Will Adamu Survive Banana Peels in APC?

BRIEFINGNOTES

Barely two months after the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress was elected into office,  some of the NWC members have raised questions over his leadership style, Ejiofor Alike reports 

Following his sustained loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari as manifested in his pro-Buhari sentiments and fierce criticisms of Dr. Bukola Saraki-led leadership of the eighth Senate, a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu was anointed by the president as his preferred choice for the position of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). After he emerged as the consensus candidate of the party, Adamu was affirmed as the National Chairman of the party at its March 26, 2022 National Convention in Abuja.

But barely two months after Adamu and other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) were elected, cracks are beginning to appear among the party’s NWC. The first sign of the cracks appeared when the party’s National Vice Chairman, North-west, Dr. Salihu Lukman, accused him of running a one-man show, the same accusation that swept a former National Chairman of the party, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole out of office.

In a letter dated May 27, 2022, titled: ‘Rebuilding APC: Need for new Initiatives,’ the former Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) alleged that the new NWC under Adamu was gradually toeing the old path of the leadership style of Oshiomhole and the former Chairman of the party’s National Caretaker committee, Hon. Mai Mala Buni where decisions were left unimplemented and NWC members not carried along.

“Under your leadership, the current NWC is gradually snowballing into similar circumstances whereby decisions taken are allowed to lay bare and, in some instances, changed without necessarily taking needed steps to carry members along,” he wrote.

Lukman also frowned at what he described as the old approach of dropping President  Buhari’s name as the sole determinant of crucial activities in the party. He argued that the approach was not only unfair to the president but an attempt to use his name to give excuses for failure. He acknowledged that under Adamu’s leadership, the meetings of the NWC are now held almost every week.

 “It is to your credit that you accept the positions of members even when you disagree. This is a remarkable departure from what was obtained in the past where the National Chairman conduct meetings of party organs as Chief Executive and to that extent, therefore, exercises prerogatives and overrules members. The big challenge is ensuring that decisions taken are faithfully and implemented,” Lukman wrote.

According to him, the inability of the party under Oshiomhole and Buni to implement decisions taken was partly responsible for the leadership crisis that confronted the party. He advised Adamu to avoid taking unilateral decisions.

Lukman is not new to controversies. As the then Director General of PGF, he was a thorn in Oshiomhole’s flesh. Lukman who is believed to be an ally of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, was said to have been brought to the PGF by the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Before Oshiomhole was sacked, Lukman had accused the former Edo State governor of many infractions in the running of the affairs of the party. He also did not spare Buni as he also wrote similar letters to him, accusing him of elongating his tenure, among other things.

However, he was not alone in his accusation against Adamu. Barely one week after he wrote the accusation letter to Adamu, Lukman and his counterpart from the South-west, Mr. Isaacs Kekemeke accused the APC national chairman of rendering the NWC redundant. Kekemeke is a known ally of Ondo State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu.

Lukman and Kekemeke also threatened that any further unilateral decision taken by Adamu or any other party functionary, which required the approval of the NWC, as enshrined in the APC constitution, would be considered as illegitimate and an infringement on the jurisdictional scope of the NWC, unless otherwise confirmed as validly approved decisions of the NWC or any other legitimate organ of the party.

The duo argued that no one was elected at the March 26, 2022 national convention to warm seats or offices at the national secretariat.

In a statement titled, “APC and the Need for Vigilance: Urgent Call for Intervention”, and jointly signed by Lukman, and Kekemeke, the NWC members lamented that within two months in the life of the Adamu-led leadership, critical decisions about the affairs of the party were being taken unilaterally by the chairman.

They expressed worry that all efforts to get the national chairman to respect the authority of the NWC had proved unsuccessful, adding that they are compelled to issue the statement following postponement of the scheduled NWC meetings twice within 48 hours. The party chieftains noted that they were convinced that the rescheduling was a deliberate attempt to foist a fait accompli on the NWC on fundamental issues that affect the party.

They alleged that the NWC, organ of the party vested with the power of managing the day-to-day affairs, including implementing decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), as provided in Article 13.4 of the APC Constitution, has been rendered redundant.

“The national chairman takes decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions.

“Every effort to get the chairman to respect the authority of the NWC, as elected by the March 26, 2022 APC National Convention, is proving very difficult, if not impossible. Note that NEC’s donation of its powers was to NWC and not to the national chairman or any individual.

“The national chairman must be properly reminded to recognise that the business of managing the day-to-day affairs of the party is the responsibility of the NWC, as provided in provisions of the APC constitution,” Lukman and Kekemeke argued.

The key players in this unfolding crisis can’t be said to be in sharply different camps. While Lukman is known to be el-Rufai’s loyalist, Kekemeke is a known confidant of Akeredolu. But none of these governors is suspected to be behind the position of the two NWC members. El-Rufai, just like Adamu is a loyalist of President Buhari. Akeredolu is also close to Buhari.

Adamu, a product of consensus, is known to be an apostle of consensus presidential candidate just as Akeredolu had on Tuesday, thrown his weight behind the clamour for consensus candidate. The Ondo State governor however insisted that the candidate should come from the South-west. So, it is not clear why the two NWC members moved against Adamu.

But since Lukman and Kekemeke are still minority members of APC’s NWC, their opposition to Adamu’s leadership style is still of no significant effect. Though Adamu was said to have apologised to the aggrieved party officials, and promised to carry every NWC member along in the decision-making of the party henceforth, the peace may be short-lived, given the party’s previous experience, and the current bitter contest for the party’s presidential candidate.

But can Adamu survive the banana peel if more members of the NWC are recruited into a plot against him?

Events of the next few weeks will determine the direction of the party and the fate of its national chairman.