As Post-election Crisis Rocks  Parties

Following the conclusion of the 2023 polls,  parties in the country are now battling with post election crisis, as political stakeholders strive to take control of the soul of the parties. Adedayo Akinwale writes.

It is not unusual in the Nigeria political terrain for  parties to be embroiled in  post election crisis. More often than not, it may be as a result of unresolved differences in the build up to the poll or sometimes, the insistence of powerful stakeholders or power brokers within the party to take control of the party.

Already, the post election crisis that is ravaging almost all the major political parties have already claimed its first casualty with the suspension of the National Chairman of the main opposition party,  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Ayu’s ouster was a prophecy foretold. The  opposition party was fragmented and went into the 2023 elections with a divided house. 

Prior to the general election, one of the conditions for peace as demanded by the Integrity Group, a forum of five governors, otherwise known as G-5, who were up in arms against the party, was for Ayu to step aside following the decision of the party to violate its own zoning formula.

The G-5 led by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesime Wike, also had Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu state as members.

Surprisingly, the party called the bluff of the governors, and failed to accede to the demands of the G-5. The refusal of the leadership of the party to shift ground was one of the major reasons for the abysmal performance of the PDP in the just concluded polls.

Nevertheless, Ayu’s nightmare started following his suspension by a section of his ward executives over alleged anti-party activities, but he dismissed his purported suspension as the handiwork of some desperate ignorant gamblers who lack basic understanding of the PDP Constitution.

While Ayu was grandstanding, his traducers showed that they means business as a Benue state High Court ordered him to stop parading himself as the National Chairman of the PDP pending determination of the suit before it.

It was based on this that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, confirmed its Deputy National Chairman (North), Ambassador Umar Illiya Damagum, as acting National Chairman after Ayu, stepped aside in deference to the court order.

Moreso, the tsunami of the post election crisis sweeping through the parties may have also found a comfortable abode in the Labour Party. This followed the purported suspension of the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, by his Ward Executive in Edo state, over allegations of forgery, perjury, mismanagement of funds, anti-party activities, among others

But reprieve came the way of Abure when  the Edo State chapter of the party rubbished his purported suspension and passed a vote of confidence on him.

Consequently, the Edo State executives of the party described the suspension as the handiwork of impostors being sponsored by other political parties to destabilise the success recorded by the party.

His reprieve was however short-lived as a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court gave an order restraining him and the National Secretary, Farouk Ibrahim and two others from parading themselves as National Officers of the party.

Justice Hamza Muazu issued the restraining order last Wednesday  while ruling on an ex-parte application argued by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on behalf of James  Onoja.

Onoja had in the application informed the court how the restrained national officers allegedly forged several documents of the FCT High Court to carry out unlawful substitutions in the last general election.

Against this background, some members of the  NWC of the party have announced replacement of  Abure, with the National Vice Chairman (South), Lamidi Bashir Apapa, appointed in acting capacity.

But Abure has maintained that he remained the national chairman of the party, given Wednesday’s Benin High Court order restraining the party from taking further action against him and other national officers of the party.

Also, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appeared not to be immuned from the post election crisis from state chapters of the party to the national level.

For instance, the unending war of attrition in the Enugu state chapter of APC has led to the expulsions and suspensions of prominent members of the party in the state.

The State secretary of the party, Robert Ngwu, at a press conference in Enugu last Thursday announced the suspension of former Governor Sullivan Chime; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon Eugene Odoh; Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu; former commissioner for Tourism, Ozor Joe Mmamel; Special Assistant to Foreign Affairs Minister, Flavour Eze; and former House of Representatives candidate in 2019 poll, Maduka Arum.

The party had earlier expelled the former chairman of APC in the state, Dr. Ben Nwoye and a former deputy state chairman of the party, Mr. AC Udeh. Ngwu at the end of the party’s SEC meeting, presented the report of the party’s Disciplinary and Fact Finding Committee, recommendations which he said were ratified by the State Executive Council (SEC) during her meeting.

While the party accused Nnamani and Chime of openly endorsing and campaigning for the governorship candidate of the PDP,  Mr. Peter Mbah and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama  campaigned for the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, and worked for the Governorship candidate of PDP, Mbah, allegedly using federal government palliatives like cooking stove, wrappers, rice and garri.

At the national level, it is no longer at ease as the crisis rocking the APC took a dramatic turn last Monday, when APC National Vice Chairman, North-West, Dr. Salihu Lukman, accused the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdulahi Adamu and the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, of turning other members of the NWC into rubber stamp.

Lukman in a statement decried that the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the party had not been inaugurated more than a year after the Adamu-led NWC assumed office.

He pointed out that the constitution of the party under Article 13.2B.(i) stipulates that, “the National Secretary shall, not later than one month after an elective convention, convene the meeting of the National Advisory Council”; but added that one year after assuming office, Omisore has never proposed any action towards the inauguration of NAC.

The party chieftain stressed that there was only one meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on April 8, 2022, noting that there was never any meeting of the National Caucus.

According to him, instead, meetings of the NWC hold without necessarily ensuring that existing constitutional provisions are respected.

In this circumstance, critical functions of the NEC, which include approving the national budget of the party as provided in Article 13.3A(xiv) of the party’s Constitution is simply ignored.

Lukman further stressed that Article 13.3A(xv) of the party’s constitution directed the NWC to give quarterly financial reports to NEC; while Article 13.4(ii) directs the NWC to present reports and Article 13.4(iv) compels the NWC to present financial reports on income and expenditure of the party, but added that all these have been ignored.

The activist cum politician said it was public knowledge that the party earned billions of Naira in revenue from sales of forms to aspiring contestants for the 2023 general election, but added that the NWC was yet to declare to any organ of the party how much it inherited from  Mai Mala-led Caretaker Committee and how much was received as donations and contributions for the 2023 polls.

Lukman emphasised that large-scale expenditures, which include the renovation of the National Secretariat complex are being undertaken without any organ of the party exercising the powers of due diligence.

He said:  “As a member of the NWC, I can say without fear of contradiction, all decisions bordering on managing the finances of the party are being taken by the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore. Most members of NWC are reduced to onlookers or at best rubber stamp. All appeals for accountability have fallen on deaf ears. Decision of the NWC to convene  NEC meeting in August last year was simply sabotaged.”

To this end, Lukman called on the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to immediately intervene to restore constitutional order in the management of the party affairs. He said it would  be a mockery to continue to bear the name progressive and continue to run affairs of the party based on the personal discretion of Adamu and Omisore.

However, to halt the party’s further slide into crisis, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) has constituted a five-man investigative and reconciliation committee to curtail the brewing crisis in the party.The decision to set up the committee was taken at the last NWC meeting held at the party secretariat.

Members of the committee are: Deputy National Chairman (North), Abubakar Kyari, who will serve as the head of the Committee; Deputy National Chairman (South), Emma Eneukwu; National Vice Chairman, South East, Ijeomah Arodiogbu and the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.

It was gathered that the five-man committee will soon meet with Adamu and Omisore.

A member of the NWC who pleaded anonymity said the five-man committee met with Lukman for about 2 hours last Wednesday, where he further presented some of the infractions he accused the Chairman and the Secretary of.

The source further revealed that the committee was not given any time frame to carry out its assignment but was charged to thoroughly investigate and find an amicable solution to the crisis before it degenerates further.

Although the ruling party is doing all within its means to curtail the crisis in the party, political observers believe that it is only a matter of time before Adamu would be sacrificed.