Political parties are increasingly finding it hard to keep their rank and file united ahead of the forthcoming 2027 general elections, as their (the parties’) preference for a consensus mode to pick candidates for various offices is causing disquiet and unease. According to findings by the Saturday Telegraph, the situation is almost the same within the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the various opposition parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Though the leadership of the parties has been grappling with the situation by trying hard to manage the eͿect it (consensus primaries) is having on their parties, findings by our correspondent have shown that if the disquiet is not nipped in the bud, it will hamper the performances of the parties in the general elections.
The APC
Those in the know within the ruling party told our correspondent that four critical actions of President Bola Tinubu in the last few months have combined to cause some forms of misgivings among current office holders over the decision to subject their re-election bids to the whims and caprices of the party.
Prominent members of the APC identified the four actions to include the enactment of a new Electoral Law that stipulates that the selection of candidates must primarily be through consensus after the leadership of the APC in any constituency opts for any of the aspirants jostling for any of the elective offices.
Alternatively, should any of the aspirants express misgivings at the end of the exercise, the party would then make recourse to direct primaries, where all the members of the party and any other parties would be given the opportunity to choose their candidates.
President Tinubu signed the Act into law in February this year, limiting the mode for selection to either consensus or direct primaries, thus removing the possibility of doing the same through the popular indirect mode, where delegates of the parties would be charged with such responsibilities.
The second action stems from the fact that APC has opted to vest the leadership of the party in the governors in the various states, and where the party is not in control, some prominent leaders will fill the void to pick their preferred candidates.
Sources within the APC stated that the apprehension within the party was further heightened by the meeting the president had on Wednesday with the senators on the party’s platform that they would not be given the right of first refusal if they decide to seek re-election into the red chamber.
Led by their President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the lawmakers met with President Tinubu at the State House shortly after they adjourned plenary for the day, to intimate him of their desire to be accorded automatic tickets, which was turned down by the President, who simply told them to seek the support of their respective state governors, whom he said are the leaders of the party in their states.
“The President did not mince words when he told them point blank that there was nothing he could do to impose them on their constituencies as he lacked the capacity to do so. He told them to approach their governors if they seek to return,” one highly placed APC member told our correspondent.
The last indicator that caused some form of un-ease within the party was the move by the President during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos on March 24 to endorse the trio of Obafemi Hamzat, Sarafadeen Alli, and Olamilekan Adeola Solomon as candidates of the party for Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun states, respectively.
The dust raised by the development is still being felt in the aͿected states as at the time of writing this report as other aspiring members are still up in arms with the party, thus causing a form of rebuttal from the party that eventually beat a retreat by saying the contest would be thrown open.
However, the Lagos State chapter of the party, through its Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, denied that such endorsement had taken place, and that all aspirants would be given equal opportunity to contest the ticket.
“I can tell you for free that the news jolted the membership of the party to its very foundation because it threw open the old dichotomy in the party as many of the members soon found their ways back to caucus groupings, and this caused some panic in the leadership who sensed that it would further divide the party,” a source who pleaded not to be named said.
The same scenario occurred in Oyo State as Senator Alli’s endorsement is not receiving the necessary vibes within the state chapter for several reasons, hence the recourse of the party to widen the space for other aspirants to play. The same scenario is playing out in virtually all the regions of the country where attempts to adopt a consensus are not receiving the positive vibes, thus prompting the party to postpone its presidential and governorship primaries slightly forward to allow tempers to cool down.
A governorship aspirant in Ogun State, who stated that he is currently hurting over the move to endorse Solomon, popularly known as Yayi, hinted that he and others might be prompted to ventilate their aspirations elsewhere.
“For me, this consensus arrangement seems undemocratic and lack transparency because some people would just sit down somewhere and decide the fate of members without any form of set criteria for coming up with such decision. I suspect this might lead to implosion in our party if left improperly managed,” the governorship aspirant, who pleaded not to be named, said.
Atiku’s likely emergence causing ripples in ADC
The situation is almost the same in the opposition African Democracy Congress (ADC) as a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, is poised to emerge as the presidential candidate of the party, with other stakeholders raising dust. According to party in-siders, it is almost a certainty for Atiku to pick the consensus ticket going by the present arrangement, where he is being endorsed across the state chapters of the ADC.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will pick the ticket of the party as the current structure of the par-ty is skewed in his favour, not minding what other presidential hopefuls think about it,” an associate of the former number two man told our correspondent on condition of anonymity yesterday.
According to the source, “The Waziri has virtually all the state chairmen of the party in his kitty, and I can tell you that they have elected to go with him when the chips are down and no one else.”
This sense of fait accompli has, however, caused other presidential hopefuls to raise highbrow, but the final straw that is threatening the cohesion within the once formidable opposition was the recent interview granted a popular television station, where he (Al-haji Atiku) tried to project himself as the best for the ticket. In the now viral interview posted on the internet, Alhaji Atiku, who is the Waziri of Adamawa, downplayed the political accomplishments of his opponents in the party, a situation that drew the ire of the likes of Engr.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Mr. Peter Obi, whose spokes-men promptly responded to the former vice president’s verbal darts. Prior to the incident, Obi and Kwankwaso had formed a formidable bloc within the party, with the former Anambra governor being propped up as the senior partner in a likely ticket to challenge the APC and President Tinubu next year.
A chieftain of the ADC stated that the development might lead to the par-ty losing the momentum it initially gathered should the Adamawa State born former vice president continue to insist on flying the party’s ticket next year.
