Emerging report indicates that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is in a fresh dilemma over the zones that should produce its National Chairman and Presidential Candidate, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Sources said that this explains the delay in organising the National Convention of the party, where members of the National Working Committee, NWC, will emerge.
In the last one year, the affairs of the party have been run by a Caretaker Committee headed by the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni.
The Committee which was constituted following the removal of the Adams Oshiomhole-led NWC, in June last year, has gotten extension twice.
Top party sources and Lawmakers disclosed that the tenure of the Committee would be extended by another 6 months, next week.
There have been controversies over which zone should produce the National Chairman of the party, and it is believed that if the North produces the Chairman of the party, the South will take the Presidential ticket, and vice versa.
It was gathered that scheming and machinations by various blocs to produce the National Chairman of the party to place them in a better position in 2023, is one of the factors delaying the conduct of the National Convention.
There are three main blocs in the party reportedly, but there exists smaller caucuses, which are the bloc of the Presidency, Bola Tinubu’s camp, and that of the Governors, who are members of the party.
A former Governor who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that if the zoning arrangements of the party for 2023 are not properly managed, it would split the party.
He said: “One of the reasons for the delay, is to enable us to get our house together, because by the time the zoning arrangement is announced, fresh issues will come up. We need someone that has reasonable experience, maturity, and is well-grounded, to take over our party. Someone who can call anybody to order, bring all forces together and organise the party.”
He added that with President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure lapsing on May 29, 2023, the zoning of the Chairmanship seat would determine which zone will produce his successor.
A ranking Lawmaker and member of the party blamed the APC Governors for the delay in organising the Convention.
He said: “They want to produce the next Chairman of the party at all cost. They are the most influential bloc in the party, hence they are manipulating the system to favour them.”
He maintained that the statement of the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, and Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu, that the Presidential ticket and the Chairmanship seat are open to all, is part of the gimmick of the Governors.
Governor Bagudu had in May, said: “APC belongs to all Nigerians. Everyone, from every part of the country, is free to aspire for any position in the party in line with provisions of our party’s constitution and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
“The guiding philosophy, as enshrined in the provisions of our manifesto, is economic, social and political development of Nigeria.”
An Ally of the President from the North-West, revealed that he is fully aware of the scheming.
“They are scheming and we are watching. The Governors’ bloc thinks they have to retain the control of the party for 2023 reasons. They are the most powerful clique in the party, and they are the people controlling State apparatus of their party.
“But, I am sure that it is the intervention of President Buhari that will address the situation”, he said.
He also noted that there will be no National Convention until November or December 2021, because the Congresses must be conducted before National Convention.
A party source who spoke on Thursday, warned that extending the timeline for the Caretaker Committee would spark legal issues that would nail the party in the 2023 polls.
He said: “They have already extended their timeline by six months internally. They are trying to see if they can resolve some internal wrangling.
“But it is going to be very difficult because there is no internal unity in the party. The politics of 2023 is already killing the party. The principle of letting somebody emerge and let others follow is no longer there. The idea is that it must be South.
“And within the South, it must be South South; within the South, it must be South West; within the South, it must be South-East. So even if they zone it to the South today, the South South will not support the South West; and the South West will not support the South East.
“The base is already destroyed. You will discover that no one is campaigning for the position of National Chairman from the South because they believe the Presidential candidate must come from the South.
“Even in the North, for the National Chairmanship, some people are clamouring for Danjuma Goje, some people are clamouring for Abdulaziz Yari, some people are clamouring for Tanko Al-Makura, some people are clamouring for Senator George Akume and each of these candidates they are clamouring for belongs to different bloc within the APC.
“So postponing the evil day is not the solution. What they are doing now is postponing the evil day. The more you postpone the evil day, the stronger the evil becomes.”