From APC’s ‘Super Tuesday’, the Winners and the Losers

Tuesday’s presidential nomination primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ended yesterday with winners and losers as expected. But while everyone was quick to moving on and rallying the party ahead of next year’s election, it does not change the fact that there was a winner and many losers. Olawale Olaleye writes.

THE WINNERS…

Bola Tinubu:

A former governor of Lagos State, not a few people gave Tinubu a chance and the grounds for their opposition to his lifelong ambition were largely justified. But Tinubu was not distracted. He kept faith, eyes on the ball and pulled it off. He is the number one winner being the direct beneficiary of the election.

Northern APC Governors:

At a point, when the confusion trailing the primary election got to a head, the northern governors of the party, led by Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, came together and insisted that power must go back to the South. Their position, though not easy, they stood tall to be counted on the side justice and equity.  They refused to let promoters of the consensus contraption have their way and stood their ground in the spirit of equity, justice and fairness. They won. Lalong as the Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, worked discreetly with Kaduna State Governor, Nasir  El-Rufai and Chairman of All Progressives Governor Forum, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu to frustrate the consensus idea. They are all heroes and winners.

APC NWC Members:

Drawn from different parts of the country, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling APC, an organ, which also doubles as the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party, with a term certain, rebuffed all attempts by a section of the leadership of the party to impose its self-serving decision on the party. And they held their ground. They won a just cause.

Those Who Stepped Down:

The road to APC’s Super Tuesday was not an easy one for the ruling party. Unfortunately, some of the underhand intrigues that sculpted its path, had also threatened the possibility of power going to south. But, from nowhere, some of the aspirants just showed up and started stepping down for Tinubu, a development, which immediately separated the men from the boys and paved the way to victory for Tinubu.

Oluwarotim Akeredolu: 

Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, is one governor in the South-west, who does not take prisoners. He also does not condone poor attitudinal disposition and detests injustice. Thus, when the National Chairman of the party, Abdulahi Adamu, reportedly announced the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the consensus candidate of the party, he was quick to fire back, saying, Adamu was on a frolic of his own. He was right after all, because the idea died the way it came and a southern candidate emerged. He won too.

The Convention Organisers:

For all that it was worth, the organisers of the convention were by all standards winners, for organising such an entertaining show. From the moment the exercise kicked off till the time the winner was announced, there was no dull moment. This presupposes, however, that the organisers did their best, despite some of the hitches recorded.

 THE LOSERS…

Muhammadu Buhari:

A few days to the APC Special Convention, President Muhammadu Buhari, met with governors of the party and pleaded with them to let him choose his successor. He said this in the spirit of reciprocity as they were wont to do in their states. Unfortunately, Buhari’s position only complicated things with no defining follow-up to show presence. This left the party more confused until things assumed shape of their own. As president and leader of the party, who, habitually, is not hands-on, he lost out at the primary.

Abdullahi Adamu:

Since his election as the National Chairman of the party, Tuesday’s presidential primary was Adamu’s first major test and he failed exceptionally in living above boards or acting as father to all, a position that naturally fits his age bracket. But indication that he was not honest about equity and fair-play, started to emerge, when he kept denying that the party had any understanding on zoning. This, he further took a notch up, when in the heat of the confusion, he hinted Ahmad Lawan as the consensus candidate. Everyone fought back and he lost. He is the grand patron of the losers.

The Co-contestants

In all, there were 23 aspirants, who sought to contest the party’s presidential ticket. With time, two withdrew from the race (Ken Nnamani and Abubakar Badaru), while seven stepped down and the remaining 14 went to the polls. Therefore, the 13 others, who slugged it out with Tinubu are the natural losers and should be recognised as such. It was a trashing!