There are concerns that the omission of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the not too significant role given to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in the Presidential Campaign Council of the ruling All progressives Congress, might be a pointer to chaos within the ruling party as campaign commences for the 2023 presidential election.
While the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been enmeshed in crisis after the conclusion of its primaries and nomination of its Vice-Presidential candidate, the APC seems to have managed its affair without rancour, until the latest development.
National leader of APC and former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahamed Tinubu, had defeated Amaechi, Osinbajo and thirteen others to pick the presidential ticket of the party. Eight of the thirteen aspirants stepped down and asked their supporters to vote for Tinubu, while one other aspirant asked his supporters to vote for Osinbajo.
Tinubu polled 1,271 votes against his closest rivals – Amaechi’s 316 and Osinbajo who had 235 votes.
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Senate President, Ahmad Lawal scored 152 votes; Yahaya Bello of Kogi recorded 47 votes; Dave Umuahi of Ebonyi had 38 votes; 37 delegates voted for Ben Ayade of Cross River state while Sen. Ahmad Yarima had four votes, Ogbonnaya Onu and Chukwuemeka Nwajuba polled one vote each. Chief Ikeobasi Mokelu, Mr Tein Jack Rich, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Senator Rochas Okorocha had no vote.
The APC on Saturday released a 422-member Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the commencement of the party’s 2023 presidential campaign to be headed by President Muhammadu Buhari. While VP Osinbajo was not included, Amaechi, who had served as the Director General of the two presidential elections that APC won in 2015 and 2019 was listed as Special Adviser, Infrastructure. The governor of Cross River state, Ayade was named as the Zonal Coordinator of the campaign in the South South as well as Rivers state coordinator, according to the list published by the secretary of the council, James Faleke.
Despite the explanation by the spokesperson of council, Festus Keyamo, that Buhari had directed that Osinbajo and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, be left out of the list of campaign council to enable them concentrate on governance, analysts said the statement was an afterthought and a deliberate effort to cover the crisis in the party.
Thelead.ng also observed that loyalists of Osinbajo and Amaechi were also omitted from the list.
Also missing from the list are former speaker of the house of representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal and former minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.
Dogara and Lawal had distanced themselves from the ruling party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.
APC’s cold war
While Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike has constantly been in the news in recent times over his unending feud with the national chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu and its presidential candidate, Atiku, the silence of Osinbajo and Amaechi is deafening in the camp of Asiwaju Tinubu and the APC.
Repeated efforts by the National Working Committee, NWC of the party to hold meetings with all the presidential aspirants that took part in the primary failed. One of such meetings was postponed in August over failure of aspirants to communicate their readiness to attend, it was gathered.
Although, Osinbajo congratulated Tinubu after the primary and also hosted the flagbearer at his Aguda residence in Abuja in what was seen as a pointer that both men have reconciled their differences after a bitter campaign leading to the primary, his silence on the controversy generated on the Muslim-Muslim ticket has made many to doubt his commitment to the campaign.
“Osinbajo is not just the VP and a member of the APC, he is a respected pastor in one of the leading Pentecostal denominations in the country. He has never spoken in defence of the party, despite the opposition raised against the ticket by former SGF, Babachir Lawal and Speaker Yakubu Dogara,” a source in the APC said.
Amaechi had also sent a congratulatory message to Tinubu after the primaries, assuring the former Lagos state governor of his commitment to the success of the party at the poll, however, his comment at the 60th birthday celebration of the general overseer of Abundant Life Evangel Mission (ALEM), Eugene Ogu, in Port Harcourt, that some of the delegates, who voted at the special convention of the APC were now regretting their decisions, was seen as a direct attack on Tinubu, who was said to have outspent other aspirants.
“Those who voted at the APC primaries, who are they? They are ordinary Nigerians. The small money they got solved their immediate problem, now they are saying they made a mistake, you are now hearing different things.
“If you are praying for us, pray for the leadership of the country, but also pray for ordinary Nigerians to be able to choose the right president to govern the country,” he had said.
Control of Rivers APC and Wike’s romance
Thelead.ng learnt that it will be difficult for Amaechi and Tinubu to work together as the latter had used Senator Magnus Abe to checkmate the influence of the former Minister of Transportation in Rivers state chapter of the APC ahead of the presidential primaries.
“Sensing that Amaechi was in the race to pick the APC ticket, Asiwaju camp saw Senator Abe as the other formidable stalwart to reduce his total grip on the party. Although Amaechi controls the structure, Abe was able to canvas support for Asiwaju,” the source said.
It was learnt that Amaechi felt slighted that Tinubu embraced Abe whose legal battle had led to the disqualification of all APC candidates in the state during the 2019 election.
Although Abe has picked the governorship ticket of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, he has vowed to continue to campaign for Tinubu.
The Tinubu’s camp has also not hidden its romance with Wike, another political enemy of Amaechi.
It is believed that if not for the conclusion of nomination of candidates for elective positions, a formal defection would have been considered by the governor and his team. However, while staying in the PDP, they are likely to ensure that APC either wins or PDP’s win margin is significantly reduced in the state.
It was gathered that Amaechi’s influence is believed to have significantly waned with his loss of the APC presidential ticket and his ministerial position. It is believed that without federal might and patronage, Amaechi has lost ground.
“He was unable to win the state despite enjoying the full weight of the federal government in 2019. Most of his followers have also defected because there are no more appointments and other lucrative offers to buy their loyalty,” hinted a source in the ruling party.
Policy and Strategy expert, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu, said Amaechi has little relevance ahead of the 2023 poll. The Professor of Strategic Management and Human Capital Development said the former Minister of Transportation is yet to recover from the shock of losing the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu
“He has nothing to say today because almost everything he has said since he joined the APC only brought him into disrepute. His performance in office worsened matters. Just look at the choice, location and cost of most of the projects executed under his watch.
“Then, he got swindled when he was deceived into believing that he could actually aspire to be president,” he said.
Media scholar and development expert, Dr. Tunde Akanni, said there is no cause to worry over the non-inclusion of Osinbajo on the list.
“If Osinbajo was included, it would make that list 423-member council, I don’t know how much political value Osinbajo has that 422 people cannot add to the campaign. The main anchor of his campaign, Femi Ojudu had said he would rather return to his farm and the good thing is that the campaign council was thorough not to have included Osinbajo and Ojudu. It would have been embarrassing if his name was included and he opted out like they are having in the PDP,” he said, noting that the thoroughness of the list has given clarity of the competence that should be expected from the Tinubu’s administration
Ignore Amaechi at your peril
However, a long-time ally of the former Rivers State Governor, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said Amaechi cannot beg for position or stop Tinubu from hobnobbing with Wike and Abe. He maintained that anyone that undermined Amaechi is doing so at his own loss.
“Apart from leading the party to victory on the two occasions he (Amaechi) piloted the affairs of the party as the DG Presidential Campaign Organisation, he also ensured that APC was firmly established as a political party by the type of spirit and awareness he brought to bear in the party. So for anybody to feel that such a character or leader can be undermined or neglected, such a fellow or group of fellows are doing so to ensure that the party doesn’t succeed in the 2023 general elections,” he said.
The erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of APC in the South-South, said Amaechi’s assumed silence is another means of communication. He said the former governor has been holding meetings with members of APC in Rivers state and will speak when it becomes imperative to do so.
“His assumed silence reminds me of Thomas Carlyle who stated, “Speech is silver, silence is golden”
“Ralph C. Smedley explains it better when he said, “Whatever your grade or position, if you know how and when to speak, and when to remain silent, your chances of real success are proportionately increased.” By being quiet, Amaechi is speaking more than most of our political actors that are speaking almost on a daily basis that is why Martin Farquhar Tupper highlighted that, “Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech,” he waxed philosophically.
It was gathered from reliable sources that Amaechi who is believed to have been the major beneficiary of the nPDP bloc in the APC is scheming for a better offer in 2023.
“Will he get the same prominent role he had under Buhari if Asiwaju wins? Don’t forget he determined everything that was given to Rivers state. Tinubu has other people working for him now in the state, is Amaechi willing to share opportunities with them? What can he negotiate in the PDP if he decides to work with Atiku? With the backing of Atiku if he wins, can he oust Wike from the leadership of the party? These and many more are the questions in his camp,” noted a source who pleaded not to be named.
Tinubu can’t force anyone to work with him
The Director Media and Communications, Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said his principal is open to working with everybody to achieve success at the poll. He, however, said the former governor cannot force anyone to join him.
“Asiwaju is open to working with everybody. If someone chose to keep quiet just like the VP has done since after the primaries, we cannot force them. Maybe they will come out when the campaign starts. The campaign has not started yet. So, let us wait till then so we know those who are with us,” he said.
The General Secretary of the pro-democracy organisation, the June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations (J12CODEF), Nelson Ekujumi, said there is no need to read meaning to omission of names on the list. He said the VP will work for the success of the party and its candidate as already stated by President Buhari.
“The presidency is one and President Buhari has said that he will work for the success of all the candidates of the party. The party of the Vice President has presented a candidate and you have not heard him say that he disagrees with that nomination. It shows that he is solidly behind the candidate, otherwise, he would have resigned,” he said.
A Public Policy Expert, Abimbola Oyarinu (PhD), said it will be unfortunate if Tinubu decided to do away with Osinbajo because he contested against him, noting that the experience of the VP will be handy for the party and Tinubu.
A political ally of Tinubu and a former Minister of Works and Housing, Adeseye Ogunlewe, said there is no division in the party, noting that as stated by the council, the party will not create a vacuum in governance because of election. He also noted that elections are not won by campaign councils as every loyal party member is expected to return to their polling unit and deliver victory.
Repeated phone calls and short messages sent to the known telephone numbers of Ojudu as well as the Osinbajo’s spokesperson, Lalolu Akande were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
