There is a growing discontent within the ranks of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the preference of the top hierarchy to adopt the consensus method to select candidates of the party ahead of the forthcoming general elections scheduled for early next year. Findings by Saturday Telegraph during the week showed that many members of the party across the country are not happy with the development, which many of them described as ‘undemocratic and restrictive.’
Those who spoke to our correspondent warned that the development, if left unchecked by relevant authorities within the party, is not only capable of derailing the re-election bid of President Bola Tinubu come 2027, but also likely to affect the fortunes of the APC across board.
Sources within the party told Saturday Telegraph on condition of anonymity that a series of events since the beginning of the year have all combined to cause apprehension in the APC, adding that the genesis of the simmering crisis dates back to February 18, when President Tinubu signed the new Electoral Act into law.
“The problem started when the President signed the new Electoral Act into law, when it was discovered that candidates of political parties must either emerge through consensus or direct primaries. The implication is that the third mode, which is through indirect primaries, has been removed from the Act.
“This has, however, provided an impetus to some elements within the APC hierarchy to seize the advantage to hijack the levers of authority to choose candidates for the party undemocratically across the country,” the source who pleaded not to be named, said. The same scenario seems to be playing out across the country as many gladiators are jostling for the control of the APC in their respective states in a manner that would put them in a vantage position to throw up their preferred candidates for the various elective offices.
“A lot of prominent gladiators are beginning to use the name or use their closeness to the corridors of power to ensure that their candidates emerge as consensus candidates in the party, and this is becoming dangerous because it is negatively rupturing unity and amity within the APC,” the source, who pleaded not to be named, said.
The source pointed to the recent South West meeting of the party, which took place in Lagos, where three names, Obafemi Hamzat, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), and Sarafadeen Alli, reportedly emerged as consensus candidates of the party in Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states, where the governorship polls are expected to hold next February.
Hardly had the euphoria that greeted the gale of endorsement died down than stakeholders in the affected states began to kick up with supporters of those who had been left in the cold, with the action coming out to endorse their candidates.
Ogun stakeholders endorse Ishola, back Tinubu’s second term bid
One of such aspirants is the country’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafadeen Ishola, whose supporters gathered at the Sir Kesington Adebutu Hall in Abeokuta, the state capital. Comprising over 21 support groups, they endorsed Ambassador Ishola to succeed incumbent Prince Dapo Abiodun as the next governor of the state, just as they backed the second term bid of President Tinubu.
Tagged Stakeholders Engagement, those present extolled the qualities of Ishola as the most qualified and most experienced to take Ogun State to greater heights as the next governor. Those in the know stated that the event was staged to counter the Adeola endorsement, which those close to the situation said was facilitated by a former governor of the state, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, and his counterpart from Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, who reportedly took his case to President Tinubu in Abuja prior to the Lagos meeting.
Apart from Ishola, whose supporters are piqued by the development, other stakeholders in the state’s chapter of the party who are not happy with the endorsement include two former governors of the state, Ibikunle Amosu and Gbenga Daniel, who many said are not too keen on Yayi for the governor train.
“Many of these former governors are unhappy with the process leading to the endorsement of the member representing Ogun West district because they were not carried along. From what I know, the news hit them like a thunderbolt,” a source within Ogun State APC said.
Muted anger in Oyo over Alli’s endorsement
So far, the endorsement of Senator Alli by the South West stakeholders has not generated much heat like what is happening in Ogun State gladiators, especially among those angling to succeed incumbent Seyi Makinde next year.
The endorsement of the member representing Oyo South District was reportedly facilitated by the Olubadan of Ibadan, HRM Oba Rashidi Ladoja, who utilised his closeness to the Presidency, particularly President Tinubu to get it done.
Initially considered as an outsider considering the momentum that the aspiration of the duo of the Minister for Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu and a former Majority Leader in the Senate, Senator Teslim Folarin, had gathered over the years, his endorsement caused some tremor in the Oyo State chapter of the party.
As at that time of filing this report, other aspirants within the party have not shown (at least publicly) their resentment to the move but they have however elected to step up their campaign efforts and lobbying. “The endorsement has not really changed things much, many of the governorship aspirants have been going about their business not minding the news; it has not changed anything since because the aspirants have been doing their things,” a member of the state executive committee who also pleaded not to be named, said.
Lagos governorship aspirants wary of incurring Tinubu’s wrath
The situation in Lagos seems peculiar as the endorsement of Hamzat, who is the incumbent deputy governor, has not generated much heat owing to the unique political atmosphere that has been created by the ruling tendency over the years. “Nobody is complaining here o!
If this is what the President wants, so be it. Don’t forget that he (President Tinubu) has always been the major determinant with regards to who gets what in the political scheme of things over the years,” a chieftain of the party told our correspondent in confidence.
Compared to other states, the scores of those being touted to be harbouring the desire to lead the state have not made their desire known through publicity in strategy areas because, “many of them have been studying and watching the body language of the president.
“Even, personalities such as former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the current Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, who are believed to be interested in becoming the governor, have not openly declared their bid not to talk of going about with publicising their intention.”
Gawuna’s rumoured defection to ADC
A former Kano State deputy governor and 2023 governorship candidate of the APC, Mallam Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, is said to be considering dumping the party to the Kwankwasiyya Movement and ultimately African Democratic Congress, ADC. Mr Gawuna’s plan to align with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to unseat Governor Abba Yusuf in 2027 is gaining currency in Kano.
While the move is causing a stir in the APC, the Kwankwasiyya camp is agog over the defection plan. His decision might not be unconnected with the fact that incumbent Engr. Kabir Yusuf, who has defected to the APC, might have secured an automatic ticket thus prompting him to consider a switch to the ADC.
Oyetola almost in total control of APC in Osun
If there is any state where stakeholders are grossly disenchanted with the party, it is Osun State, where the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, is being accused of totally taking over the party. The Minister, who is a close relative of President Tinubu, is said to be the major determining factor in the state’s chapter of the party as he is said to select those who get anything within the party, with many of his traducers accusing him of choosing candidates without recourse to the various tendencies within the party.
Those who accused the minister of taking major decisions within the party alone pointed to the emergence of the governorship candidate of the APC in August election, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji as a pointer. They also accused him and his caucus of having adopted a list of aspirants for primaries that are yet to be conducted.
A highly reliable source stated that a meeting took place in Saudi Arabia, disclosing that, out of the 26 State Assembly seats, 25 candidates were hand picked by Oyetola, while Oyebamiji submitted the one for his state constituency. Oyetola is also reported to have nominated the nine House of Representatives candidates and the three Senatorial candidates.
