by Jude Egbas

There are swirling rumours of a Buhari/Tinubu pairing already for the Presidential and Vice Presidential tickets respectively. Nothing will eviscerate the confidence of the people in the APC faster than this pairing.

We may not admit it before the cameras or the kids, but we are all waiting with bated breath for who the All Progressives Congress (APC) eventually settles for to fly its Presidential flag in next year’s general elections. For good or ill, we’ll be deciding between the two major political parties next year. There will be no middle grounds.

The APC has done a few good things in the last couple of weeks since its ill advised decision to pay IBB (amongst other rogue politicians) a courtesy visit in Minna, was greeted with widespread condemnation by the Nigerian populace, including this columnist. The party has opened its doors to younger and older Nigerians by embarking on a massive grassroot registration drive, it has annexed more states into its control, it has unveiled its road map, it has concluded plans to hold ward and state congresses, it held an impressive summit which was widely publicized in the new and mainstream media and it is courting young and social media savvy Nigerians at every turn. The APC has also seized the media narrative from the hedonistic and power inebriated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and is positioning itself as the alternative choice in a Nigerian polity that has been run aground by the latter.

But none of the APC’s strides in the last few months will come close (in scope and importance) to its Presidential picks for the February 2015 polls. And it is not difficult to see why:

No thanks to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC has come to be regarded as a ‘closed party’–where decisions are arrived at with cult-like precision. Political analysts have long regarded the AC and ACN–some of the variants which morphed into the APC–as parties with no regard for the rules of internal democracy and for whom candidate imposition is the ‘be all’ and ‘end all’. Tinubu has long held the South West region in a vicious grip, determining from the comfort of his Bourdillon mansion, who gets what position and the instrumentality for arriving at that position. His reputation as a ruthless godfather figure still looms large over the APC, even though the party has made inroads into the North of Nigeria and newer territory. To turn the corner, the APC has to rid itself of Tinubu’s overriding influence and control. A tough ask, if you ask me.

The APC has also been leveled with charges of religious extremism and clannishness. One of its prominent faces is a former Military Ruler– Muhammadu Buhari–a man who will be regarded as an Islamic fundamentalist even if he converts to Christianity tomorrow. He has been wearing that tag without complaint–a tag that has been emblazoned on him by the media. The APC also has a former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, playing a prominent role within its ranks. Alhaji Sheriff wears the charge of aiding and abetting the activities of the deadly Boko Haram terrorist sect, like a badge of honour. The APC hasn’t quite helped its “Islamic fundamentalist” reputation by making sure most of its principal officers are Muslims–a big deal in a country often polarized along ethnic and religious lines.

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has failed spectacularly in addressing the country’s myriad woes. He hasn’t lifted a finger in fighting corruption within his cabinet and the country’s infrastructural woes have deepened amid the tepid attempts to address them. Poverty has taken a life of its own within the mass of the people, more school age kids are dropping out of school, Boko Haram strikes hapless Nigerians with ease and the State run petroleum corporation stands as an epitome of graft, waste and sleaze. The APC would be naive not to see that the country yearns for a break from the rudderless PDP government. Several Nigerians are looking the APC’s way for some form of redemption because willy-nilly, it is daily accumulating the numbers and the resources to give the hegemonic PDP a fight and fright. The APC’s cardinal task from this point will be arriving at that Presidential pairing from which the rest of the country can rally around. It also must ensure that its conventions and caucuses are transparent nationwide and shed its toga of flouting internal democracy rules at will.

Arriving at that Presidential pairing with a mass appeal cutting across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones wont be easy. There are swirling rumours of a Buhari/Tinubu pairing already for the Presidential and Vice Presidential tickets respectively. Nothing will eviscerate the confidence of the people in the APC faster than this pairing. It is a recipe for a trouncing at the polls for the new party because both men arrive with tons of baggage as it were. In my opinion, these men should take a back seat, play a father figure role and support the younger members of the team to make hay. There is already plenty of bickering within the party concerning the Buhari/Tinubu pairing; not least because of a religious slant. This is the last thing a party just getting out of its diapers, needs.

The APC has momentum on its side as it heads into the final stretch of its decision making processes. Getting that ideal Presidential pairing that would give incumbent President Jonathan and the unwieldy PDP a run for their money in 2015, will no doubt help in accelerating its run down the finish line with aplomb or see it lose the race before it has even gotten its pants on.

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This article was published with the permission of the author

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