secretary for North Central.
“And in line with the provisions of our constitution, the ratified replacements to the National Working Committee were through the North Central Zonal Chairman of the Party.
“To our dismay, the National Working Committee came up with strange names that didn’t pass through the State Chapter nor the North Central Zone of the party and purportedly went ahead to ratify them, citing “Presidency interest” as the rationale for their action.
“We strongly reject the action, as we will not be parties to the blatant and flagrant violation of our party’s constitution.
“Our belief in Mr President as a man who respects the Constitution of our party and a man who believes in due process is unshaken in the face of the current confusion foisted on the party by people dropping the name of the President to achieve their selfish aims.”
According to the Kogi APC Chairman, the President didn’t know about the appointment but in the real sense of it, he approved it and that was why he ordered that the inauguration must be held regardless of those who are not in support of the decision
Fact-checkings revealed that the President feels justified by the choice of those candidates in the spirit of fairness and equity.
Bassey Otu versus Oshiomole
Also, the new Governor of Cross Rivers State who Nigerian NewsDirect reliably gathered was out of the country when Yahaya Bello protest was ongoing was in support of the move as he also felt sidelined by the decision of the party to give the position of National Woman Leader to Dr. Mary Alile Idele from Edo State.
Otu was of the opinion that the seat of National Woman Leader should be retained in his State after the appointment of Dr Beta Edu from Cross Rivers State as one of the Ministers in Tinubu’s Cabinet.
Speaking during a protest to the APC National Secretariat, the leader of the protesters from the Cross Rivers State chapter of APC, Bukkie Okaigbe, said it’s unfair for the party to have given the slot to Edo State at the expense of Cross Rivers State.
“The reason we are protesting here today is very clear. It is about the position of national women’s leader that Betta Edu left, and by the grace of God, she is now the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.
“According to the party constitution, we are supposed to continue with the slot because it is an elective post. Right now, we don’t know what is happening at the party.
“Feelers have it that they have chosen somebody else from another state to replace our nominee. So, we are here to pass on the message that our people from Cross River cannot be intimidated.
“As you know, Cross River is arguably the only APC state in the South-South and one of the states that delivered Asiwaju.
“We are therefore pleading with the party to do the right thing. If they have to replace anybody, it has to be from Cross River.
“As we speak, there are so many women who are on their way to Abuja to continue the protest. So, we don’t want anything to come between the Renewed Hope government and Cross River,” Okaigbe lamented.
While some believe that Ganduje bowed to pressure from the former National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole by giving the slot to Edo State, other people said the party is justified considering the fact that the Cross Rivers already got two ministerial slots, Senator John Enoh, the Minister of Sports Development and Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Edo State however got one, Abubakar Momoh, the Minister for Niger Delta Development. Giving them another representative is logical not just to please the former Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomole but as a compensation for the State which is warming up for its governorship election next year and the party needs to strategise to wrestle power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State.
Tinubu and Ganduje’s intervention
It was gathered that President Tinubu called for a meeting of the aggrieved parties and the NWC and it was later resolved that there is no going back on the party’s stand earlier announced.
Around 8:00pm on Friday, Ganduje swore in the new officers and delivered a mind blowing speech which was enough to pacify every stakeholder as he announced that the party will compensate other candidates nominated by Governors Yahaya Bello and Bassey Otu and the one from Abia State.
“There is no doubt that history is being made today. Recall that during the last NEC meeting, the national working committee of our great party was mandated to carry out some functions on behalf of NEC and the national convention.
“Today, we have succeeded after adequate consultation with stakeholders, with some governors, with all those who matter in order to deepen and widen internal democracy in our party. We know there are some aggrieved people but they are very important, we have discussed with them and I will make a statement later on them.
“To the newly swore-in members, we congratulate you. We are very happy that the house is complete and we advise you to abide by the new reforms that we have put in place in the management of our party.
“First of all, we have taken a decision, every Wednesday we conduct our weekly NWC meeting of our great party because it is very important, our party is a great institution of our government.
“Also, we have already made a resolution that our party as an institution will be active throughout the year beyond, during election period. Our party will have functional offices right from the wards, local governments, the state, zonal and national offices as you can see. I believe you will be able to abide by these.
“Very soon, we will launch campaign councils for our states that are going into elections. These are the states of Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi. Instead of inaugurating the councils in Abuja, we have decided to do so in the respective states and from there on we will be able to have contact with stakeholders with various levels of the leadership of our party. So that members of the public will know we have gone back to the grassroots.
“As far as the leadership of the party is concerned, what we have done today is in agreement with the philosophy of our party, of the national conference. All of you are competent and you are nominated and elected with the support of all the relevant stakeholders of the party. So, we congratulate you. Members of the public, we thank you for coming. We thank you for showing solidarity and being happy with what is happening today.
“As I earlier mentioned, there is no doubt that there are some people who are also competent but you can only fill one person in one place at a time.
“From Kogi state, we have Ismail Ade Yahaya, we have taken note and he will be engaged one way or the other. We have Ekani Shaibu from Kogi state, he too will be engaged appropriately within our government. Mrs Obinna from Abia will be accommodated. Hon Dr Stella Ekpo from Cross River, she and two others according to our dialogue will be accommodated in our government.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have achieved complete dialogue and deepen and widen dialogue in our party. This has become our culture as a party. We are not dictators. We have to dialogue and discuss. This does not mean everyone must agree, but even those who don’t agree we take steps even to the extent of ensuring that we make sure their views are accommodated,” Ganduje noted.
No doubt, human management is an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and adaptation to changing circumstances. It requires a leader to be proactive, flexible, and open to feedback, criticism, and learning.
It is a continuous journey that requires a lot of patience, persistence, and effort. It is crucial for leaders to constantly evaluate their skills and continually work on improving them in order to lead their teams to success. This, President Tinubu and the APC National Chairman have demonstrated in this scenario. Indeed, “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”
