The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Saturday, condemned what he termed “distractions” within the All Progressives Congress ahead of its March 26 national convention.
This is as he warned leaders and membership of the party to desist from name-calling and backstabbing while the focus should be on who emerges as the APC Presidential candidate.
“When precisely the party’s convention is held and who is the party’s chairman is hardly a matter for the average voter: vastly more important is who convention delegates will elect as the party’s flag bearer in the coming weeks to take forward the party’s platform to the people in the general election in February next year,” he said in a statement signed by his Spokesman, Garba Shehu, on Saturday.
Buhari’s message came on the heels of the widely reported power tussle between the Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and his Niger State counterpart, Abubakar Bello.
However, the President failed to address issues bedevilling the party in the last few days. For example, did the President truly ask Bello to take over the party from Buni?
Is E-Rufai correct that he, the President, had endorsed a party chair? Did he ask that a NEC meeting be held this week? These are the issues Nigerians expected the President to address, but failed to do so.
But in his message, the President who called for steadfastness in the party, asked its members to look at the once-powerful, ‘’main opposition Peoples Democratic Party now enfeebled and adrift and learn lessons in disunity, mismanagement and corruption.”
He warned, “They (the PDP) failed in 16 years in power and a failure as opposition. Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord. These are common in all parties, left and right all over the world.
“But parties splintered by competing egos destine themselves to the worst possible fate.
“As the country prepares for the long run-up to the 2023 presidential election, we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter and what is going on in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing. There must be no more distractions ahead of the convention to choose new leaders.”
The President recalled that the APC started out with a confidence of victory and the party today enjoys that confidence in nearly two-thirds of our 36 states.
He, however, noted that the party had been in existence for barely eight years, becoming the dominant party because it had thrown open its doors to defectors from other parties, big and small.
“We didn’t start on the note of arrogance of power, nor see government as a vehicle for self-aggrandizement, to be held at all costs, but a vehicle to bring development to all without discrimination-political, ethnic or regional to our dear country made this success possible.
“Given all that is at a stake, we can expect contests into offices as we are now faced with to be heated, although candidates and their promoters for party offices are not so much debating policy differences but differences of management, personality, character, and suitability for the most important leadership roles in our country and therefore the continent.”
He asserted that the APC is proud of the fact that in its short period of existence, it has won two general elections decisively and despite losing a few states in 2019, it steadfastly expanded its pan-Nigerian outlook with significant defections of the opposition governors and parliamentarians into its fold.
Citing the week-long media reportage on the internal crisis of the party which saw the emergence of an acting chairman, he said more focus must go to issues that concern the average voter and not about the daily running of the party.
The statement read, “The internal management affairs of the APC have been afforded generous media coverage–over and above its importance to the voters of Nigeria. It is important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of intense negative coverage.”
Buhari said when precisely the party’s convention was held and who emerged the party’s chairman was hardly a matter for the average voter.
“It is therefore important for the media to put such matters into perspective. No one is debating policy differences here. That is for the general election. None of the declared aspirants and any of those that may step forward will change because of who may be in the party in the chairman’s seat. It is essentially the same party.
“Of course, the media are welcome to comment on the content of the character of the potential APC candidates; discuss their suitability for leadership; scrutinise their offer to the membership.
“But to focus on the routine internal divisions and magnify them into what they have become today is a waste of everyone’s time, amounting to no more than a discussion over seating arrangements. This is not what Nigerians talk of in their communities. They have an inclination only for things that matter,” the President asserted.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that Buni will be returning from Dubai this week to conduct the national convention.
A top source close to the caretaker chairman said Buhari’s statement had made it clear that there was no leadership change in the party and things would go as planned.
“The President’s statement is clear. The fighting should stop and nothing must change the convention date. INEC has said it only recognises Buni and Senator John Akpanudoedehe who is the secretary. So, it is clear that they will be the ones to handle the convention,” an APC chieftain said.
We lost to APC’s lies, propaganda in 2015, says PDP
But the PDP in its response said it lost the 2015 elections to propaganda and lies sold to unsuspecting Nigerians by the APC.
It described the ruling party as harbinger of bad omen to the country, saying the lies told the nation during the electioneering had exposed the incapability of the APC to rule the nation.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, who spoke with one of our correspondents, noted that he expected the APC to be remorseful and beg Nigerians for forgiveness instead of bragging about the next elections.
He said, “The claim made by the President about the PDP is laughable. APC used lies and propaganda to clinch power and that is what the PDP lost to in 2015.
“APC is a special-purposeful vehicle used to bring Buhari to power. In doing that, the party also brought chaos, deaths, unemployment, sorrows and blood, fuel scarcity, hunger and other vices to the country.
“Imagine a country whose universities are shut due to lecturers’ strike, experiencing serious fuel scarcity and its President who is also the minister of petroleum jetting out to London to relax and take medication? It can only happen in an APC regime. That tells you how the party and its leaders love Nigeria and its people.”
We’ve not sacked our secretary, says ruling party
Meanwhile, the party on Saturday said the National Secretary of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Dr John Akpanudoedehe, was neither sacked nor did he resign from office.
This was a follow up from a press briefing held at the party’s national secretariat on Friday by the Spokesman of the CECPC, Ismaeel Ahmed.
A statement signed by the APC Director (Publicity), Salisu Dambatta, titled ‘Clarification on the position of the Secretary of the CECPC,’ news of Akpanudoedehe’s resignation or sack “is utterly false.”
The statement read, “Further to the Media Conference earlier held by the Spokesman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Ismaeel Ahmed, the Party wishes to note that the Secretary of the CECPC, Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe, never sent a resignation letter to the party to the best of its knowledge and neither was he sacked as some social media blogs speculated. All those are utterly false.
“The APC is one family, the Caretaker is one unit. We have an Acting Chairman who is racing against time to deliver a convention and committee members that are united in supporting him in carrying out that onerous mandate.
“So please, disregard social media stories that are not rooted in fact or even sound reasoning.”
On Tuesday, the Secretary denied reports of his resignation.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday, Akpanudoedehe said he could only resign when mandated by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
He said “I have read on social media that I have resigned as Secretary of the APC. I want to state that it is not true; I didn’t resign. If I had resigned, you would have seen my letter of resignation written by me. Someone cannot just say somebody is dead when he is alive.
“I am not bigger than the party, or bigger than the president who is the leader of the party. I am waiting for the national chairman to come back.
“If we have a directive from the president that we should resign, we are not bigger than the president; we will do so if we hear from him. I am stating here that the breaking news is not from me. I don’t know who announced it.”
Asked about his relationship status with the acting chairman, the secretary said, “Our relationship is very cordial.”
On reports that he had moved his victuals out of the party premises, he said “I don’t have any load. I come here and I leave. I have never changed my furniture. The photograph is official. I have not packed anything. I have not received any letter.
“Someone cannot say, ‘the president said.’ I have not received any letter from anywhere. As I said, nobody is bigger than the party. The question is: have I resigned? The answer is no. I am the national secretary of the party.”
I can’t abandon Buni now, says Orji Kalu
In a related development, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Orji Kalu, has absolved himself from efforts aimed at undermining the March 26 national convention of the APC.
Kalu, in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja, also said he would never abandon the party’s embattled chairman.
Recall that a former Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman, had accused Kalu and some other leaders of the party of working to undermine the March 26 national convention of the party.
But Kalu denied the allegation, saying, “There has been no time I participated in any collaboration or collusion to ensure that attempts to organise the APC national convention are blocked.’’
Kalu recalled that on December 15, 2021, he appealed to the party and CECPC members to consider postponing the national convention earlier slated for February.
“I was worried that the creation of factions which denied the party victory in so many states in the past elections may repeat itself.
“I, therefore, called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis before holding the convention. No peaceful and tactful leader would support a terrible scenario to reoccur.
“It is important to note that I have always stood for and supported the party and Gov. Mai Mala Buni only happened to be the chairman of the party.
“Aside from serving as the chairman of the party, Buni is my old family friend and I cannot deny him because he is facing challenges today. We have been friends for the past 25 years.”
A chieftain of the party, Alhaji Garba Muhammed, has also asked those planning the removal of Buni from office to perish the thought.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria that the party’s leadership remained intact contrary to reports in a section of the media.
Muhammed enjoined party members and the general public to disregard reports making the rounds that President Buhari had ordered Buni to resign his position.
“It is just name-dropping and should not be regarded. Gov. Buni remains the acting Chairman, APC CECPC until after the party’s National Convention slated for March 26 to elect new national executives for the party. I know the president; he is a democrat, a man of honesty, integrity and fairness and that is why we voted him into power. He will never do such a thing without following due process,’’ Muhammed said.