QUESTION: Will Ondo election break APC to pieces?

During the formative stage of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Doyin Okupe, then senior special assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs, was so sure of its imminent collapse that he publicly said he would change his name if the party lived up to a year.

“If they don’t crumble and disappear by 2014, don’t call me Okupe,” he had bragged.

The party not only exceeded a year, it also achieved the biggest feat in Nigeria’s political history – wresting power from a party that formed government at the center for 16 years.

But midway into its political conquest, there are unhealthy signs all over. Though the ruling party has always devised a means to resolve its conflicts (or so it appears), the current crisis tearing at the heart of the party could lead to its implosion, thus reassuring Okupe that minus the timing, his prediction was in order.

Conspicuous Absentees

Heavyweights of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the south-west were conspicuously absent at Freedom Park, Akure, during Saturday’s mega rally of the party in Ondo state.

Not even the presence of President Muhammadu Buhari could attract all the four governors of the APC-controlled states in the region; only Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state was in attendance.

Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), and, most tellingly, Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos) were absent. Also not in attendance were Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos, and Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun state, who are architects of the ruling party not just in the region, but in the entire country.

If APC had done damage control during the imbroglio of the leadership of the 8th assembly, the federal appointments and power sharing, the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu as the party’s candidate in Ondo is one that would not die down in a hurry.

It has deepened division in the ranks of APC leaders at different levels.

Absolute Confidence

Tinubu had publicly called for the resignation of John Oyegun, national chairman of the party, over the refusal of the party’s national working committee (NWC) under his leadership, to annul the September 3 primary election as recommended by the panel set up to investigate the allegations of manipulation in the exercise.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who has also opposed Tinubu on some issues, took sides with him in condemning the manner which Oyegun handled the issue.

However, on Saturday, Buhari expressed absolute confidence in the primary.

“I am pleased with the September 3 APC primary election that presented Rotimi Akeredolu as our party’s candidate. I am here in Akure because I am proud of my party and I have to congratulate Akeredolu for emerging as the candidate of our party through a free and fair primary,” he said.

He also commended those who chose to remain in the party after losing the primary.

There are reports that the presidency is using some former protégés of Tinubu to deliver Ondo for Akeredolu. Though Buhari has not declared his interest to seek re-election, whether he does this or not, one thing is certain, the ruling party would not go into the next election year on a common front.