By Alabi Williams
Nobody expected that
all would be perfect in the All Progressives Congress (APC), after it hurriedly
coalesced in 2013, and when it was apparent that occupants of Aso Rock were not
too concerned about retaining the office. But many thought that the very reason
and manner of its emergence and the groundswell of goodwill that greeted it
would mitigate the resort to self-help and the rat race that characterizes
party system in this clime.
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| *APC Chairman Oyegun and President Buhari |
When people thought it
was difficult to forge the kind of alliances that brought it about, the APC
pulled a surprise. Some had dug into Nigeria’s political history, to
justify why the north and south west never agree politically, thus, that an
alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and others, particularly
from the north was a no-go area. But the stakeholders denied themselves, to
prove bookmakers wrong.
It was also unheard of,
that a coalition of struggling parties could rally round to unseat a ruling
party that has governed for 16 years. So, the APC did not just join forces; it
contested a very crucial election and formed government. But what the party has
done with its victory is so far, not what onlookers and even insiders bargained
for.
Now, everyone knows that our politicians are not so charitable to invest so
heavily in power game without expecting returns. Even though the APC is yet to
unveil its campaign expenditure for 2015, we all know that a lot of resources
went into it. Those who doled out such funds did so because they wanted to
leverage on their investment to access more funds. We also know that government
is the major source of riches and the richer our politicians, the more they are
able to dominate.
However, in the
campaigns, APC promised change, which was to lead to a more accountable and
transparent government, different from the one they just ousted. We knew that
could not just happen. And since there was no forum to explain the new order,
members took it as another campaign promise that will need time to fulfill.
After all, a number of other promises have been rescheduled till when the
economy gets better.
That set the stage for
self-help. The first major trouble was how to manage the party’s less than
absolute majority in the National Assembly. If the figures were to be poorly
managed, the opposition with its sizable number could be tempted to cause some
harm. That was exactly what happened on June 9, 2015. The party had gone into
government with the same divisions it brought from outside. Blending did not
take place and smartness took over. And there were losers and gainers. Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and one of the leading lights in
the APC got bruised in the jostle for space, as his favoured candidates were
shoved aside both in the Senate and the House. The man licked his wounds and
kept quiet.
