APC AND THE HOUR OF DECISION

The APC leadership should do well to deliver a credible nomination convention

After several false starts, occasioned by sundry postponements, the

national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is expected to begin tomorrow. Barring

another attempt at manipulation by those who seem to be working the courts, we expectthe 2,320 elected delegates drawn from the 774 local

government areas of the country to converge in Abuja to choose from the 13 aspirants cleared at the weekend

by the John Odigie-Oyegun-led screening committee. We enjoin the APC leadership to demonstrate their

capacity for internal democracy anchored on

due process and rule of

law.

It is commendable

that some of the leading

aspirants in the party

have been crisscrossing

the country to project

their programmes to the

delegates. This is how it

should be in a democracy,

even if their plans for the resolution of burning national issues, including the comatose economy, nationwide

insecurity, and the failing structures of state, have not been thoroughly interrogated. But this is just an internal process. An elaboration of their plans is saved

for the campaigns to come before the 2023 general election. However, we are concerned by the way money has been deployed in this nomination process, especially

by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC. Although politicians in the latter

appear to be more discreet, huge sums of money are still exchanging hands between the aspirants and delegates as well as between them and party officials.

At a time like this when all hands should be on deckto get the best suitable person to pilot the affairs of thenation, otherwise bright hands are being left behind

because of their lack of access to cash.The problem started with the scandalous nomination

fees charged by both the APC and PDP which fly inthe face of the prevailing harsh economic realities in

the country. If citizens have difficulties making basic ends meet, where are they expected to raise such

huge sums either for themselves or for whoever may be their choice to vie for the various elective offices? This unfortunate phenomenon threatens to restrict the democratic space and shorten the people’s choices. Compounding this restriction is the growing attempt by the APC leadership to shut down competition in the name of consensus-building. This otherwise undemocratic tendency was strengthened when President Muhammadu Buhari met with the party’s governors and requested to be allowed to choose his successor. Although consensus building helps to narrow or even eliminate rancour in an internal electoral contest, the concept becomes antithetical to the pursuit of internal cohesion if the outcome is obtained through a dictatorial process.

It is difficult to see the reason for the presidential request, especially when the electioneering process has been devoid of any rancour. Section 84 (9) and Section 84 (10) of the Electoral Act 2022 make it clear that consensus must be obtained by the voluntary consent of all cleared aspirants. Coming against the background of what is seen as a fair process that threw up the presidential PDP candidate after a fierce contest, the ruling party that unseated its main rival from power seven years ago on the back of a transparent electoral process has no choice than to deliver a credible nomination convention.

The challenge before the APC leadership, therefore, is to deliver a nomination convention in which contestants are allowed to participate without let or hindrance while the right of every delegate to vote based on their conviction is guaranteed and protected. Meanwhile, we understand that every political party has a right to determine the mode for selecting candidates provided they are not infringing on any law.

But we must sound a note of caution to the APC leadership, including President Buhari: If the pursuit of consensus ends up creating confusion in both the party and the nation, that can only vitiate the fundamental end of democracy which is to protect the polity from forces of discord and confusion in matters of leadership selection