Torn Apart

A press release issued on 9 October indicated that those appointed at the recommendation of ANPP include Secretary of the party, Senator Saidu Umar Kumo, who bagged the position of Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Relations; Chineme Ume-Ezeoke, son of the Chairman of the party who was made Special Adviser on Civil Society Relations and Prince Ebuta Ojong Ayuk, Special Adviser on Informal Sector Coordination.

A group within the party led by former Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sulaiman Mohammad Argungu, did not find the nominations, especially the way it was done, funny. The group has since then been crying foul and calling on the Ezeoke-led NEC of ANPP to honourably throw in the towel before it is forced out. The Argungu group accused Ume-Ezeoke of unilateral recommending the nomination of his son, the Secretary of the party and the Deputy Chairman (South) to positions of special advisers in the PDP government. The group also accused Sani Yerima of nominating one of his wives as a ministerial candidate in the impending cabinet reshuffle.

The group said at a recent press conference in Abuja that it has concluded arrangements to go to court if Ume-Ezeoke, Kumo and Ayuk did not resign their positions. “The leadership of the party under Ume-Ezeoke has arrogated to itself the impression that it can act on behalf of all organs of the party, thus usurping the functions of some of the organs of the party by approbating and reprobating at will on issues affecting the party. Never in the history of our party has the constitution been so treated with ignominy, impunity and disdain, to the extent that a few persons are dictating and giving out commands while sidelining the basic organs of the party in charge of related matters,” the Argungu group said.

Describing itself as the Integrity Group, the faction further accused the trio of Ume-Ezeoke, Kumo and Yerima of being moles planted by the PDP to destabilise the opposition party.

While wondering why the trio would nominate their cronies to share positions meant for 36 states of the federation, the group noted that, “The leadership of the party under Ume-Ezeoke has arrogated to itself the impression that it can act on behalf of all organs of the party, thus usurping the functions of some of the organs of the party by approbating and reprobating at will on issues affecting the party. Never in the history of our party has the constitution been so treated with ignominy, impunity and disdain, to the extent that some persons are dictating and giving out commands while sidelining the basic organs of the party in charge of related matters.”

And in what seemed to be a confirmation of the high-handedness the Argungu group complained of, the Ume-Ezeoke-led ANPP National Executive Committee, NEC, at the end of the extraordinary meeting of the National Working Committee last Tuesday, announced the dissolution of the Sokoto State Caretaker Committee of the party. The Committee is chaired by Alhaji Suleiman Muhammed Argungu. A press statement issued at the end of the meeting by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Emma Eneukwu, explained that the decision was borne out of the fact that caretaker committees are empowered to function for only three months. This magazine however gathered that the action of the NWC was taken to get back at Argungu for the ceaseless campaign he has spearheaded against the NEC in the past few weeks. It is, however, doubtful if this will deter the former Kebbi State deputy governor from what he regards as a campaign to bring the party back to a saner path.

But the Integrity Group is not the only problem of ANPP at the moment. Indeed, the crisis bedevilling the party at the national level is replicated across many of its state chapters. In Yobe State for instance, the party has been torn apart by continuing rivalry between Governor Mamman Ali and Senator Usman Albishir who contested the party gubernatorial ticket with him in the run-up to the 2007 elections. Senator Sani, who has set himself up as a new powerhouse in ANPP, has also been battling his successor as Governor of Zamfara, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi. The governor’s supporters are now threatening to recall Sani from the Senate.

In Niger State, David Umaru, the gubernatorial candidate of the party and the state chairman of the party, Hussaini Garba, have literally torn the party apart over the decision of Garba to support the government of Governor Babangida Aliyu.

Even in Anambra, where Ume-Ezeoke hails from, the situation is the same. The crisis in the state chapter of the party recently led to the defection of the gubernatorial candidate in the 2007 elections, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, to PDP. The visibility of the party is almost nil in other states of the country. In recognition of the fact that the party is in disarray, the Ume-Ezeoke led NEC, earlier this year, set up a Peace and Reconciliation Committee headed by Bashir Tofa, former Presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention, NRC, who is now a chieftain of the party.

The Tofa Committee was charged with the responsibility of bringing back to ANPP fold some of its former big wigs like Ambassador Mahmud Waziri, Alhaji Yusuf Ali, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande; and a presidential aspirant in the last election, Chief Pere Ajunwa. Others include governors who held office on the platform of the party in the past, including Senators Adamu Aliero and Saminu Turaki. But the most daunting task the Committee was saddled with was reconciling General Buhari with incumbent governors of the party. Supporters of General Buhari and Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State have especially been at each other’s throat since the end of the 2007 gubernatorial election. Shekarau and his supporters seem not to have forgiven the ex-head of state for what they regarded as his less than wholehearted support for the Governor’s bid for a second term.

Though Shekarau went on to win the polls, there has been no love lost between supporters of the General under the umbrella of The Buhari Organisation, TBO, and the Governor. Though Buhari is not from Kano State, his campaign headquarters is located in Kano and he is generally adored by the masses in the city. When the Governor was recently stoned during a visit to the Emir’s palace in the city for donating some jeeps to traditional rulers in the state, he blamed Buhari for his ordeal. Even the choice of Tofa as the chairman of the Reconciliation Committee is another big obstacle to uniting the warring factions because he is widely regarded as a stooge of the Kano Governor.

This magazine gathered that in the run up to the 2007 elections, Tofa had embarked on a media campaign during which he heaped insults on the ANPP presidential candidate for not fully supporting Shekarau’s come-back bid. As this magazine learnt, there is suspicion that the choice of Tofa to head the Committee was influenced by Shekarau, who is said to be nursing presidential ambition in the 2011 polls and is, therefore, eager to be in control of the party structure.

Indeed, a member of the party sympathetic to the cause of General Buhari accused Tofa of embarking on a subterranean campaign for Shekarau’s 2011 bid in the guise of reconciling party members. What’s more, there are allegations that the reconciliation trips are being sponsored by Shekarau. Members of TBO, it was gathered, believe that the so-called reconciliation moves are designed to prepare the ground for Buhari’s ultimate expulsion from the party, thereby paving the way for the realisation of Shekarau’s ambition. It is worthy of note that the General, who is currently fighting for the nullification of President Yar’Adua’s election at the Supreme Court without the backing of his party, has not indicated his interest in contesting in 2011.

Nevertheless, General Buhari and his supporters have shunned the Committee despite many invitations extended to them to attend its sittings. Indications are that the Committee has also not been successful in reconciling the feuding state and zonal chapters of the party.

Suspicion is rife that TBO’s shunning of invitations by the reconciliation committee may be playing into Ume-Ezeoke’s plan of forcing Buhari’s exit from ANPP. This ploy is reinforced by Ume-Ezeoke’s recent challenge to the General to quit the party. “No man is greater than his own party; no matter the influence you may have on earth, if you decide to go into a political party, you behave according to the rules and regulations of that party. Anytime you don’t want any more you wash your hands and walk away. You either form your own party or you join another party. But you cannot be there telling who is who what to do in the party you know you have no interest,” Ume-Ezeoke said.

He added:”So, we are praying God that he (Buhari) will find another party and may eventually decide to form his own party and then those of us who believe in the party system and party loyalty would stay. Buhari is a great member of our party, we love him, but he must be a loyal member of the party.”

He was however quick to add that the party will not expel or suspend the retired General.

At the inauguration of the Tofa Committee, Ezeoke had predicted the collapse of the ruling PDP, which he boasted would eventually pave the way for ANPP to take over the government. But every indication now points to the fact that it is the ANPP that is in the throes of death.