Intrigues as agitation to zone APC chair to North East thickens

Agitations are raging in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as political bigwigs from the NorthEast zone are demanding the national chairmanship slot of the party.  This is especially as the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee is yet to constitute a zoning committee that would decide on the zoning formula for National […]

Agitations are raging in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as political bigwigs from the NorthEast zone are demanding the national chairmanship slot of the party. 

This is especially as the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee is yet to constitute a zoning committee that would decide on the zoning formula for National Working Committee (NWC) and the 2023 elective offices.

The party had fixed February 26, 2022, for the convention, where a new crop of national offices would emerge and lead the party to the 2023 general polls.

The agitations that the NorthEast should produce the next substantive national chairman are premised on the alleged political marginalisation of the zone and the scenario in the South-South regarding two former governors of Edo State; John Odigie-Oyegun and Adams Oshiomhole.

Sources from the NorthEast confided to our correspondent yesterday that some political bigwigs from the zone were agitating for the zoning of the chairmanship slot to the North-East. 

It was gathered that some prominent politicians from the zone were meeting with some power brokers in the party and the presidential villa to ensure the zoning of the party’s apex slot to the NorthEast.

The political actors in the zone and those from other geopolitical zones are saying zoning the chairmanship slot to the region would be in line with the already established “norms and tradition” of the party.

The issue being advanced in this context is that when a former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odige-Oyegun from the South-South exited the apex NWC office of the APC, the party still elected another former governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole on a consensus arrangement.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that this development has triggered agitations especially as Governor Buni of Yobe State, who is from the NorthEast would be exiting office as Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee on February 26.

The Buni-led Committee was inaugurated on June 25, 2020, sequel to the dissolution of the Oshiomhole-led NWC, and mandated to run the party and organise the convention within six months. 

But its timeline was later extended twice following unresolved issues in the party, until the last quarter of last 2021, when the top echelon of the party met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and agreed that the convention should hold on February 26, 2022.

Speaking on the NorthEast agitations, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bernard Mikko, told Daily Trust on Sunday that it would be only fair if the APC zones the slot to the NorthEast region. 

Hon. Mikko, who is the Director Mobilisation for Sheriff Chairmanship Campaign Council, told our correspondent that Sheriff, if given the mandate, would ensure a smooth transition of power from APC to another APC government in 2023.

“If you look at when Oyegun was chairman of the party and he didn’t finish his term because of how he was removed, somebody from that zone, Adams Oshiomhole, took over. 

“For whatever reason, they brought somebody from the NorthEast, Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni. And whether they fixed his tenure or not, he is now going and it is only fair to allow the NorthEast to produce the next substantive national chairman. So, looking at the aspirants from the NorthEast, I think Sheriff stands out,” he said.

Similarly, the Spokesman for the Sheriff Campaign Council, Senator Victor Lar, told Daily Trust om Sunday that the major agenda of a political party is to win elections and form government and not just field candidates for elections.

He said, “Once they win, a political party thinks on how to implement its manifesto to ensure good governance; it’s about developing the infrastructure and improving the economy.

“The economy of Nigeria is oil and gas and you know that that has been discovered in the North-East. 

“So, Sheriff is the best man for the job. He will ensure the management of the economy and advise the government on the right things to do.

“He was governor for two terms, he was a senator for three times, and remember, he was governor from the opposition.

“If he becomes the national chairman of the APC, and the PDP is the major opposition party, he knows the PDP in and out, so he will defeat them at the 2023 general elections.

“Sheriff is the best person for this job. Even when he was in the opposition as governor, he performed very well. Remember, he was chairman of the Board of Trustees. We are familiar with these facts. So, who else can lead the party like Senator Sheriff?” he asked rhetorically. 

But another top contender for the national chairmanship of the APC from the North-East, Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe, told Daily Trust on Sunday recently that he was the best man for the job.

Moniedafe, the Jagaban Jimeta, from Adamawa State, told Daily Trust on Sunday in an interview that he would promote the principle of reward system, establish a Board of Trustees (BoT) Elders’ council in all the state chapters of the party and ensure strict adherence to the party’s constitution.

He explained that the elders’ council in states would be saddled with the responsibility of quickly wading into internal crises at that level and resolving them.

He said, “I will convince members to be paying N100 only per month to run the party while the state governors would be allowed to concentrate on generating revenue in their states to give dividends of democracy to the people.” 

It is believed that if the North produces the chairman of the party, the South would produce the presidential candidate for the 2023 election.

There are arguments in the party that before the 2015 general elections, the party’s stakeholders met and reached a consensus that the presidential ticket of the party would be ceded to the South at the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

While some political gladiators like a former governor of Zamfara State, Sani Yarima, have argued that there was no such agreement, promoters and agitators for a southern candidacy say the pact was reached to ensure equity, fairness and justice in the party’s political calculation between the North and South.

But while aspirants from the three geo-political zones in the North are springing up for the race, agitations for a chairman from the North East are gathering momentum.

The North East region has, in recent times, decried marginalisation in the political equation of the country. The North Central has also reacted similarly while accusing the North West of taking more of the apex slots.

Aspirants from the NorthEast

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff

He is Borno State’s first governor to serve two consecutive terms (2003-2011). In 2003, he ran on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and won. He was re-elected in 2007 and sworn in on 29 May, the same year.

Sheriff later played a key role in the formation of the APC. He also served as a senator representing Borno Central for three terms.

In the build-up to the 2015 general elections, Sheriff jumped ship to the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He told newsmen that his decision was in the interest of the country, adding that as a two-term governor and three-term senator, his interest was more on contributing to the development of the country.

He was later invited by some PDP governors and other powerbrokers in the party to take the office of the party’s national chairman after its defeat at the 2015 general elections.

His political allies say he is banking on his experience, political capital, and deep pocket to make things happen to his advantage, using his position as one of the founding members of the party and other connections.

It was gathered that Sheriff is consulting critical stakeholders, while various pressure groups in the APC have been meeting with him and positioning for his campaign.

Sunny Moniedafe

He is a former chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter. He recently declared his intention to vie for the office of the national chairman of the APC during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.

Moniedafe, whose parents are from Delta State, was born and brought up in Adamawa State, and has since been identifying himself as a politician of the North-East extraction.

He said, “I have no godfather and I am no pushover. I will contest if it is zoned to the North East. If it is not zoned to us, I will contest any position zoned to us because I want to serve.”

His quest to end god-fatherism in the party, which he recently told newsmen, was part of his agenda, is said to be a threat to his ambition as many godfathers want to maintain their political relevance as powerbrokers.

Isa Yuguda 

Isa Yuguda is a former governor of Bauchi State. He was first elected in April 2007, on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). 

In April 2009, he changed allegiance from the ANPP to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Yuguda was re-elected governor on 28 April 2011. 

The aspirants from the North Central are; a former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura; Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Malam Saliu Mustapha; Sen. Mohammed Sani Musa (APC Niger East) and the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Dr George Akume. 

Similarly, a former governor of Zamfara State, and former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, is in the race.

However, it is left to be seen what the national leadership of the party would do in this regard.