Onyebuchi Ezigbo looks at the final stages of the All Progressives Congress registration process After the failed attempt to form an opposition alliance during the 2011 general elections, the opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party, and Congress for Progressive Change, and factions of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and Democratic Peoples Party – came together to midwife another coalition. This time, they resolved never to allow past mistakes to stop the realisation of their merger arrangement. Clash However, not long into their negotiations, intrigues and political interests began to creep in. Indications of a clash of interest among members of the opposition coalition emerged when the parties, after settling for a name, logo, flag, manifesto, and constitution, battled to resolve a disagreement over the modality for establishing an interim leadership for the new party. Another issue was the crisis of confidence that had pitted the merger committees of some of the merging parties against the opposition leaders. The bone of contention was the draft formula adopted for the sharing of interim leadership positions for the new merger platform. The APC constitution provides for a six-month transitional party structure that is to come into force immediately after the registration of the party by the Independent Nation Electoral Commission, or 90 days before the day of the any election at which APC is fielding candidates. Allocation of Offices Under the sharing formula for the leadership positions in APC, ACN was allotted the National Chairman, National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Youth Leader, National Publicity Secretary, Deputy National Treasurer, National Youth leader, two vice chairmen, and two ex-officio members. ANPP got the National Secretary, National Financial Secretary, Deputy National Organising Secretary, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, National Welfare Officer, two vice chairmen and two ex-officio officers. CPC got the National Treasurer, Deputy National Chairman, North, Deputy National Secretary, Deputy National Legal Adviser, Deputy National Auditor, National Woman Leader, National Youth Leader, one vice chairman, and one ex-officio member. APGA and DPP got the posts of National Organising Secretary, Deputy National Chairman (South), Deputy National Financial Secretary, Deputy National, Women Leader, National Auditor, one vice chairman, and one ex-officio member. Leading elements in the merger negotiations were the chairmen of the merger committees of the three parties – Tom Ikimi, ACN; former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, ANPP; Alhaji Garba Gadi, CPC. Senator Chris Ngige, Audu Ogbeh, Osita Okechukwu, and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff are among some of the party bigwigs serving in the committees. Disagreement Despite the intervention of the governors of the merging parties, ANPP stood its ground, insisting on getting the office of National Secretary, which had been earlier ceded to CPC. The disagreement was evident, as only last Friday promoters of APC filed their application for registration with INEC without constituting a protem executive, as required by the commission. The governors, however, agreed to consult more to be able to sort out the logjam. They also mandated the Ikimi committee to work out a more acceptable format to end the disagreement. Facts have since emerged on how the opposition coalition was able to resolve the brewing conflict over the formation of an interim leadership structure for APC. Interim Management A chieftain of CPC and member of the party’s merger committee, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, explained that the national chairman of ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, National Secretary of ANPP Musa Tumnsa, and National Treasurer of CPC Sadiya Farouq had been chosen to act as chairman, secretary, and treasurer, respectively, in the APC management committee made up of nine members. “We did it in such a manner that even the leadership of the parties, leadership of the Board of Trustees, where there is one, will continue to meet in an effort to further guide the process and to nominate members of the interim national leadership, members of the national convention committee and members of the state congress committees,” Okechukwu said. Apprehension However, at some point the leadership of the three merging parties were apprehensive that the merger committees set up to mediate in the talks were becoming more assertive and ambitious, wanting to transmute into the national officers of APC after its registration. ACN, especially, became uncomfortable, apparently, aware of the stuff Ikimi is made of in terms of political intrigues and independent-mindedness. There were fears that Ikimi’s ambition might clash with the agenda of the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. At the same time, the former governor of Borno State and chairman of the Board of Trustees of ANPP, Sheriff, saw the party’s merger committee leadership under Shekarau as being weak and less inventive. As the man who now calls the shots in ANPP on account of his ability to fund most of the activities of the party in recent times, Sheriff has often been in the forefront of the negotiations for a better deal for ANPP in the merger. Joint Merger Committee It was only a matter time and the merger committees were forced to wind up their sittings to make way for the leadership of the merging parties to take over and try to conclude the registration process. Ikimi, the ACN merger committee and spokesman of the joint merger committees, told journalists in Abuja, “Last year the merging parties established merger committees in order to enable it actualise the desire to form merger. I am pleased to report that we have made notable progress since we started meeting. We have been able to do what has never been done in our country and I dare say that there is hardly anywhere in the world established political parties could cede their identity and fuse into one.” In what looked like a valedictory speech, Ikimi said, “The parties have all had successful conventions. By agreeing on all these and having been together till today, we believe that the parties have merged.” Against the background of reported tussle over clash of interest between the committee and the leaderships of the various parties, Ikimi said the negotiation had been blessed with some of the most distinguished personalities in the country. “I must tell Nigerians that the 89 of us here are respectable politicians. We have the utmost respect for the party leaderships that appointed us and it is now time for us to move on. We believe that we have been able to carry out most of the mandates given to us, which has enabled us to be in a position to file for the registration of APC. “I want to announce to you that the work of the committee has come to an end today and that the committee may be called up to carry out any function in due course as may be necessary. We are still members of our various parties and we have excellent relations with the party and look forward to making ourselves available for whatever role we might be called up in future,” Ikimi said. Unresolved Issues The APC promoters are at a critical stage of the registration process. Many expect from the leaders sacrifice of controversial personal ambitions to make the merger come true. The APC leaders need a lot of cooperation, especially, to be able successfully face the challenge posed by other groups laying claim to the APC acronym, like the African Peoples Congress and All Progressives Congress of Nigeria. The acting national chairman of African Peoples Congress, Onyinye Ikeagwuonu, is already accusing INEC of bias against his group following the commission’s rejection of the group’s application for registration. “Information at our disposal has uncovered the manipulative, tinkering and leakage of official documentations concerning the ongoing registration process of the African Peoples Congress (APC) in INEC. Conspirators and dark forces against democracy have infiltrated INEC,” he said at a press conference. Besides, one of the merging parties, CPC, still has unresolved issues over an aggrieved faction that has refused to surrender the party’s registration certificate unless their terms were met. The CPC faction, led by the pioneer national chairman, Senator Rufai Hanga, along with other members of the party, is claiming that they are the authentic leadership to negotiate the merger. Although, Tinubu has tried to broker a peace deal with group with assurances that they will be carried along in the new dispensation, it remains to be seen how that has helped to rest the matter. Even as the merging parties are still engaged in the process of getting the new party registered, scheming and jostling for who picks the presidential ticket of the coalition party have begun. Both Tinubu and the CPC leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, have held many secret meetings believed to be connected with the issue of how to make the choice of a flag-bearer a seamless exercise devoid of rancour capable of derailing the merger effort.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:29:31 +0000
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