Tortuous road to APC convention

The tone for the decision was set penultimate Friday when the planned separate meetings of the party’s National Caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) scheduled for April 24 and 25, 2017 respectively were postponed due to what the party called “unexpected developments.”

This was said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi.

The key issues surrounding the postponement of the mid-term convention for which new date is expected to be announced at the next meeting between Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led APC National Working Committee (NWC) and the party’s 24 governors were long foretold because of the apparent challenges bedeviling the ruling party.

Before the convention was postponed, the NWC had held series of meetings with various caucuses of the party. The party leaders had held separate meetings with Senate President Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. A similar meeting scheduled with the ministers was also postponed.

Various reconciliation committees were also constituted ahead of the convention. For Kogi State chapter of the party, Chief Tony Momoh was chosen to lead the team to unite the various warring groups. In Bauchi, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, was nominated to head the committee to ensure reconciliation of the party members.

Anger from NEC members and state party chairmen

On two occasions, a forum of APC NEC members sought the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari in the crisis rocking the ruling party.

The forum of non-National Working Committee (NWC) but NEC members in a letter dated April 24, 2017, which was also addressed to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, asked them to save the party.

The letter signed by Hon. Omolayo Akintola reminded the president of the need to react to the first letter which called on him to save the ruling party from “avoidable and unnecessary intra-party cracks”.

In the first letter, they voiced concern over several letters written to the APC National Chairman, Chief Odigie – Oyegun “without any positive reactions”.

The letter also stressed the need for the party’s national leadership to convene the NEC meeting in line with provisions of the APC constitution.

The letter titled, “Save our party-APC” was also signed by a National Ex-Officio, Mr Akintola.

The letter underscored the need for the party leadership to also obey its constitution to ensure the resolution of matters “affecting party amicably” and expressed displeasure “with the ways of handling party matters solely by the NWC only without any recourse to the NEC from which NWC derived her powers.”

The non-NWC members was said to have reached a deal with the state APC chairmen on the possibility of passing a vote of no confidence on Chief Odigie-Oyegun during the forthcoming NEC meeting.

Ahead of the postponed NEC meeting, the Chief Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC met with the state APC chairmen on Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

The APC national publicity secretary, who spoke on the outcome of the meeting with the state party chairmen, said the issues on the forthcoming state congresses, the membership registration, the paucity of funds and the protest over reward system for loyal members were critically dissected.

“The chairmen raised the issue of reward for party members. They expressed concern that the party members have not been adequately rewarded,” said Abdullahi.

On the complaints of the state party chairmen over the reward system, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said the APC was trying to move away from the use of public resources as a source of settling party loyalists by setting the best standard of integrity.

It would be recalled a similar meeting had earlier been held with the protesting non-NWC but NEC members, where the party’s national chairman was said to have sought their support and understanding.

Fear of elective convention

When the governors and the NWC initially fixed April 29, 2017 for the mid-term convention, the convention was described as “non-elective” because of what pundits see as the fear of the unknown by the NWC members. Some NWC members are said to be afraid of being replaced at the forthcoming convention because of “alleged disloyalty” to their state governors. The anxiety increased over media reports that Chief Odigie-Oyegun may be replaced at the convention by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor of Edo State, having been purportedly told by President Buhari that his service was needed at the federal level.

Why the convention was postponed

Daily Trust on Saturday learnt that paucity of funds was a key factor that also led to the postponement of the convention. This concern was confirmed by Governor El-Rufai after the second meeting of the APC governors with the NWC at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

Governor El-Rufai, who was mandated to brief journalists on the outcome of the meeting, said the party had to raise money for the convention through the same people who donated during the campaign and the resources of some members.

He said the joint meeting between the NWC and the governors had resolved to look at the arrangements for the mid-term convention and put in place the resources necessary as required by the constitution of the party at its next meeting.

Asked to comment on the delay in the conduct of the convention, he said, “Regarding the convention, yes, we have wanted to have the convention earlier than now. But we are not a party that uses public resources for its operations. The APC is funded by private donors and the contributions of its members. We do not use treasury money to fund the operations of the party. That is why our party, even though the governing, has logistic constraints. We are not stealing from the treasury to fund our party. That is the difference between Buhari’s creed and governance strategy from the other party.

“So, it is taking us a long time to raise money because we have to go back to the same people who donated to us during the campaign and the resources of some members of the party to fund the convention. I will not be able to put this money together. But we are working on it. By God’s grace and in accordance to the party’s constitution, we are going to have our mid-term convention as soon as possible.

“By the time we come to next month meeting, we will be able to announce to you a date and a timeline for that convention. I do not think that is a problem.

“The fact I think Nigerians should appreciate is that this is one party that is not diverting public resources to fund its operations but relies on party members, appointees of the party as well as sympathizers of the party to fund its operations,” he said.

However, pundits are carefully watching the political development in the APC even as they have kept asking how possible it is to have a virile democracy when the ruling party could not put its house in order after a much trumpeted fight to oust an equally troubled party, the PDP.

This report first appeared in Daily Trust