+Why Members Of The CPC Are Happy
Last month, February, the battle for the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was fairly won by a part of the power blocs in the ruling party. On the 25th of February, President Buhari, after 5 rejections of the amended electoral bill, gave his assent on the sixth return, and the power bloc on his side is having a tea party to celebrate the victory against other forces within the party.
The majority of those who are happy with the development is from the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
Recall that the unification that birthed the APC comprises the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, the CPC, and part of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP). Upon getting power, the spoils of electoral victory were shared among the legacy parties. While the CPC got the presidency (Muhammadu Buhari), ACN got vice presidency (Yemi Osinbajo), n-PDP got Senate presidency (Bukola Saraki). It also got a foothold in the National Assembly by producing the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila. The ANPP filled the Senate presidency slot lost by the n-PDP via Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
But In 2019, following the exit of a host of n-PDP members, who returned to the PDP, the dominance of the CPC and ACN blocs was entrenched further in the APC. Before and after the 2019 polls, the CPC retained the presidency but the ACN gained more mileage by retaining the vice presidency and recovering the national chairmanship through Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. The CPC, knowing the tides may be against them when Buhari leave office in 2023, began to work around the cause of remaining in the corridor of power for as long as the party structure remains.
The consensus candidate that the electoral bill has provided, allow for negotiations that can be influenced by the CPC who of course, share a common interest with the President, Mohammadu Buhari. Those who are beneficiaries of the electoral bill are, therefore, those who are against Asiwaju.
A lawmaker who confided in City People hinted that the major gainers of this whole Electoral Act are majorly people that are against Timubu within the APC. The consensus against Tinubu is getting stronger by day and he is also forging ahead without even looking at their side. He has literally called the bluff of the cabal.
“when you look at the whole options of primaries in the Parties, Direct, indirect and Consensus, especially the consensus that Buhari is trying to adopt if he succeeded with the next APC chairman which as Adamu Abdullahi former Nassarawa Governor and a former CPC member, he might not be successful with the foisting a presidential aspirant at the and at the same time. Because the rule on consensus is that all the candidates must sign a letter that they are indeed happy to support the consensus candidate.
And if a Buhari would be successful with APC National Chairperson as a Consensus candidate he might want to push his luck for Presidential candidate too. So the gainer of this Bill is the President, President Buhari and his ardent supporters like Senator Al-Makura, Saliu Mustapha, Rufai Hanga, governor Mai Mala Buni, Atiku Bagudu. The potential pulling away of possibly aggrieved savvy heavyweights combined with the recent repositioning in APC squarely hands absolute control of the party to the CPC block. Thus, the emerging consensus now is that all that is playing out points to strategic gaming ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The raging battle is one of the reasons the party is finding it difficult to zone its presidential ticket, National Working Committee, and National Executive Committee, NEC, positions less than four weeks to the convention. The CPC bloc wants to produce the next Chairman of the APC because the ACN and ANPP blocs had produced chairmen. On a counter, the ACN bloc wants to produce the President that will be vacated by the CPC in 2023. Top politicians from the ACN bloc eyeing the presidency include Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi and some key party members from the South. Now that the battle for consensus seems to be won by the CPC bloc through the electoral bill, what is left if for them to conclude within themselves who should be the party chairman, and present the same to the open floor for consensus agreement. Should this plot fly, the same consensus modality will be adopted for the presidential candidate, which some members feel will not favour Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as long as the control of the part structure remains in the hands of the CPC bloc.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not put anybody in doubt that he is ready to give his all to win his party primary and eventually the next presidential election.
He is arguably one of the most experienced politicians in Nigeria with vast political structures across the 36 states of the federation including Abuja to win the election. He is a mobiliser and grassroots politician. He is also known as a master strategist with records of winning almost all political battles. All spectators however await the March 26 convention and see how the process will pan out and what comes after. The unfolding event gets more interesting with the third force who is standing by to accept and assimilate the fallouts that cannot be determined for now.
READ ALSO: WHY ABUJA LAWMAKERS ARE ANGRY WITH PRES. BUHARI
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