APC Worse Than PDP (LONG READ)

👤 By Abdul Tukur, DENISAURUS News

The All Progressive Congress, APC led government “has been a monumental disaster, even worse than the government it replaced.”

That is what members of Nigeria’s ruling party said when they announced the decision to create a splinter group now known as the Reformed All Progressives Congress.

The grievances of the splinter group are similar to the five Governors who left the Peoples Democratic Party to form the new PDP in 2014.

Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) Murtala Nyako (Admawa) and Bukola Saraki (Kwara) boldly walking out from the PDP effectually lead the way for the success of the APC in the 2015 election.

The five leading politicians had complained back then to being marginalised by the PDP, the ruling party at the time. Instead of listening to their complain, the President Goodluck Jonathan made an enemy of them. He fought them hard and lost the battle in the end.

Similarly now, members of the ruling party have complained that the APC “has rather imposed dictatorship, impunity, abuse of power, complete abdication of constitutional and statutory responsibilities, infidelity to the rule of law and constitutionalism. ”

They say the party “has failed to ensure the security and welfare of our people and elevated nepotism to unacceptable height.”

At a press conference held on Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel, Buba Galadima complained that the “APC has run a rudderless, inept and incompetent government that has failed to deliver good governance to the Nigerian people.”

Alhaji Galadima, the former secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, another party that merged to form the APC, said: “the last straw, was the Congresses and Convention of the APC held recently. The Congresses were intensely disputed as it was conducted with impunity, total disregard for due process, disregard for the party Constitution and naked display of power and practices that have no place in a party we all worked the very hard to put in place.

“There are countless cases in courts all over the country challenging the legality of congresses and even the National Convention itself. It is very likely that the judicial decisions on these cases will result in massive chaos, confusion and uncertainties.

“The fate of a party in this state with a few months to the elections is best left to the imagination, but it is not a fate we believe our millions of members should be abandoned to.There were parallel congresses in 24 States namely: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara.

He adds: “These congresses in Wards, Local Government Areas and States all over the federation produced different sets of delegates. We therefore had an unfortunate situation where the party has been seriously factionalised and divided in not just 24 States but the 36 States and Abuja FCT.

“The so-called National Convention of the APC was even worse. The National Convention of the party was ridiculed with constitutional infirmities that were so glaring and obvious that no fair minded person can claim that a legitimate and lawful executive emerged from that process. The Chairman of the organising Committee, Jigawa State Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, declared 18 seats unopposed and uncontested, since only one valid candidate stood at the end of the grossly manipulated nomination exercise for each of the offices. He therefore proceeded to declare them duly elected in flagrant abuse and violence to the Constitution of the APC.

“Indeed, Article 20 of the APC Constitution is very clear and explicit. It envisages a situation where if at the close of nomination, only one person is nominated, the Convention must vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ for each candidate before he is declared duly elected. For the avoidance of doubt, let us re-produce the article verbatim:

“Article 20 (1) of the APC Constitution states “Unless otherwise provided for: All party posts prescribed or implied by this Constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections at the respective National Convention or Congress subject, where possible, to consensus, Provided that where a Candidate has emerged by consensus for an elective position, a vote of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ by ballot or voice shall be called, to ensure that it was not an imposition which could breed discontent and crisis”.

“We all witnessed on live television and at the venue, Eagles Square Abuja, that the Convention Chairman, only put the ‘Yes’ question to all the delegates, using words to the effect: Do you affirm? Do you agree? There was no opportunity whatsoever given to the delegates to say whether they are voting ‘No’ for any candidate as the ‘No’ question was never put to them.

“It may well be that it the convention Chairman put the ‘No’ Question, the voice vote for the ‘Noes,’ may have been more. We will never know, since it was never done, contrary to the express provisions of the APC Constitution. It is therefore unquestionably clear that the 18 officers of APC that was ‘Elected’ through this process could not have been duly elected.”