BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress has finally come and gone with Senator Abdullahi Adamu emerging as the new national chairman.
He certainly has his job cut out for him. Happily, this much he knows and has acknowledged. Receiving the instrument of office on Wednesday, March 30, at the national secretariat of the party, three days after his emergence, Adamu noted that “I want to say on behalf of the new NWC that it is not going to be an easy time for us. We have a major event that is going to test the water on how stable we are as a party. That is the general election that is coming. For me, by the time we start working, our main task will be how we handle the elections as a party, and how we will win the general election. People are talking, APC does not have an incumbent on the ticket.
We will have the honor of the integrity and the legacy of the current president on the ticket.
“We will work day and night. We have less than 12 months to face the general election. So, everybody should buckle up. The little I have heard about the President is that he has a complete allergy for failure. So, failure will not be in APC from today. We will work for success together. To my colleagues, if there is any issue, don’t begrudge me, let me know.”
And for effect, his predecessor in office, Mai Mala Buni, in his address didn’t fail to also let him know that he has not come to a tea party.
“You have a herculean task. First, to sustain the gains and coming at a time when this party will soon start its nomination processes. Obviously, the task before you is enormous,” the Yobe State Governor warned.
But it would seem, by his admission, that he was not prepared for the responsibility now placed on his shoulders by fate. Senator Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State shocked the party faithful and top hierarchy when he unequivocally declared during the handover ceremony at the Buhari House National Secretariat of the party that a month ago he did not know he would become the national chairman of the party.
In his words, “A month ago I didn’t know I would become the Chairman of APC. Here I am today receiving the instrument and authority from the outgoing chairman. Only God can do this. It’s not my personal wisdom or my charisma. It’s not personal. There may be elements on the way but all these were made possible by the endorsement of the Almighty God.”
While he was saddled with the responsibility of reconciling the aggrieved members of the party, other bigwigs in the party were canvassing for support from members to be elected the national chairman.
His compatriot former governor and colleague in the National Assembly, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura was believed by many to be more prepared and focused on leading the party than himself.
“To work with me, you have to be loyal. Not because I’m the best and everything. Your loyalty to me is not loyalty to me but loyalty to the party. You have to recognise the authority of the party. In all that we do, the interest of the party is paramount”
Al-Makura was said to be the anointed one who the cap fits until one thing led to the other and the rest is now history.
Others like Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff, Senator Sani Musa, Salihu Mustapha, Senator Abdulaziz Yari had mounted serious campaigns to take over from Buni.
As the chairman of APC reconciliation committee, there still remain many states that are yet to be properly reconciled. He went around the country with his committee trying to reconcile aggrieved members of various state chapters that were thrown up by the various congresses held.
In the words of APC chieftain and former member of House of Representatives, Cletus Obun, “the National Chairman has too many challenges to grapple with. He is faced with challenges you cannot imagine.
“The National Chairman has to rediscover the party. It’s not enough to apologize to party faithful who have been 100 per cent loyal. It’s very clear that those who do not know how the party started and what people suffered to establish the party and get it to where it is now have hijacked our party.
“The blueprint of our party is that it belongs to the people, but moneybags, who were welcome to join us, have not only shaken the table, they have turned everything upside down. That is why we have lost the goodwill of the people that massively voted for the party in 2015 and 2019. As it is now, APC will struggle to win even local government elections. It happened in the recent FCT Area Councils election. And if we cannot win an ordinary local council election, which other elections can we win?”
Obun said the national chairman must be a man of action who will work the talk. He maintained that the state of APC heading to the 2023 general elections is nothing to be celebrated and added that what can restore sanity is worthy compensation for the loyal members who have made sacrifices before the hijackers joined.
“I don’t envy the Chairman because the challenges facing him and his National Working Committee are better imagined. Like I said, he must compensate party loyalists across the board. He must not allow these money bags to dictate what should be done in the party.
“The Chairman must realise that he is not the National Chairman of the rich in the party and for that reason, he must treat everyone equally. And concerning the nomination, it is the responsibility of the Chairman and his NWC to make sure that internal democracy is paramount and that the best candidate is produced for our great party otherwise, we will lose the battle to the opposition which I do not pray for.
“The era of imposing candidates on the party is a serious problem in the party of recent. We have seen that most of the elections, whether rerun or staggered election recently, we never did well. If we do not lose, we will record a narrow victory. Should it be so? In fact, if we must contest, I mean contest in the forthcoming 2023 elections with confidence, Senator Adamu and the Exco must turn the party to a new leaf. The era of highest bidder picking the ticket must be shunned. We cannot go anywhere with that,” he said.
Obun was not alone in his opinion. A political and social commentator, Dare Ariyo Atoyebi said the new National Chairman of the APC, must first and foremost realise that his NWC has numerous challenges.
According to him, “The New APC National Chairman, Senator Adamu must help himself to run the affairs of the ruling party by first recognising that he has inherited a party riddled with crises and then fashion out means of handling and solving the challenges.
“He has just one responsibility and that responsibility is to elect a candidate from the numerous aspirants who will be in sync with the interest of President Muhammadu Buhari. Senator Abdullahi Adamu does not have the democratic temperament, the clean sheet policy and open handed leadership to manage the affairs of the party. People know this about him, he only differs from probably somebody in authority above him. Any other thing, it will be difficult for party members to get him along. He is going to implement 100 per cent whatever the President says.
“Hopefully, he is going to navigate the party’s troubled waters if some of the aspirants that agreed and conceded but I don’t Senator Adamu actually organising a transparent primary process. Possibly they will think they will be able to scale through with another round of consensus where other candidates will be forced to step down and that is where they are going to see the real test of resistance.
“So basically he has just one function now that’s to produce the candidate for APC and it’s going to be a very tough call and that is the greatest challenge facing him and his NWC. He will do everything to do the bidding of the President and that was why the President zeroed down on him as the consensus candidate. Well after that, even if he succeeds, he will surely have many other challenges begging for fixing. It’s that bad.”
A Chieftain of the party from the South East who pleaded anonymity described the time Adamu took over the mantle of leadership as a period of whirlwind but begged the former Nasarawa State governor to bring his wealth of experience to restore sanity to the party.
He said APC before now has been taken over by people whose membership of the party is in question and expressed fears that they may turn around to hurt the party during the 2023 polls.
“My brother, our new National Chairman has too many challenges ranging from imposing unpopular candidates for elective positions to the strangers who are in charge of our party in almost all the state chapters including local governments and wards. With these people it is difficult for us to win elections and that is a very big challenge for the New Chairman.
“He must make sure that loyal party members who have left or are pondering to leave because of the excesses of these visitors are approached and brought back. It is his responsibility to return them to the gold. We need more than we need these other people.
“Another challenge the Chairman will face is the neglect of the youth. Our party was founded on the solid foundation of the youth who gave us all the necessary support to defeat PDP in the last two elections but I can tell you as a major stakeholder, the youths are agitating. I know you have been covering APC for a long time now. Have you not seen various youth’s groups that sprang up, all claiming they are neglected? So, that is a serious challenge and he must sort it out without delay before the primary elections.”
However, Adamu, on Friday in Abuja hinted at his intention to probe the national secretariat of the party as well as its directors.
He said this after receiving his certificate of return from the national convention electoral committee led by Jigawa State Governor, Muhammad Badaru.
Badaru, who visited the secretariat alongside members of the election sub-committee, also presented certificates of return to other party officials elected on March 26, 2022.
Speaking to party officials, Adamu said, “I am a team player and as much as possible, I want to carry everybody along. We will definitely, by the will of God Almighty, the secretariat, need to look at you but I’m not saying anything today until the transition committee submits its report.
“It is my hope that by the time the report is submitted, you will have what they call a clean bill of the ledger. That’s my prayer.”
On the party’s preparations ahead of next year’s general elections, Adamu, who noted the enormous responsibility to be shouldered by the new leadership, called for loyalty, saying, “There is no room for failure.”
He added, “To work with me, you have to be loyal. Not because I’m the best and everything. Your loyalty to me is not loyalty to me but loyalty to the party. You have to recognise the authority of the party. In all that we do, the interest of the party is paramount.
“We have zero tolerance for failure in this new dispensation of our great party because we have an anomalous responsibility for want of more appropriate exploration ahead of us.
“On the elections, we cannot move the way we are to the election. We have a marching order from the leader of this party, President Muhammadu Buhari. We will have to deliver. There will be no excuses whatsoever and will need everybody’s hands on deck for this to happen,” he said.
