When
All Progressives Congress (APC) began to have internal crisis shortly after the
party won the presidential election and majority of the seats in the National
Assembly on where certain positions should be zoned to and the preferred people
to occupy such positions, some Nigerians saw the party igniting a crisis that
would later become a “political inferno.” The situation even became more
compounded when Dr. Bukola Saraki emerged as the Senate President against the
wish of APC elite.
President
Mahammadu Buhari and the National Leader of APC Ahmed Bola Tinubu were the
major standing storms against Saraki emergence as the Senate President. Their preferred
candidate was Ahmed Lawan. The emergence of Saraki as the Senate President reignited
the already existing crisis in APC that even led the Federal Government to
bring up many corruption allegations against Saraki which he appeared many
times before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to defend himself.
Intra-party
crisis cannot be avoided in any party. But when such crisis is left unresolved,
it can linger for a long time and can cause an extremely destructive havoc that
might take a very long time to repair and might leave the party in an extremely
irredeemable situation.
When
the Fourth Republic began with the inauguration of the 1999 constitution in 1999,
President Olusegun Obasanjo emerged as the first President in the Fourth
Republic on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party was
extremely formidable and enjoyed a lot of the benefits relative peaceful
internal democracy brings. The party’s transition of power in the presidency moved
from Obasanjo to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and then to President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan.
Although
PDP began having its numerous crises during the administration of Obasanjo
especially when his third term bid was in futility, the crises became worse
during the administration of Jonathan. Jonathan failed to be resolute and
applied pragmatic approach in resolving such crises. He allowed political and
ethnic sentiments to affect his right sense of judgment and which made him to
push PDP out of the formidable leadership rail.
When
Obasanjo wrote an 18-page open letter to President Jonathan in December 2013,
he raised certain points that should serve as lessons to President Buhari,
Tinubu and APC.
In his letter titled: “Before
It Is Too Late” dated December 2, 2013, Obasanjo said these which are excerpt
from the main letter:
“….The five positions which you share with nobody except with
God and which place great and grave responsibility on you are leadership of the
ruling party, headship of the Federal Government or national government,
Commander-in-Chief of the Military, Chief Security Officer of the nation, and
the political leader of the country. Those positions go with being the
President of our country and while depending on your disposition you can
delegate or devolve responsibility, but the buck must stop on your table
whether you like it or not….
“Whatever may be the feud in PDP and no matter what you or your
aides may feel, you as the leader of the party, have the responsibility to find
solution, resolve and fix it. Your legacy is involved. If PDP as a ruling party
collapses, it will be the first time in an independent Nigeria that a ruling
party would collapse not as a result of a military coup. It is food for thought….
“At the prompting of governors on both sides of the divide, and on
encouragement from you, I spent two nights to intervene in the dispute of PDP
governors. I kept you fully briefed at every stage. I deliberately chose
Banquet Hall at the Villa to ensure transparency.
“The so-called crisis in the PDP can be turned to an opportunity
of unity, mutual understanding and respect with the Party emerging with
enhanced strength and victory. It will be a win-win for all members of the
Party and for the country. By that, PDP would have proved that it could have
internal disagreement and emerge stronger. The calamity of failure can still be
avoided. Please, move away from fringes or the extremes and move to the centre
and carry ALL along. Time is running out.
“Denials and cover-up of what is obvious, true
and factual can detract from honour, dignity and respect. Truth and
transparency dignity and earn respect. And life without passion for something
can only achieve little. I was taken aback when an African Development Bank
director informed me that the water project for Port-Harcourt, originally
initiated by the Federal Government to be financed by the bank, is being put in
the cooler by the Federal Government since the Amaechi-Jonathan face-off.
“Amaechi,
whether he likes it or not, will cease to be governor over Rivers State which
Port-Harcourt is part by the end of May 2015, but residents of Port-Harcourt
will continue to need improvement of their water supply. President Jonathan
should rise above such pettiness and unpresidential act, if it is coming from
him.
“But if not,
and it is the action of overzealous officials reading the situation, he should
give appropriate instruction for the project to be pursued. And if there are
other projects anywhere suffering the same coolness as a result of similar
situation, let national interest supercede personal or political feud and the
machinations of satanic officials.
“Mr.
President, let me plead with you for a few things that will stand you in good
stead for the rest of your life. Don’t always consider critics on national
issues as enemies. Some of them may be as patriotic and nationalistic as you
and I who had been in government. Some of them have as much passion for Nigeria
as we have”.
With
the ongoing crisis in APC, there is need for President Buhari to ensure the
crisis is resolved no matter the sacrifices that should be made before it will
be too late. With the way PDP is regrouping, if the crisis in APC continues to
linger, it will sure affect APC in the 2019 general elections.
President
Buhari should just reconcile with Saraki and other APC leaders that are in
disagreement not just for the interest of APC but the interest of Nigeria at
large.
Obasanjo’s
letter to Jonathan has a lot of lesions from President Buhari and the APC
leadership as well. Most of what Obasanjo said might hit APC if the necessary steps
are not taken to avert them. President Jonathan never took the letter seriously
and a lot of things went bad for him and PDP. With the lingering crisis in APC,
Obasanjo’s letter is a good instructional guide for Buhari and APC. Lessons
should be learnt from PDP’s collapse as the ruling party!
By Terfa Naswem