Chief John Odigie Oyegun, former National
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) must be having a good laugh
wherever he is. If he is just finishing a meal, he can afford to pick his teeth
and belch from the deepest part of his biological system, and even turn up his
nose as he asks for a glass of water. He can also look around and thank Karma
for being kind to him, as he gulps down the water and reflects on the
circumstances of the APC since he was shunted aside and Adams Oshiomhole,
former Governor of Edo State and former labour leader, supplanted him.
Oyegun’s
waterloo was the election in Ondo
State and the emergence
of Rotimi Akeredolu as Governor, and before then, his power-tussle with some
key stakeholders in the South West wing of the ruling party. Oyegun was accused
of being disdainful of reconciliation within the party, and not willing to work
with some prominent stakeholders. He was seen as an obstacle to party cohesion.
He was sacrificed. His place was taken by Adams Oshiomhole.
Oyegun took his humiliation with absolute equanimity and has not since then uttered any fighting words nor has he openly worn his hurt on his sleeves. If he is aggrieved, it would be difficult to find enough evidence, in this season of extreme emotionalism, to prove that such is the case. But if he has been so studiously silent, why we do we think he should laugh and pick his teeth?
Oyegun took his humiliation with absolute equanimity and has not since then uttered any fighting words nor has he openly worn his hurt on his sleeves. If he is aggrieved, it would be difficult to find enough evidence, in this season of extreme emotionalism, to prove that such is the case. But if he has been so studiously silent, why we do we think he should laugh and pick his teeth?
Our answer is as follows. His successor, Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, in less than
one year of supplanting him has blown nearly all the bridges of goodwill and
conspiracy that brought him to power as Chairman of the ruling party. In
October 2017, 17 APC governors plotted to remove John Odigie-Oyegun as Chairman
of the ruling APC. He was accused of being too close to only 7 out of the 24
APC governors in the country then and that he was using his position to the
advantage of the purportedly famous 7. These seven Governors were named as
Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna ), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano ), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Rochas Okorocha (Imo),
Simon Lalong (Plateau), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), and Samuel Ortom (Benue ). They were called Oyegun’s “anointed Governors”
with whom he was ruling the party. The loyalists of John Odigie-Oyegun at the
time insisted that Adams Oshiomhole who had left the Governorship of Edo State
and was looking for a job – so they alleged – was the man behind the
anti-Oyegun plot. The detractors took their case to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Oyegun soon lost his job. Oshiomhole replaced him.
But
right now, in what looks like poetic justice, Oshiomhole is at the point where
Oyegun was in 2017, and I dare say, he is in a worse position. We are told that
15 out of the 21 Governors of the APC, are now collecting signatures to force
the National Executive Committee of the APC to unseat Adams Oshiomhole. In
2017, 17 APC Governors out of 24 wanted Oyegun out. Today, it is not just even
15 Governors that are against Adams Oshiomhole, there is a coalition of APC
Presidential aspirants and you can add to that, other aspirants at every level
in the recently concluded APC primaries, who are calling for Adams Oshiomhole’s
head.
They
accuse him of extortion and fraud. They say he has become “a cancer to APC”.
Since his assumption of office, Adams Oshiomhole began to carry on like a
“little Hitler”- that is what his own party members say behind him – and don’t
ask anyone to come forward to say so publicly. Oshiomhole having won the crown
of Chairmanship began to pound the floor like a conqueror. He issued threats to
Ministers and threatened to sanction them if they did not listen to the party.
He in fact began to sound as if he was President of the country. At more
illumined moments, he even tried to do the job of the Minister of Information,
party spokesperson and presidential spokespersons. He projected himself as a
bundle of exaggerated enthusiasm and ambition.
The
recent party primaries exposed the limits of Chairman Oshiomhole’s
over-reaching politics. The Governors that were against Oyegun were 17. The
ones that were for him were 7 as reported. In less than one year of taking
over, Oshiomhole is far less popular. Under his watch, all the alleged
pro-Oyegun Governors are biting their fingers. They have been battered,
crippled, harassed and humiliated. Nasir el-Rufai almost had a heart-ache
trying to prove his relevance in Kaduna
politics.
The
same with Rochas Okorocha of Imo. In Plateau, Simon Lalong began to sound
openly like a member of the opposition. Samuel Ortom of Benue
chose the option of defection back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Yahaya Bello (Kogi) is neither here nor there. He follows wherever the Buhari
tide flows. But the real issue is that even the Governors that used to be
anti-Oyegun and pro-Oshiomhole have turned against Oshiomhole. They don’t want
him anymore. In the same manner in which a majority rose against Oyegun in
2017, they have risen against him. This time, the problem is not coming from
just Governors, but members of the National Assembly, and all the way down to
the grassroots.
Evidentially,
the APC, with Chairman Oshiomhole’s NWC in charge, conducted problematic
primaries in states like Edo, Ogun, Delta, Rivers, Imo, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kano,
Oyo… with negative results. Oshiomhole deployed the powers of the National
Working Committee and his influence as Chairman, but he alienated the party’s
power base. For this reason, the state Governors and other critical
stakeholders are up in arms.
In
Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun does not understand why some Godfathers in Lagos and Oyo state will
be allowed to have their way and he would not be allowed to have a say in the
choice of his own successor. In Zamfara, the Governor even threatened to take
the law into his hands if his importance was ignored. In Kaduna ,
Governor el-Rufai’s arch-rival, Senator Shehu Sani is on his way out of the
APC, into another party, and that has split the party in Kaduna state. In Lagos State ,
the party’s incumbent Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has been left in limbo,
dangling between survival, a lost bid for a second term, and the threat of
impeachment around his neck.
On
October 21, Oshiomhole, through his aide, issued a statement saying that the
reason there is a rebellion against him is because he has been a champion of
party supremacy and internal democracy within the APC. Nobody believes that
wordy, rambling statement. What is clear is that the party primaries conducted
by the APC under Oshiomhole’s watch have been far from transparent. They have
been divisive and disruptive. The state of the APC right now, as I have argued
elsewhere, is where the PDP was in 2015. Too many APC aspirants feel that they
have been marginalized and excluded because Oshiomhole working with other
actors, has hijacked the party.
His
argument that he is being persecuted because he is insisting on party supremacy
is unimpressive. The APC party primaries were riddled with double standards and
a descent into fascism by a man once known as a comrade. Oshiomhole may have
committed the error of too much identification with the master. He talks about
party supremacy. Those who use that phrase should be diplomatically reminded to
double-check the source and quality of their knowledge.
They
like to quote the United Kingdom ,
but not even in the UK
is the party absolutely supreme – people hold on to their right to differ and
be independent. Nobody votes in the House of Commons or the House of Lords like
a robot. That is why Prime Minister Theresa May doesn’t have the absolute
support of either her cabinet or the parliament on the question of Brexit. In
the United Sates, the jurisdiction that we model our democracy after, nobody is
a zombie under the banner of party supremacy. That explains the prolonged
debate over the suitability of Brett Kavanaugh as a nominee for the US Supreme
Court bench, despite the 51-49 majority in favour of Republicans. In Nigeria , the
party Chairman expects party members at all levels to be zombies who take
directives from the party. Adams Oshiomhole has not been defending party
supremacy. He has been defending the supremacy of Adams Oshiomhole, and that is
why he may lose his position as Chairman of the party.
Two
things: we must remind ourselves that Governors are very powerful members of
either ruling or opposition parties in Nigeria . They control the
grassroots for the party and when their party is in power, they wield even greater
influence. In either the PDP or the ruling APC, they insist on the control of
the party through indirect primaries. In the last APC party primaries, the
National Working Committee of the APC marginalized the Governors by voting for
direct primaries, despite an earlier agreement that some latitude will be
allowed based on the peculiar circumstances in each state. In handling the
petitions from the various states, Oshiomhole ignored what had been previously
agreed. The tragedy for the APC is that President Buhari is reportedly on the
side of the party and Adams Oshiomhole.
President
Buhari may support Oshiomhole but can he afford to go into the 2019 elections
with a broken, damaged party? I may have predicted the implosion of the APC
somewhat too early, but it seems to me that with Oshiomhole now asking the “Red
Cross” to save him from drowning, the ruling APC in Nigeria, may have finally
arrived at the crossroads. In 2015, the PDP talked about changing the game. The
APC said they were bringing change. Now, the pre-election circumstances of the
ruling APC may well be the game changer for the 2019 Nigerian Presidential and
general elections. My simple view is that while changing Oshiomhole on the eve
of the game may be the inevitable outcome of his own self-inflicted nemesis,
perhaps the APC needs to beware of the lessons of history. If he is removed,
there will be no orchids for him. If he survives as Chairman, the APC will
still pay a price. The APC faces a Hobson’s choice.
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