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APC, Oyegun and the future

By Ifeanyi Emeka
24 January 2018   |   1:46 am
With the recent release of the 2019 elections timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there is no doubt that the electoral battle lines had been drawn for political actors by the nation’s electoral umpire.

Odigie-Oyegun

Sir: With the recent release of the 2019 elections timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there is no doubt that the electoral battle lines had been drawn for political actors by the nation’s electoral umpire.

How events in the coming weeks and months unfold would be very intriguing because the political actors are already waiting in the wings to see the nature of activities their respective political parties are going to roll out.However, the case of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would be more interesting because Nigerians are watching to see whether the initial prediction that the political alliance that gave birth to the party would collapse as analysts and some detractors  earlier predicted.

Chief John Oyegun’s matured and sagacious handling of sensitive party matters has, however, endeared him to both the liberals and the conservatives within the party.

Apart from leading the APC to victory in 2015, Oyegun also displayed rare leadership qualities and courage which made the party accommodating and home to all and sundry.

From the realities on the ground coupled also with some good measures taken by the Oyegun-led National Working Committee, the party is better poised for victory in the nearest future, but the big question is who succeeds Oyegun? What leadership trait is the person bringing on board? How tested, reliable and trusted is the person?

Before answering the above questions, let me admit that the angel you know is better than the one you don’t know.The worst mistake the APC would make and leave to regret is replacing Oyegun weeks to activities leading to the 2019 general elections.

Already, the INEC has announced that party primaries would start from the month of August and end by October; whereas the tenure of Oyegun will be officially ending by June this year.

Now, I cannot see how the APC new chairman will emerge in June and there would be no crisis which will cover the entire month of July because since we are in election mood, various camps within the party would want to outsmart the other for favourable election results during August primary.

Better still, lets assume there would be no post-convention crisis, I still do see how the new leader would accommodate various interests and acclimatize himself with the modus operandi of the party within July before conducting the August primary.

Another question that is very important is, who are those clamouring for Oyegun’s removal? What is their hidden interest? What agenda do they seek to implement? What is their capacity to unify the party after convention?

No doubt, those who want Oyegun out are those who nurse presidential aspirations but believe that Oyegun would be the impediment to their selfish agenda. These are the same folks who tried hard to highjack party machinery to their advantage which Oyegun resisted severally.

Therefore, President Buhari should resist all entrappings of the forces within the party and allow Oyegun to conduct the party primaries and lead the party to another election victory in 2019.

As at today, there is no open faction because Oyegun knows how to neutralise them, but should the President make the mistake of allowing Oyegun to go at this critical moment when the opposition is prepared and better positioned to spring surprises, then party faithful do not need to consult any prophet before knowing the fate that will befall it at the polls.
Ifeanyi Emeka.

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