Intrigues in the build up to APC national convention

Bisi Akande

The APC national convention is supposed to hold May 24, but with the unresolved issues of which zone should produce the national chairman, the date appears not feasible.

Barely two weeks to the proposed date of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention, there are indications that the date may likely be shifted following delays encountered in the wards, local and states congresses

across the country.
But the date for the national convention of the party is the least of the worries for party members as issues of who will be the party’s national chairman has dominated the build up to the convention.
Even with the imminence of the convention, so far, no person has publically come out to indicate interest in vying for the seat of the national chairman.
The position of the national chairman is strategic in determining which zone should produce the presidential candidate as it has become the convention for parties to pick their candidates outside the zones of the national chairman.
Speculations are however, rife about the possible candidates for the party’s national chairmanship position.
Going by the party’s present interim national leadership composition, observers are of the opinion that, the party chairmanship may be zoned to the Southwest where the present chairman comes from.
Findings by Daily Trust indicated that, major party stakeholders from the South West and some from the North are supporting the present interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande to retain his seat.
However, it was also found out that in the event of Akande not contesting, Chief Niyi Adebayo may likely be fielded as a possible replacement.
There are those who however feel that the position should be zoned to the South East to allow Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, former national chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) retain the position or so that Chief Dubem Onyia could be made chairman.
Giving the Southeast the chairmanship position, according to party sources, would be less rancorous as the region is not seriously eying the presidential ticket of the party.
But there are some in the party who argue in favour of the South South region so as to compensate Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi for his efforts in the formation of the party, by making his henchman, Sam Sam Jaja the national chairman. But those who want Amaechi to be given a higher position, prefer Chief Tom Ikimi, who is the present interim national vice chairman South South of the party.
A source at the party’s secretariat who craved anonymity said the position or the candidature of any of the persons being speculated will depend on the final arrangement of the party regarding the positions in the national officer of the party.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party according to Daily Trust findings, will meet on Tuesday May 13, to discuss issues regarding the party congresses and the scheduled national convention.
The congresses had started with the sale of nomination forms in the states on March 24 according to the party’s released timetable.
The released timetable stated the ward congresses to be conducted within four days after which the local government congresses will start on April 9.
The timetable also indicated that, the states congresses will kick off on April 12 in all the states and the FCT.
The party also constituted appeal committees to entertain and resolve grievances arising from the conduct of all the congresses and forward recommendations to the party secretariat.
The party said the appeal committees are required to forward issues concerning state congresses to the party’s national secretariat where it will be decided by a higher national appeal committee constituted to treat such cases.
The national convention is scheduled to hold on Saturday, May 24, 2014.
But the delays suffered since the beginning of the congresses from the wards does not allow the party to stick to the timetable as some of the ward congresses failed to start on the scheduled date.
Even where it started in most places, internal crises and plans by politicians to hijack the exercise forced the exercise to be put on hold.
This resulted in the wards congresses to go beyond the dates set for them. As a result of this, many states went ahead to conduct the local government congresses while carrying over the wards congresses.
While the exercise is almost hitch free in the South West, it suffered a lot of crises in almost all the other geo-political regions.
In the North-West which has higher cases of widespread crises, there were complaints that the exercise was marred by the interference of powerful members of the party and due to divided loyalty to the “Legacy Parties” which pitched members of the party against one another and resulted in most states not being able to conduct the exercise or partially conducting such.
Even the local government congresses were partially done in most of the states like Kebbi, Kaduna and some other states. In Anambra State even the ward congress is yet to be conducted due to the lingering crisis among members of the party.
Other states like; Borno, Jigawa, Cross Rivers and Ebonyi all suffered delays in the exercise as they held theirs behind schedule.
The exercise was conducted in the North-East despite the security challenges except in Borno, where the security situation hindered the conduct of the exercise.
In the North- Central states and the FCT, the exercise extended beyond the scheduled dates. This includes states like Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue.
The exercise in Niger State also,  was fraught with crises which was largely attributed to undue interference in the exercise by a national party official trying to have an edge over others. The state congress has been rescheduled to hold on Saturday May 10.
The exercise was conducted in the South-South which is a PDP stronghold. Although it was trailed by allegations of politicians hijacking the exercise, most of the party members said they are happy that at least the party has had a footing in the area which was largely seen as a no go area to opposition parties, except in Rivers State where the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi is a member of the APC.
Another region where the exercise suffered more crises and delays is the South-East including Imo where the APGA, through the Imo State governor joined the merging parties that formed the APC.
Anambra State in particular has seen the worst delays as only the wards congresses were held as of last week, which prompted the party to compel the state’s congress committee to resolve the crises in the state and conduct the local government and state congress almost simultaneously.
Although sources at the party secretariat informed Daily Trust that, they have received a comprehensive report from most of the appeal committees in the states where the congresses were held, many members of the party who spoke to Daily Trust blamed the national officials of the party for not doing enough to resolve the crises during the congress which caused the delays.
As at present, there are about six states where the congresses have been not held or have been rescheduled to other dates.
Many people pointed out that, because of this reason, the May 24 date may not be feasible because the party officials elected will form the bulk of the delegates for the national convention to elect the national officials.
A party official who confided in our reporter said if not for the remaining states that are yet to finish their congresses, the party has put in place almost everything in place for the national convention.
Interim national secretary of the party, Tijjani Musa Tumsah also said the delays in the congresses has affected the schedule of the exercise, but the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party which runs the affairs of the party will meet on the matter.
He said further activities of the party will largely depend on its decision putting into consideration the development arising from the conduct of the congresses.
Saying, he does not rule out a possible readjustment of the scheduled date of the exercise considering the need for the remaining states to finish their congresses and the appeal committees to finish their work within the limited time before the May 24 date slated for the convention.

http://www.dailytrust.info/politics/23658-intrigues-in-the-build-up-to-apc-national-convention