How governors foiled ‘coup’ against Tinubu’s candidature

The emergence of the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the Presidential candidate of the party, has redefined the political trajectory of the ruling party and demystified ‘autocratic’ tendencies, creeping into Nigeria’s political firmament in the name of consensus.

Tinubu, a pro-democracy activist and former governor of Lagos State, defeated 13 other aspirants in a contest that was largely determined by the governors, who had absolute control of the delegates.
 
He got the votes of 1,271 delegates while former Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who came second, polled 316 votes and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo got 235 votes.

But before the voting began, about 2,322 delegates at the Eagles Square, Abuja, where the primary was held were surprised, as some of the aspirants took turns to step down for Tinubu, who they described as their “brother and leader.”

First to announce his withdrawal from the race was Senator Godswill Akpabio, who explained that he took the decision to step down for the APC chieftain in the interest of the party and the nation, and asked his supporters to pitch their tents with the former Lagos State governor.

Others are former governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun; Governor John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State; Senator Robert Boroffice; and the only female in the contest, Uju Ken-Ohanenye.

The build-up to Tinubu’s emergence began with the resentment many governors and party faithful had with the manner in which President Muhammadu Buhari imposed Senator Abdulahi Adamu, as the National Chairman of the party without adequate consultations and negotiations with relevant stakeholders of APC.

Many will not forget in a hurry how the former governor of Nassarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, Chief George Akume, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari, also former governors; Saliu Mustapha, Sani Musa, and Muhammed Eksu were muzzled into signing a consensus list such that eventually, they had to step down for Adamu.

These aspirants went around the country to meet the party members and made promises of solving their peculiar challenges but Adamu, who did not campaign or visited any of the state chapters of the party was “crowned” by Buhari as the National Chairman of the party.

But if the Progressives governors and stakeholders could tolerate Adamu, some members of the National Working Committee (NWC), ought to work together, and publicly disclaimed some of his decisions and actions as his personal opinion, which did not reflect the thinking of the members.

They accused Adamu of running a one-man show, alledging, “he does not seem to have his way, he invokes the name of President Buhari to get the NWC members in line.”

Two members of the NWC – Salihu Mohammadu Lukman, who is the National Vice Chairman Northwest and Isaac Kekemeke, National Vice Chairman Southwest, challenged the autocratic disposition of Adamu to party administration.

The duo in a Memo Titled, ‘APC and the Need for Vigilance: Urgent Call for Intervention’, accused Adamu of working with some people “to foist a fait accompli on the NWC on fundamental issues that affect our great party.”

They said, “The National Chairman took decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions. Every effort to get the chairman to respect the authority of the NWC as elected by March 26, 2022, APC national convention is proving very difficult, if not impossible. Note that NEC’s donation of its powers was to NWC and not to the National Chairman or any individual,” they stated.

But unknown to Adamu, his antics had created more enemies for himself and President Buhari, whose opinion is no longer seen as an order by party members.

Adamu’s action was also said to have fueled the supremacy tussle between the governors and members of the National Assembly. The governors and national lawmakers had been in a battle of wit over who should have the upper hand in the affairs of government and the party, which led to the enactment of the controversial section 84 (12) in the 2022 Electoral Act them from being delegates at the national convention and affected political appointees from contesting while in office.

The National Chairman was alleged to have pitched his tent with the leadership of the National Assembly against the governors.

The last straw was his declaration during the NWC meeting that the Senate President Ahmed Lawan had been picked as the consensus candidate of the party, against the decision of the Progressives Governor’s Forum that insisted Southern Nigeria should produce the next presidential candidate of the party.

Indeed, he quoted the President to have endorsed Lawan as the consensus candidate of the party.

This, to party members and even the Progressives Northern Governors, have a sense of belonging and natural justice. They felt Adamu’s choice was a joke carried too far and a pre-requisite for national disintegration. Though some party members felt that the decision was to test the waters and gauge the reactions of the stakeholders, others pointed to the fact that Adamu was just a megaphone echoing the “favourite candidate” President Buhari had declined to mention.

Fourteen APC governors from the North rose in unison to reject Adamu’s consensus candidate and reiterated their commitment to a power shift to the South.

The chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, who spoke after their meeting with the President, said they took the decision in the interest of justice and peace in the country.

The Guardian gathered that contrary to what Adamu told NWC members, Lalong said the President agreed with the governor’s position and maintained that the presidential candidate must emerge through a transparent process.

The National Organising Secretary of the APC, Suleman Argungu, disclosed that the choice of Lawan was not the decision taken by the party as alleged by Adamu. He said, “The pronouncement of Lawan as the consensus candidate was the chairman’s opinion and he is entitled to his opinion. It is not the position of the party.”

Appreciating Northern Progressives Governors for standing on their decision that power should return to the south, Chairman of Southern Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu said, “We did not expect anything short of this heart-warming decision from our colleagues, great patriots and reliable partners in the collaborative efforts geared towards the attainment of nationhood for our dear country.

“This is indeed another landmark achievement in our quest for understanding, rapprochement and continual engagements for mutual beneficence. We acknowledge this courageous stance for equity and moral rectitude. We applaud the zeal and determination of our brothers to engage realistically and honestly.

“We salute this uncommon resolve to confront issues militating against the march towards nationhood and ultimate greatness. By this gesture, we are convinced of the seriousness of our colleagues to join other patriots in ensuring that the ascendant march towards stability, progress and prosperity is not truncated by indiscretion.

“We congratulate our brother, Governor Abubakar Badaru, for his exemplary conduct. Posterity will remember him for good. We thank the leadership of the Northern Governors’ Forum for the patriotic zest displayed at this crucial moment. We look forward to conducting a hitch-free Convention which will culminate in the election of a suitable candidate who will hoist the flag of the party with a sense of mission.”

The Guardian gathered that the battle line was drawn between Adamu and the governors who were bent on preventing the emergence of a consensus candidate anointed by the cabal. The 2022 amended Electoral Law stipulates that any candidate stepping down must write a letter and append his signature.

The party included a controversial Form 18 that ought to be signed by all candidates for accepting to step down for a consensus candidate in the interest of the party, but that became ineffective because of the intrigues and power play that forced the party to go for indirect primary.

While the scheming was aimed at ensuring that whoever Buhari endorsed clinched the ticket, Tinubu, who many felt was a threat to the presidency became the beneficiary of the process. He got the sympathy of the governors and delegates and won the ticket.

Observers of events in the APC believe that Tinubu’s victory was a referendum on Buhari’s performance and his leadership role in the party. And the effect of his rejection also rubs on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is seen as a major loser in the process.

Other presidential aspirants of the party, who relied on Buhari’s endorsement were disappointed by the seemingly lackluster attitude of the President to the whole process, while Tinubu, who many thoughts were swimming against the tide smiled at the end of the day.

A source said, one of the reasons why many stakeholders rooted for Tinubu is their conviction that he is the only aspirant that has the national spread and capacity to defeat Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, without the power of incumbency.

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal who spoke shortly before voting started disclosed that Tinubu started working for the ticket in 2020 when he was going round to meet the party leaders in various states on how to move the party forward.

He said, “We started early enough and I knew it was virtually impossible to lose at this stage after the hard work and energy exerted to get this far. For instance, in the South-, we only left Rivers State for Rotimi Amaechi, however for Bayelsa, it was a done deal in Delta, Akwa Ibom, we initially left it for Akpabio but after joining us we are sure of at least 80 percent and Edo we were sure of 80 per cent compliant

“Then across the North, we were sure of 60 per cent because as of two weeks ago 1,407 delegates were already in our kitty but with the turn of events here I can boastfully say that we already have 1900 votes.

“We under projected by 100 delegates and that position has not changed. “As you know every politician goes into an election to win but in this case, Tinubu had a political structure that you couldn’t fault because it has a national spread.

Asked how the Tinubu camp captured the Southeast delegates despite not going there, Lawal said, “it was easy for us because we had critical stakeholders and governors working for us in the region. Tinubu has a political structure that’s truly national so we had no problem penetrating the northeast, north-central, northwest, southwest, southeast, and the south-south.”