APC, a party in disarray?

One thing became abundantly clear after the All Progressives Congress (APC) recent national convention, at which delegates exchanged blows during President Muhammadu Buhari’s (PMB) speech – If the APC still wishes to become the political party which will rescue Nigeria from its seemingly eternal malaise, it will certainly have to change itself before it can […]

One thing became abundantly clear after the All Progressives Congress (APC) recent national convention, at which delegates exchanged blows during President Muhammadu Buhari’s (PMB) speech – If the APC still wishes to become the political party which will rescue Nigeria from its seemingly eternal malaise, it will certainly have to change itself before it can change the nation. Despite all the smiling faces at Eagle Square Abuja, the ruling party cannot continue to behave in a disorderly and dysfunctional manner. The statements that all is well within the party are balderdash. 

It is amazing how easily Nigerian politicians tell lies. The strange thing is that they all know they are lying but it has become a ritual. From ward to national level APC conventions nationwide have been marred by infighting, political thuggery and sharp practices.  It’s not really simply a question of winning the 2019 elections. There really is no reason why anyone should expect them not to. There is no serious opposition, no legal challenges are being made against any of their constitutional breaches, and no one is proposing any sensible and credible alternative to their policies. It’s just as if Nigeria is currently under a one party rule.  

The PDP remains the leading opposition party and they are barely making any significant noise which should be of concern to the APC.  Even if PDP produces a charismatic presidential candidate, it is highly unlikely that the nation is now ready to forgive their sordid past and give them another chance. The APC’s real Achilles heel is the antecedent of some of their big wigs especially those from the nPDP. Emerging from the woodwork they are now trying to hold PMB to ransom. If he doesn’t “settle” them they will most likely break ranks and join the opposition as they did last time. 

However if he offers them a good deal they will continue to tell the lie that all is well within both the Party and the nation despite the fact that the crisis between the executive and legislature over the 2018 budget. In response to PMB’s caustic comments over their unilateral alteration of the budget, the NASS accused him of non-implementation of the 2016 and 2017 allocation for the Second Niger Bridge, and also claimed that if the 2017 Budget had not elapsed on the 5th of June 2018, the Federal Government would not have recorded any notable capital projects for the just concluded financial year. 

Lack of projects aside, the APC should be ashamed that it made a promise to institute true federalism and has done little in that direction. Granted that restructuring was not directly mentioned in their manifesto, but the fact is that it is synonymous with change. It is a waste of time to expect the APC to do anything serious about restructuring, except it becomes politically expedient. In their self-satisfied position they are beginning to exhibit some of the traits of dictatorship. They show the contempt for the rule of law which is common to all Nigerian governments, they have not been able to articulate any vision beyond rhetoric, and their anti-graft war has been all but discredited as selective and vindictive. The Gestapo-style arrest of Senator Abaribe is confirming suspicions that they have commenced a total clampdown on the opposition. There is no disputing that the hinterlands of Nigeria are under attack supported by some of the top echelons of the administration. 

Comparing the police deployment to Eagle Square with their deployment to Benue State is ample evidence that they have little regard for lives of Nigerians other than their own. If the massacre of dozens of innocent civilians mostly women and children in Plateau State is not genocide then perhaps the word has been redefined somewhere. One of the most important reasons for studying history is to understand that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved to be disastrous time and again. Nigeria appears to be repeating the same mistakes. The leadership is losing its moral superiority with Vice-President Professor Osinbajo now nicknamed the “tomato paste man” because he promised that Nigeria would end the importation of tomato paste by 2016 and no such thing happened. Opposition parties allege that PMB is uncomfortable with the trappings of democracy, not too concerned with human rights, instinctively autocratic, and doesn’t function well in a liberal and heterogeneous environment.  

Even though the prospect of his changing is distant, there is little hope that the opposition will produce any better candidate who will be more patriotic and less ethnically biased. The best that can be hoped for is that those surrounding PMB can assist him to become a better politician and far more insightful leader in order to force the APC to change itself and bring about better governance, and end to the killings and hope for a better future after the 2019 elections.