…Rivers, Benue and Enugu as cases in point
The internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) across some states of the federation is further casting the party in the image of a house divided against itself. From Rivers to Enugu and Benue State, there are rumbles from within.
In Rivers State, the upcoming local council election has become a battleground for control between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, with the loyalty and support of the two APC factions in the state divided between Governor Fubara and Wike. In Enugu and Benue States, the crisis is all about the leadership of the party.
Rivers State
As most political pundits and stakeholders already know, the Rivers State local council election scheduled for October 5, 2024 is nothing near local council election but, to all intents and purposes, a foretaste of the 2027 governorship election.
Before now, nobody took particular note when local council elections took place in the state. This was because such elections were regarded as handpicking exercises by the sitting governor. Not this one!
The LGA election took a new dimension a few months back when FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, erstwhile political godfather of Governor Fubara, stirred the camps by saying 2027 should come fast. The Fubara camp seemed to decode the statement as a big threat.
Wike was almost in full control of the 23 LGA chairmen. It was clear that with federal backing, they would win the LGA election and form a strong force to block the governor from winning in most LGAs in the 2027 governorship election. Already, the governor is battling the 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike who were menacingly dangling impeachment threats.
The Fubara camp reasoned that if Wike did not unseat him from the House of Assembly, he could use the LGAs to stop him in 2027. Already, there are many cases in court. Also, Wike seems to control both the APC and the PDP in the state. So, Fubara seemed to feel the heat from all corners. The governor thus made his move. He refused to conduct any election while the LGA bosses were on seat with funds in their control. He first knocked off the funds and warehoused them for future until new LGA bosses would come in.
He wanted the tenure of the LGA bosses to run out naturally on June 17, 2024. His opponents read the move, and used the 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike (termed defected legislators) to elongate the term of the council chairmen to another six months. Fubara refused to sign the law and they overrode him and passed it. Fubara ignored them and appointed caretaker committee chairmen with the approval of the rival house speaker loyal to him.
While these were going on, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) woke up and announced the timetable. With Fubara’s men now in charge in all LGAs, the Wike camp flared up and rejected the election attempt. They went to court.
Explaining the reason they are in court, Tony Okocha, caretaker committee (CTC) chairman of the APC that was sacked by the court, told loyalists that they were in court seeking to restrain the agencies that conduct elections such as the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
“I was the one that kept asking the RSIEC to conduct an election by rolling out the timetable within the 90 days stipulated by the law. It is not because we do not have the power to contest but to demand that the process be transparent. We do not want to walk on thorns. The election, if allowed to hold, will not represent our votes,” he said.
He also said that until the processes were in tandem with the law, and they were carried along, they would not agree.
“I cannot expose you to a process that will end in nothing. Many of you will sell land and other assets to contest,” he said.
Okocha has also assured his supporters that the LGA election would not hold, at least, not any time soon. The state government thinks it would hold. They are busy preparing to contest and win. The result may join the long pile of issues in various courts in Port Harcourt and Abuja.
The FG seems to be doing their own underground works. If they dethrone the Fubara LGA henchmen and use the INEC to conduct the election, they may win. If Fubara conducts it with RSIEC, his camp may win. The problem is about who would conduct the election and the peace needed to conduct it.
However, with the Rivers State High Court ruling sacking the Okocha-led APC in the state loyal to Wike and affirming Emeka Beke, who is loyal to a former governor of the state and former Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, the crisis in Rivers APC has deepened. The Emeka Beke-led exco is backing Governor Fubara and has declared support for the forthcoming local government elections.
Enugu
The leadership crisis in Enugu State APC is between two factions – one group led by Alphonsus Nwafor and the other group led by Ugochukwu Agballah. The faction led by Nwafor enjoys the backing of the party’s NWC led by Abdullahi Ganduje, while the Agballa-led faction has the backing of the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, and other leaders of the party in the state.
The crisis took another dimension on Saturday, August 24th, when the Agballah faction suspended 20 members of the party, just a few days after the other faction led by Nwafor announced the suspension of Agballah, alongside other party officials.
The Agballah-led group announced the suspension of the 20 members who were involved in his suspension after a stakeholders’ meeting held at the party’s secretariat.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy National Chairman of the Party, South, Chief Emma Eneukwu, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, former lawmaker, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, Agballah, among others.
Eneukwu, who represented the National Chairman of the Party, said Agballah remained the chairman of the party in Enugu State. He said the national secretariat of the APC was unaware of the removal of Agballah, as the purported action did not follow due process.
Those who were suspended by the Agballa-led faction, according to a communique read by Senator Utazi at the end of the meeting, are Uche Egbonwonu, Chibuike Onoduagu, Ubah Onah, Clifford Ezema, Ages Agu, Paul Olinya, the Welfare Secretary, Innocent Uroko, Obetta Ifeoma, Zonal Youth Leader, Harrison Obochi and Publicity Secretary, Michael Ezeanyanwu.
Others are Zonal Chairman, West, Alphonsus Nwafor, State Asst. Organising Secretary, David Nwobodo, State Asst Auditor, Sunday Onah, State Youth Leader, Peter Chime, Enugu South LGA Chairman, Ndubuisi Agbo, Enugu West Zonal Youth Leader, Onyeka Ezegbunam, Awgu LGA Secretary, Samuel Okonkwo, Innocent Ogbodo, Nnamani Denis Sunday and Eze Ugwu Christian.
The communique said the meeting frowned at “the recent display of gross indiscipline and total disregard to the APC Constitution by some misguided party members who met in a hotel and purportedly announced the suspension of the Enugu state Chairman of APC, Hon. Ugochukwu H. Agballah; the State Deputy Chairman, Chief Augustine Alumonah; the State Treasurer, Hon Jude Aniogbo and the State Organising Secretary, Hon. Emeka Eze.”
The stakeholders alleged that the actors were only 14 in number but that they went ahead to forge people’s signatures and append their names as if they were part of the illegality, without their consent.
“More than 35 persons whose signatures were forged and names appended in the purported suspension document without their consent have issued a disclaimer distancing themselves from the illegality,” the communique said.
“The stakeholders further observed that the purported suspension did not follow due process as no meeting was held, no petition was written and it was never discussed at SEC and the national levels were never notified, no fact finding was made in accordance with the party’s Constitution before the purported announcement of illegal suspension.
“The stakeholders hereby accept the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee suspending the actors from the party.
“They were invited by the Disciplinary Committee to state their position but they refused to come. They were therefore given fair hearing,” it said.
The party said it had set up an eight-man committee to review the case of those who were earlier suspended by the party but have now indicated interest to return to the party.
It further said it was ready and would fully participate in the forthcoming local government election in the state.
Benue
The crisis rocking the Benue State chapter of the APC has been largely viewed as a battle for the control of the party’s leadership by the incumbent Governor Hyacinth Alia and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.
Governor Alia has the backing of the state working committee led by factional chairman, Benjamin Omakolo, who are loyal to him, while the faction led by Augustine Agada is loyal to Senator Akume.
Recently, the Benue State High Court sitting in Makurdi affirmed the Agada leadership as the authentic state exco of the APC in the state. But in a twinkle of an eye the National Working Committee (NWC) dissolved the state leadership of Agada and his excos.
Reacting, the North Central APC Forum rejected the dissolution of Benue State executives of the party by the National Chairman. The Forum described the development as unacceptable, stressing that Ganduje has no legitimate reason to suspend the executive members of the party from Benue, which is under the North Central region that has remained opposed to his chairmanship position till date.
Speaking to journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the Forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 election, said, “The same executive members Ganduje is illegitimately dissolving are the same we worked with at different levels to win the Benue State governorship and other key positions for the APC.
“Besides, the North Central APC has from the onset been opposed to Ganduje being the national chairman of our party because according to the party arrangement, that position is supposed to be for the North Central region after Abdullahi Adamu’s resignation, and not Ganduje who is from the North West state of Kano.”
He added that a High Court in Makurdi had restrained Ganduje from dissolving the Agada-led state executive but on that same day, the Ganduje-led NWC announced the dissolution of the state exco despite the court order.
Accusing Ganduje of contempt of court, Zazzaga said, “Ganduje likes disobeying court orders and that is incurring legal liabilities for our party on many fronts, following the court case against him, including that of his ward in Kano State, the North Central APC, among other corruption matters when he served as Kano State Governor.”
He said the North Central APC would not accept the dissolution of the Benue executives of the party, adding that stakeholders from the region would take further action if the decision was not reversed.
Zazzaga warned that Ganduje is destroying the APC, stressing that if nothing is done to stop him, he would destroy the party very soon. He emphasized the efforts of the North Central to the success of the APC since 2015, pointing out the region contributed to the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 election.
In the same vein, he noted that the APC clinched five out of the six governorship elections in the region.
What this means
The APC’s internal crises in Rivers, Enugu and Benue States highlight the party’s struggles with factionalism, leadership disputes, and power struggles. The conflicts demonstrate the challenges facing the party as it navigates local and national politics. Resolving these crises will be crucial for the party’s success in future elections and its ability to maintain unity and cohesion. The outcomes of these conflicts will have significant implications for the party’s leadership, membership, and electoral prospects in the coming years.
