Can Ganduje Mend the Cracks in APC?

With the controversy that dogged the emergence of the former governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, as the sixth National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, coupled with the corruption allegations hanging on his neck, the former Kano State governor may find it difficult to mend the cracks in the party, which have cut short the tenures of his predecessors, Ejiofor Alike writes

With a turnover of six national chairmen within 10 years of its existence, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has no doubt, demonstrated signs of instability, which are fuelled by persistent internal wranglings.

Before the recent emergence of the immediate past governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje as the sixth National Chairman of the party, the ruling party had been led by the former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande as its protem chairman when it was formed in 2013, followed by two former governors of Edo State, Chief John Oyegun and Senator Adams Oshiomhole.

Oshiomhole was succeeded by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni as the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC); followed by a former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdulahi Adamu.

The dispute over the emergence of the presiding officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly in 2015 tore it apart.

The cracks widened as the camp of the then National Leader of the party, Bola Tinubu plotted the removal of Oyegun who was replaced with Oshiomhole, a known ally of the former Lagos State governor.

However, Oshiomhole’s perceived closeness to Tinubu, who was believed to be nursing presidential ambition, had also cut short his tenure of office.

The anti-Tinubu forces in June 2020, under controversial circumstances, sacked the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) and imposed a legally questionable national caretaker committee led by Governor Buni of Yobe State as chairman.

With the anti-Tinubu stance of the Buni-led committee, the pro-Tinubu leaders of the party continued to mount pressure for Buni’s ouster until the committee was forced to schedule a national convention on March 26, 2022.

However, to ensure that Tinubu did not have a firm grip on the party in view of his rumoured presidential ambition, Adamu, who was his non-political ally, was adopted as the party’s consensus National Chairman by anti-Tinubu forces in the party who had the strong backing of a cabal in the Presidency.

But as soon as the then National Leader of the party was announced the winner of the February 25 presidential election, many analysts predicted that Adamu’s days were numbered in view of his anti-Tinubu pronouncements.

When the then National Vice Chairman for North-West, Mallam Salihu Lukman, wrote the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) last month to express his displeasure over its alleged choice of Ganduje, to replace Adamu as National Chairman of the party, analysts also knew that it was Tinubu that wanted to retake control of the ruling party through the former Kano State governor, who is his staunch supporter.

Lukman had to resign his position when he realised that there was no going back on the plan to make Ganduje the party’s chairman.

He said the current atmosphere within APC was not in tandem with the vision of the founding fathers.

Lukman also warned that the imposition of Ganduje, as national chairman, would lead the party to damnation.

He said that the emergence of Ganduje would breach the party’s constitution and also raise moral questions.

“Sincerely, it simply means that we don’t attach any importance to the party if with all the corruption allegations against Dr. Ganduje, we find him to be the only one in the North-west to be recommended,” he added.

Lukman claimed that if the leaders of the North-west were asked to nominate five people for consideration to serve in the capacity of national chairman of APC, Ganduje would not be one of the five nominees.

As governor of Kano State, Ganduje was perceived to be heavily corrupt, though no court has found him guilty.

A video where he was purported to be receiving bales of dollars as bribes from a contractor, which he pocketed inside his babariga, had once gone viral but the court cleared him.

The immediate past governor of Rivers State and Minister-designate for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike had once mocked him over the alleged video.

Wike had through his spokesman, Simeon Nwakaudu told Ganduje that he (Wike) was not a dollar bill which Ganduje can “pocket sheepishly and recklessly”

Ganduje had provoked the ire of his Rivers State counterpart when he threatened to institute a legal action against Wike, following claims that he ordered the demolition of a mosque in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

“Gandollars, sorry, Ganduje is still talking because he thinks that Nigerians have forgotten about his crime against his people,” Nwakaudu reportedly said.

Also speaking in a video that was apparently recorded shortly before the 2019 general election, Wike had described Ganduje as “a man who pockets dollars from contractors in his babariga”.

Ganduje was said to have threatened that Wike would be isolated until after the general election.

“He (Ganduje) said that he was going to isolate me (Wike) until the election is over. That tells you – if Nigeria is supposed to be a country, who is supposed to be isolated? Who is supposed to be isolated? A man who pockets dollars from contractors in his babariga!” Wike queried.

Shortly before Ganduje became the National Chairman of the APC, Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) had disclosed that it had invited him to appear before it over the alleged dollar bribe videos.

Despite Lukman’s protests, Ganduje emerged as the National Chairman of the party at its 12th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, following Adamu’s resignation.

Barely few days after Lukman’s resignation, the National Legal Adviser of the ruling party, Ahmed El-Marzuk, also resigned from the party’s NWC, citing the emergence of Ganduje and Ajibola Basiru as APC Chairman and Secretary, respectively, as his reasons.

Reacting to Ganduje’s emergence, Lukman had in an open letter to Tinubu said his emergence had sent a disturbing signal that Tinubu was only faintly committed to fighting corruption.

“With all the uncleared corruption allegation against Dr. Ganduje, you opted to nominate him to become the national chairman of the party even, when Article 31.5(i) of the constitution of APC clearly gave Nasarawa State Executive Committee the power to nominate who should replace Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.”

Lukman said it was scandalous that Tinubu would opt for Ganduje with all the baggage of corruption allegations against him.

He said it defied every logical reasoning that Tinubu would ignore the provisions of Article 31.5(i) to nominate Ganduje, even when the same provision of the constitution was used to nominate Senator Basiru Ajibola from Osun State as replacement for Senator Iyiola Omisore.

Lukman had equally raised moral and legal issues against Oshiomhole, Buni and Adamu’s leaderships and none of them survived.

Analysts believe that Ganduje also lacks the charisma and high moral ground required to mend the cracks in APC.