…VP Ticket Tears Buni, El-Rufai Apart
…Bello, Abiodun, Uzodinma Fingered As ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ Governors
…Plot Against Adamu Thickens
March 13, (THEWILL) – The controversy surrounding the March 26 National Convention of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) may have worn off, following confirmation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday that it actually received a letter to that effect from the Governor of Yobe State, Mallam Mai Buni, who is the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC).
INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, confirmed to THEWILL that the Commission received a letter from Governor Buni notifying it of the March 26 date of the party’s forthcoming national convention. But he could not confirm that the Commission received a copy of Buni’s letter to Governor Sani Bello of Niger State to act on his behalf while he travelled to the United Arab Emirate on health grounds.
“Yes, when the party moved its convention date from February 26 to March 26, it informed the Commission,” Okoye said.
But, regarding the letter from Buni to Bello, he said: “I need to confirm from the Chairman if we received the letter from Governor Mai Buni to Governor Bello. The Chairman is not in the office now. You can call back later.”
When he could not be reached later, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi , the Spokesman of the INEC Chairman, was contacted. He asked to be allowed to contact the appropriate department. As at press time, he replied: “Still expecting a response from the dept.”
Okoye’s confirmation of the March 26 National Convention date came on a day the embattled leadership of the governing APC started some form of crisis management to restore confidence among members who fear that it may yet again postpone its National Convention initially scheduled for March 26, 2022 and fail to meet the June 4, 2022 deadline set by INEC for all political parties to submit the names of their presidential candidates for the 2023 general election.
The March 9, 2022 letter from INEC to the party did the magic.
THEWILL gathered that the INEC letter, which threw a spanner in the wheels of the party’s planned National Executive Meeting, scheduled for March 17, 2022, nine days to its convention, alerted the leadership to the dangers ahead: The leadership change that saw Governor Sani Bello of Niger State take over from his Yobe counterpart, Mai Mala Buni, as acting National Chairman and the planned NEC meeting for March 17, 2022 are illegal, according to INEC.
INEC said in the letter, “The Electoral Act 2022 in Article 82, (1) states that “every registered political party shall give the Commission at least 21 days’ notice of any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened for the purpose of “merger” and electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any of the offices specified under this Act.”
With the party becoming rudderless as tempers continue to flare, governors accusing their counterparts of sabotaging the party ahead of the convention and blame trading becoming the order of the day, the leadership quickly got together to restore some sanity. The first move, THEWILL learnt, was to give a semblance of order to the preceding confusion and growing web of intrigues.
The immediate outcome was an arranged meeting with the media, which was convened on Friday, March 11, 2022, by the spokesperson of the Bello-led CECPC, Malam Ismail Ahmed, at the Abuja National Secretariat.
According to Ahmed, the party had appointed officials into convention planning committees that would work round the clock to ensure the March 26 National Convention date holds. The convention committee, which comprised 1,700 members, had been streamlined. He blamed the social media for magnifying the crisis and urged journalists to utilise his open-door policy for verification of future stories.
He said, “The convention will be held on March 26. I am a lawyer and we have already served a notice to INEC since February 25, 2022. That is more than 21 days’ notice. If we have to make adjustments, it will not infringe the law.”
On the Thursday, March 17 virtual NEC meeting of the party, Ahmed said the legal department of the party would sort things out and get in touch with INEC.
Then he spoke on the sudden leadership change that threw the party into hostile camps and created confusion as to whether Buni properly handed over to Bello or not.
“Since June 2020 (when Governor Mai Buni-led CECPC took over from the elected Adams Oshiomhole National Working Committee of the party), Governor Sanni Bello has always acted whenever the Chairman was not around. And now, we have a current acting chairman. The Chairman (Buni) wrote a letter transmitting power. So there is no ambiguity.”
This admission of a letter from Buni to Bello, as against the prevailing trend in the party, THEWILL learnt, was part of the current reality meant to soften the considerable legal loophole that the INEC letter had pointed out, with the possibility of meeting the electoral umpire’s requirements of conformity with the law.
INEC COMPLICATES MATTERS FOR APC
Apart from effectively putting a stop to the party’s planned March 17 NEC meeting, the electoral umpire also indirectly restored the Buni leadership to control of the party.
That March 9, 2022 letter under reference, signed by its Secretary, Rose Anthony and titled. ‘Re: Invitation to the emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee,’ was addressed to the National Chairman, APC CECPC, who is Mai Buni and not the acting Chairman, Sani Bello.
In the letter, INEC informed the CECPC that the letter of invitation to attend the NEC was not signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary of the CECPC, Mai Buni and Senator John Akpanudoedehe, respectively.
It said the APC invitation letter was contrary to the provision of Article 1.1.3 of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Party Operations (2018).
INEC said in its letter; “Please refer to your letter Ref. APC/ NHDQ/ INEC/ N019 /022/32, dated 8th March 2022.
“The Commission draws your attention to the fact that the notice for the meeting was not signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary of the CECPC, contrary to the provision of the Article 1.1.3 of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Party Operations (2018).
“Furthermore, the APC is reminded of the provision in Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which requires ‘at least 21 days’ notice of any convention, congress, conference, or meeting convened for the purpose of ‘merger’ and electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any elective office.
“While hoping that these issues are noted for compliance, please accept the assurance of the Commission’s warm regards.”
An APC group, the Alliance Network, however, thinks the Commission is being unfair to the party at its moment of crisis. It, in fact, accused INEC of interfering with the internal affairs of the ruling party.
The Director-General of the group, Joe Ozurumba, said on Friday evening that since Governor Bello has been a member of the CNCPC from inception and was acting, whatever he does is “still part and parcel of the committee’s mandate.”
“Since the said Caretaker Committee is still in place, INEC ought to have known that all correspondence between it and the caretaker committee remains valid,” he argued.
Still, while the leadership of the party is making moves to restore peace in the party, the leading players in the crisis are fighting back.
VP SLOT TEARS BUNI, EL-RUFAI APART
Inside sources close to the party’s leadership told THEWILL that the party’s vice presidential slot is the main reason for the fight between Buni and Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai. According to a source who craved anonymity, while Buni is scheming to become the running mate to whoever emerges as the APC presidential candidate among former President Goodluck Jonathan, Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, El-Rufai is also banking on the same arrangement.
For Buni, our source alleged that he was not actually interested in conducting just the national convention but to delay it and conduct it as a single event with the party’s presidential primaries just to achieve his personal objectives.
CONCERNS OVER ELECTORAL ACT CLAUSE 84
The refusal of the National Assembly to delete the controversial Clause 84 of the new Electoral Amendment Act as earlier agreed with President Buhari before the signing of the Bill into Law, THEWILL also gathered, is still causing ripples in the party. The National Assembly, which had earlier promised Buhari that they would amend the clause by removing it to allow serving political appointees contest for office while still holding on to their positions, was to later renege on its promise thus leaving their ambitions in limbo as the race for the 2023 elections hots up.
‘YAHOO YAHOO’ GOVERNORS UNVEILED
Our source also point accusing fingers at the Governors Yahaya Bello; Dapo Abiodun and Hope Uzodinma of Kogi, Ogun and Imo States, respectively, as the ‘Yahoo, yahoo’ governors the Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu was referring to as those supporting Buni to allegedly truncate the APC.
BUNI FIGHTS BACK
However, as the web of intrigues continues amid obvious confusion in the party, Governor Buni, who continues to insist that he is still the Chairman of the party against submissions by his Kaduna State and Ondo State counterparts, el-Rufai and Akeredolu, respectively, that he can only return to the party as Governor of Yobe State, is fighting back.
He is said to have got the listening ears of the leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, to whom he took his case in London last week and pleaded to be allowed to complete the work he and his team has been doing to reposition the party for almost the last two years.
It was unclear as at the time of going to press whether Buhari would grant Buni’s wish.
Indeed, Buhari’s London base for his two-week medical check-up has turned into a centre for political pilgrimage as those opposed to Buni have also headed there to ensure the governor goes for good.
BUNI’S ALLEGED SINS
Although he is yet to speak on it, Buni and his co-conspirators are accused of obtaining a High Court injunction against the party to make sure the national convention and presidential primaries hold simultaneously. The aim was to make it possible for them to impose their preferred leaders and candidates on the party.
According to Governor el-Rufai last week, the Yobe governor was found to be working against the interest of the party and was sabotaging the national convention. Buni’s spokesman, Yusuf Ali, denied the allegation, stating that his boss would resume office soon.
The fact that the Buni-led caretaker committee had managed to stay for almost two years during which it got the President’s nod to postpone the national convention twice and outlived its initial six-month tenure, has attracted more litigation about its status and powers, as well as mounting opposition by members of the party.
Unfolding developments show that even if the party manages to hold its ground until the convention, there is no guarantee there will be an end to the crisis.
PLOT AGAINST ADAMU THICKENS
According to sources in the party, the current crisis has polarised interest groups in the party with the plot against the choice of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the preferred candidate for the National Chairman by President Buhari thickening. Moreover, the uniting power of President Buhari appears to be lacking. As a senior lawmaker confided in this newspaper, big wigs in the party are already looking ahead for who leads the party after Buhari.
He said, “It is normal in politics that an outgoing leader may not command so much respect, if the stakes are high. Many party chieftains are building alliances based on what is to come. For now, the party is polarised between the Buni loyalists and those lining behind Governor Bello, whether amongst the governors or members of the National Assembly.”
Presidential aspirants on the platform of the APC are said to be watching developments in the party with keen interest, while a growing number of fence sitters may defect if the current crisis is allowed to snowball.
“YAHOO, YAHOO GOVERNORS THREATENING PARTY UNITY”
Governor Akeredolu’s reaction to the ongoing crisis in the party, whereby he described his counterparts who are supporting Buni as “yahoo, yahoo governors,” has understandably not gone down well with some leaders of the party. The party source, who confided in THEWILL, said the statement would only polarise the party further, especially when Akeredolu called on the so-called saboteurs to quit the party rather than working to scuttle efforts to hold a convention and name a presidential candidate.
Although Akeredolu did not identify the governors, THEWILL learnt that they are considered the arrowheads of Buni’s alleged machinations.
Two of them are first term governors, (Uzodinma and Abiodun) while the third, (Bello) is doing his second term. To consolidate their hold on the party and direct it towards their planned goals, they were allocated strategic positions in the convention planning committee, which has since been dissolved.
WAY FORWARD
An APC chieftain in Lagos State, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, thinks it is only President Buhari that cannot douse the inflamed situation in the party.
“The buck stops on his table,” he said last week. “He has to leave the party as solid as it was when it brought him to power by taking steps to intervene. He should have interest in determining his successor who will continue his projects.”
Furthermore, Ogunlewe added that the National Working Committee of the party should discuss INEC’s letter, properly appoint Governor Bello as National Chairman and ensure that further confusion is addressed by the setting up of a separate committee to plan and conduct the National Convention, as well as the presidential convention.
Ogunlewe also said that President Buhari needed to take a firm stand on the party’s crisis and take action to whip everybody into line.
For Senator Rochas Okorocha, party positions should be shared among the legacy parties that merged into APC “or else there will continue to be crises in the party,” even as he submitted that the party would overcome its current challenges.
Ahmed, spokesman of CECPC, maintains that there is no cause for alarm. The caretaker committee members will be working full-time to attend to all challenges towards the successful conduct of the National Convention and ensure the speedy conclusion of the various crises in the party, he said on Friday.
President Buhari is expected back in the country in the next one week, if his doctors adhere strictly to the timeline for his medical check-up.
With Buni still fighting to retain his seat and the INEC, in its letter, backing him, there is no telling for now when and how the confusion will end.
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Deputy Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
