Though the presidential, governorship, national assemblies and state assemblies’ primaries of all the political parties were rounded off, penultimate Sunday , October 7, 2018, the ruling All Progressives Congress came out of the exercise with its nose highly bruised.
All the parties were guilty of waiting till the last hours of the closing date before concluding their primaries. The Independent National Electoral Commission had announced the dates of between August 18 to October 7, 2018 for the primaries but all the parties, in a typical Nigerians’ style, waited till the last day to conclude the exercise.
The crisis that trailed the congresses of the APC in May this year reared its ugly head again during the party’s primaries as there were crisis almost in all states of the federation .
As of the closing date of October 7 and even up till now, the exercise in states such as Ogun , Zamfara, Rivers, Kwara, among others, are yet to be resolved, meaning that the APC , already encircled in confusion, may have more than it can chew before the general election next year.
Political analysts are watching with pessimism as to how the party leadership will resolve the crisis already engulfing the party as it prepares for the general election next year.
In fact, the pre- election crisis has already raised its ugly head as INEC, last Wednesday, wrote the APC that it would not be allowed to field any candidate from Zamfara in the 2019 general election because , according to the electoral umpire, the party failed to carry out any primaries in the state until the closing date.
The same day, APC was also put under pressure after its Rivers State governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, and all other candidates recently produced by the Rotimi Amaechi-led faction of the party were disqualified from participation after a high court voided the congresses that brought forth the ward, local government and state executives who presided over the party primaries.
The problems for the APC started early last Wednesday when INEC issued a letter to the party, alerting it to the fact that it failed to meet its Sunday deadline of holding primaries for elections in Zamfara State. In the letter signed by the Commission’s acting scribe, Okechukwu Ndeche, INEC said its decision was based on the provisions of Sections 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
The developments in the two states were challenged by the party. National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who, in a stiff reaction, debunked the claim that the party did not conduct primaries, saying though party members bickered over the conduct of the primaries, they nevertheless agreed on a consensus list before the end of the deadline last Sunday. The APC, in a letter by its national chairman to INEC dated October 10, 2018, vowed to field candidates, saying the party arrived at a consensus before the deadline. The APC also accused INEC of looking away from similar issues that affected the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kano State. In the letter dated October 10 and signed by the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the APC said following the high level of friction, disagreements and threats of violence by various political camps before the primaries, all the aspirants met at City King Hotel, Gusau, to find a truce.
“After hours of intense horse-trading, a consensus was reached within the spirit and context of the Electoral Act and the constitution of our party on the basis of which a list was produced which was confirmed/affirmed by all delegates present. This was done in strict compliance with Section 87 (6) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).
“Therefore, the claim in your letter under reference that “no primaries were conducted by your party in the state, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilized and deployed” could only be referring to their observation that actual voting did not take place, which is not the only mode prescribed for producing candidates in the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).
“We, therefore, affirm that indeed, primaries took place in Zamfara State,” the party said.
The APC said PDP also had similar issues in Kano State and wondered why INEC did not bar the opposition party from fielding candidates.
But Hon. Lawali Hassan Anna, representing Anka/Talata Mafara federal constituency of Zamfara state said: “Everything has time. You know they put time for primaries. The governor’s camp of which I am part conducted the primaries. But the other opposition didn’t agree. They were not part of the primaries.
“I don’t know how things are going to play out. It is beyond my powers. INEC has written, and I have seen the letter. I really don’t know what to say on that,” he said.
In a related development, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port- Harcourt last Wednesday annulled the primary election of Tonye Cole as the governorship candidate of the APC, in the state for the 2019 election. The court, in the same manner, voided the outcome of all the indirect primary elections conducted in the state by the current executive of the party. This came as the court also sacked the Ojukaye Flag-Amachree-led executive of the party, describing its emergence as unlawful. The trial judge, Justice Chiwendu Nwogu, while delivering the judgement declared that all the congresses of the APC in the state that brought Ojukaye and the others and the indirect primary elections conducted by the executive are null and void. Nwogu, in the suit: PHC/78/2018 filed by 23 aggrieved members of APC who approached the court to declare the congresses conducted in May illegal, noted the congresses of May 19, 20 and 21 were in total flagrant disobedience of court orders and party constitution. He noted that the motion on notice filed by the respondent was misconceived and intended to arrest the judgement of the Court, adding that the outcome of the primaries conducted by the annulled executives cannot stand..”
In Ogun State, two governorship candidates of the party emerged and, as of now, there has been no resolution as to who is the authentic candidate. Though the party headquarters has announced Mr Dapo Abiodun as the winner of the governorship primaries conducted by the electoral panel sent to Ogun by the National Working Committee, the governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has reiterated his claim that Akinlade , a member of the House of Representatives, is the winner of the primaries. Amosun, who is known to be very close to President Muhammadu Buhari, has assured his supporters that his candidate would emerge as official candidate of the party despite the release of Abiodun’s name as the governorship candidate of the party in the state by the NWC.
Protesters from other states like Imo, Kwara daily besieged the APC National Headquarters protesting what they described as impunity in the conduct of the primaries in their states.
How these knotty issue will be resolved on time without affecting the party’s chances in the election coming early next year is something that the leadership will be battling with in weeks to come .
Speaking on the development, a political analyst, Mr Jide Ojo, decried the impunity in the conduct of the primaries by most parties, saying political parties must learn how to follow the law and guidelines.
“This is an interesting time because of all that is playing out. Why has it taken all the parties to conduct the party primaries in the last one week of the schedule date,” he said.
Ojo said the way it is, the pre-election matters may linger and that these may affect the fortune of political parties especially the APC which is most embroiled in the crisis as a result of the outcome of its primaries.
A political commentator, Comrade Sola Olawale, told The Point that INEC was right in its decision to bar APC from fielding candidates in the next year’s election because the party could not put its house in order and was unable to conduct primaries up till penultimate Sunday which was the deadline for doing so.
“All of us knew what happened in Zamfara as the governor was bent on imposing his successor on other stakeholders who refused to accept that. Oshiomhole was only trying to safe his face with the alleged consensus candidates because INEC officials in the state should have been involved in such decision as observers. It is a litmus test for INEC and it should maintain its stand and independence,” Olawale
said.
The Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Imo State Governor , Rochas Okorocha , is however full of optimism as he said all the issues and people involved in the crisis arising from the primaries would be invited and the issue resolved before the election, saying “It is normal that there are disagreements during party’s primaries,” assuring however that all the issues would be resolved amicably before the election .
