Like other political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is still very much in the euphoria of the success of its just concluded national convention where Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the standard bearer for the 2023 presidential election. Beyond the relief that the transparency of the process has brought to the party supporters, the peaceful conclusion of the exercise devoid of rancour is also a further demonstration of Nigeria’s ability to pull back from the brink of disaster.

Before the controversial presidential primary, not a few political analysts and the naysayers had predicted an imminent implosion of the party. They based their prognosis on the alleged moves by some cabals within the presidency to foist a consensus candidate on other aspirants. But on Tuesday, June 7, the party laid the speculation to rest by conducting its national convention in the most peaceful and transparent manner. In doing so under the watchful eyes of President Muhammadu Buhari, who had earlier indicated his interest to choose his successor, the party has redeemed itself, giving further credence to the general yearning for internal democracy.

In spite of the feat, however, much still needs to be done to achieve genuine reconciliation within the rank and file. This is more so with the crisis of confidence that exists between the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC), on one hand, and some power contenders who took exception to some of his underhand dealings during the screening of aspirants, on the other hand.

Adamu walked himself into trouble, when he suddenly and unilaterally announced the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, as Buhari’s consensus candidate for the party barely 24 hours before the convention. He made the announcement at the meeting of the NWC only to realise that he had merely succeeded in waking up an army of opposition from the rank and file of the party supporters, including the Northern governors’ forum, who had earlier resolved to prevail on the president to allow power to shift to the South. Members of his NWC didn’t spare him from public embarrassment either as they claimed that they were not consulted before the decision was taken.

For his deficit of trust, trouble may not have been over for Adamu. Either now or in the near possible future, he would be made to account for some of his misdemeanors, though the prevailing peace in the party may endure for so long as the campaign for the presidential election holding in February 2023 lasts. The leader of a group who led the campaign train of a particular aspirant in the just concluded primary told Sunday Sun that they would work for his impeachment.

Pleading anonymity, he threatened that “after the convention, we will make sure we chase him out of that office. Once he has shown interest in a candidate, he can no longer continue to lead the party. He has to step aside. I have known this guy to be a traitor since the days of the late General Sani Abacha. We need to deal with him.”

Against all odds, Tinubu has emerged as the winner of the presidential primary. But he cannot achieve victory all alone. He needs to rally the support of his rival contenders as well as other critical stakeholders to confront the opposition Peoples Democratic (PDP) and his formidable candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to win the presidential election.

Indeed, he has offered the olive branch to his other contenders, appealing to them to join hands together to ensure victory in the general election. While thanking the delegates for the confidence reposed in him, he also commended his fellow aspirants, saying “it is a difficult thing to run for president.”

His words: “The stiff and bold competition you offered made our party stronger and made me better. I must say a special word of thanks to the seven aspirants: Alhaji Badaru Abubakar; Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Sen. Ajayi Borrofice; Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole; Sen. Godswill Akpabio; Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and Barr. (Mrs.) Uju Kennedy who chose to step down their personal ambitions for the good of the party and the unity of our purpose.

“The competition is now over. Let us each agree to join hands in defeating the PDP and beating back our common foes of poverty, terror, and violence. We now have a date with destiny in February 2023. Let us win so Nigeria can become the nation it is intended to be.”

A chieftain of the APC and Pro-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, also speaking in the same vein, exuded confidence that the successful conduct of the convention had laid the apprehension about possible implosion to rest.

“I think the crisis of confidence in the party has been resolved by the delegates. Adamu could not have successfully imposed a consensus candidate on the party because both the Electoral Act and the constitution of the APC make it very clear that without the consent of the aspirants or delegates you cannot have a consensus candidate.

“The two constitutions are strict in ensuring that there is no imposition. So, even if it is the wish of Adamu as the Chairman of the party, who has his own interest, his interest will be subsumed by the interest of the party under the law. In my view, the outcome of the convention is the end of discussion. I have always maintained that this concept of consensus is undemocratic,” he posited.

Now, the most critical hurdle before the APC is the choice of a running mate.

According to the guideline released by the National Electoral Commission (INEC), the timeline for submission of nomination for parties’ standard-bearers is between June 10 and 17. It is already a settled matter that the running mate must be a Northern Christian to ensure a balance of the political equation since Tinubu is from the South and he is a Muslim. But the challenge remains how to fish out a level-headed person who can work in harmony with the president when eventually elected into the office.

Already, speculation is rife that some five governors among the Northern Governors’ Forum have begun intense lobbying for the vice presidential ticket. It is important for the leadership to know that the choice of a running mate is as critical to the success or failure of the person nominated as a candidate.

Beyond the electoral value such individuals may add to the party’s chances of victory, there are such other considerations as competence, humility, loyalty, and subservience to a superior authority that have to be factored in the ultimate search for the right match.

In their collective contribution to the transparency of the process that gave Tinubu his much-celebrated victory in the primary, the Northern governors had demonstrated genuine unity of purpose by prevailing on the party to concede power to the South after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

Expectedly, they are bound to make their contribution to the choice of a vice presidential candidate. But then, it will be antithetical for them to capitalize on the gesture to impose a running mate of the party’s flag bearer.

One of the things former President Olusegun Obasanjo has always recounted as his major regrets for the eight-year tenure of his administration is the recalcitrant attitude of his vice. All the acrimonies that characterized the relationship between the two are already a familiar story. So bad was the no love lost situation between him and his deputy that Obasanjo had to write a whole book to chronicle his experiences.

APC cannot avoid the same pitfall. And, of course, the only way is to follow due diligence in the nomination of a running mate to its candidate. As Winston Churchill rightly said, “those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.”

In his opinion, Chief Frank Kokori, maintained that the only way to achieve a harmonious working relationship between the president and his deputy is through reciprocal and mutual trust.

He, therefore, charged the APC leadership to give the candidate the opportunity to nominate whosoever he has trust and confidence in.

“The inner caucus of the party and the candidate are already working on the choice of a running mate. A vice president is like what Nigerians like to refer to as a spare tyre. So, the best is to allow the candidate to choose who he can work with successfully without rancour,” he said.

He, however, noted the limitation of choice available to Tinubu in his present circumstance. He argued: “As you know, Atiku will pick his running mate anywhere from the South, while Tinubu will pick his own from anywhere in the North. Atiku does not have a problem picking somebody from the South who must be a Christian. Tinubu will have problems in the North because the Christian Northerners are not as politically influential as Muslim Northerners. And the average Nigerian still believes in religious balancing. That is one of the major factors the party caucus will have to put into consideration.

“Atiku has millions of capable Christians to pick from in the South. Tinubu has very few choices to make among the Christians in the North. So, he has to appeal to the Northern hegemony by saying, ‘look, if you want this ticket to fly, please allow me to pick my running mate.’ He has to do that because the people are not as civilized as the governors. The governors know that a Christian may do better than a Muslim. Goodluck Jonathan is a Christian, but that does not mean that he did better for Christians than Muslims. Buhari is a Muslim; that does not mean that he has done better for the Muslims than the Christians. In fact, under him, terrorists and bandits, who called them- selves Muslims, but are nothing other than rogues, have done worse things than anyone can think of.

“He needs to appeal to the sentiment of the governors to get a good Christian in the North because you cannot just pick anybody on the street.

“Any deputy in the world, if your boss does not carry you along, you will just be there as a spare tyre. You must know first of all that you must be obedient to your master and your master must be reasonable enough to consult with you. Most of the time, a problem occurs when presidents marginalize the deputies. Some deputies too are over-ambitious.

“He (Tinubu) will be the first person to nominate and then other people can advise through their inputs,” he said.

Abayomi corroborated the same view, saying that religious consideration should be deemphasized in making critical political decisions.

He said: “Traditionally, nobody worries about the imposition of a running mate. And nobody cares to impose a running mate. The issue of running mate is usually the issue of balancing. And it is because the issue of religion has become an important factor in our relationship as a nation.

“Christians continue to believe that Christians and Muslims must be recognized equally in sharing political decisions. My view is different. I do not believe that political decisions should be defined by religion. As far as I am concerned, we need to separate religion from politics.

To my mind, the art of politicking and religion should be strictly defined by the law of a nation. But unfortunately in our nation, we have religious factor, regional factor, and so on and so forth.

I think we need to reach a point where we think beyond all these. For example, would you prefer a Muslim-Christian team that is just a watch out to a Muslim-Muslim ticket that gives you good governance, improves our development, improves our unity, enhances education, social development, economy, and reduces unemployment merely because of religious balance? I think at the end of it all, decisions about what we need as a people are not religion.

“We need good roads, we need a good education for our children, we need employment for our youths and we need a good economy that can sustain the lives of the aged. All of these have nothing to do with religion. Because of recognition for political position, the use of religion has become one of the abuses in our developmental journey. We have got to an unfortunate situation that if they want to kill a person, they will ask whether the person is a Muslim or a Christian.”

As the search effort continues, he advised that more attention should be paid to critical details about the behavioural attitude of the leaders rather than religion.

Stakeholders have continued to pour accolades on President Buhari for making good his words to provide a level-playing field for all aspirants.

But it is very unlikely that he would intervene in the nomination of a running mate to the party’s standard-bearer.

In his characteristic attitude, he doesn’t like to make big strategic decisions. The onus lies on the party leadership to take the right decision in the overall interest of the country. (Courtesy of Sunday Sun)

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