…The chief campaigner for the APC in Adamawa State is the PDP Governor of the state. His dictatorial tendencies, his high-handedness and his deliberate starving of his structures of funds all work in favour of APC…
…Even the presidential candidate of the PDP who is from Adamawa State is not really proving a big threat to the APC…
…The ground is fertile for winning the next elections; the situation is ripe for APC to takeover Dougirei government house.
By Ahmad Sajoh.
The current crisis within the APC in Adamawa State is not only unfortunate but it is a huge disservice to the membership of the party who stood by it despite losing the 2019 elections.
Recall that these same shenanigans were responsible for the losses of 2019. Simple misunderstandings were allowed to escalate beyond control. Leadership failed to act impartially forcing others to take extreme measures and invoking actions inimical to the success of the party in the elections of that year. One would have expected that lessons would be learned as a result of the drought years inflicted on the party by the loss.
It may be necessary to pay a special tribute to members of the party in the State. The history of party politics in Nigeria is that as soon as a party loses power at the center or the sub-national level, members begin to decamp to the winning party in droves. But this did not happen in the case of Adamawa state.
In fact, the APC recorded more defectors from the ruling party in the state than it happened the other way round. Most of those who deserted the party as a result of injustices of the past had returned to the fold. More people bought forms to contest the 2023 elections under the APC than all the other parties combined including the ruling PDP. That should have emboldened the leadership of the party to tow a different path than the one it took in 2019.
In addition, the quantum of crisis bedeviling the ruling PDP in the state is far higher than the one faced by the APC. Somehow, the chief campaigner for the APC in Adamawa State is the PDP Governor of the state. His dictatorial tendencies, his high-handedness and his deliberate starving of his structures of funds all work in favour of APC. The only thing standing between APC and victory in the next circle of general elections is unity within it’s ranks.
Even the presidential candidate of the PDP who is from Adamawa State is not really proving a big threat to the APC. While several well meaning APC chieftains are promoting our candidate through the voluntary opening of offices, erection of billboards and other campaign stuff, the PDP candidate is essentially being promoted by himself, his biological son and just one other loyal person who has been his protegee for a long time. What all these mean is that more people are willing to identify with the APC than with the PDP.
But the major ingredients for the unity of the APC are equity, fairness, justice and inclusion. Therefore, the APC leadership must rise above self centeredness. Be more committed to reconciliation and confidence building. This way the immense goodwill from members of the party and citizens of the state will be richly harvested.
In view of this potential, one is totally at loss as to why the leadership of APC in the state is failing to galvanize this immense goodwill and loyalty for the good of the party?
Why have there not been deliberate efforts by the party leadership to consolidate and maintain peace and harmony within the party?
Since the last elections of leaders of the Party at all levels and the nomination process, there have been more crises in the party than in all of its existence in the State.
There have been more Court cases involving the party than in all of its history in the state. And there have been very little genuine efforts to reconcile aggrieved parties and even much smaller efforts to build bridges of unity and understanding. But both are essential.
One of the major causes of the crises in the party had been the failure of leadership to address discontents with equity, fairness and justice. Rather, leaders are known to have taken sides in all conflict situations, sometimes even fueling them directly.
Our people say “when a fish wants to go bad, it starts from the head” Leadership must not only take responsibility for resolving all conflicts within the party but also for ensuring harmony within the party.
In the face of what is taking place within the APC in Adamawa, I make bold to say that “Leadership is not a title. Leadership is a responsibility” we are yet to see that level of responsibility displayed by our leadership.
When the Exco members claimed that the former chairman was a major stumbling block to ending crisis and building harmony, most party members including this writer believed them.
The former chairman got the boot. Members breathe a sigh of relief. Hopes were raised. Many stakeholders visited the Secretariat to express support and solidarity.
But the goodwill is waning because the new leadership rather than ending the crises is opening new vistas. Rather than rely on constitutional provisions and legal evidence to resolve most of the crisis, leadership at some levels are trampling on the constitution to take actions that are bringing the party to disrepute.
The discordant tunes coming from party structures and leaders are certainly giving the party a bad name. It seems that certain individuals have decided to arrogate to themselves the powers to determine right and wrong within the party including determining who is elected or not elected as a party leader or flag bearer regardless of outcomes of votes carried out.
Taking the series of illegalities a notch further, some leaders now believe they own the party and hence can determine who qualifies to be in it or not. This is not only undesirable but honestly dangerous.
Perhaps it is necessary to remind the party leaders at this point in time that democratic practice is anchored on the principle of collective ownership of all democratic structures. That is the essence of the law and the constitution.
It should equally be noted that relationships in a democracy are governed by law and legal frameworks. Democracy is protected by a number of guardrails. One of them is the Constitution. Another is the political party. When the constitution is trampled upon and the political party is owned by individuals, democracy will definitely derail and end up in danger. That is our fear as the crises in the party in Adamawa State continue to escalate.
Now is the time to step on the breaks and put a stop to all of that. It’s time to refocus on building a party that will win elections in 2023.
The ground is fertile for winning the next elections. The situation is ripe for a takeover of Dougirei government house. We expect the leadership to now take full charge and ride on the crest of goodwill to build enduring bridges of unity and establish a formidable campaign machine to deliver all our candidates from president to Senators to Representatives as well as House of Assembly and to reclaim the government house Yola which is almost as simple as “kwache goruba a hannun kuturu”
It’s now time to end all crises and to restore confidence in leadership capacity to lead effectively. It’s time to end this naked dance in the market place.
I come in peace.