It was the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an opposition political party unseated a governing party in a general election and one in which power transferred peacefully from one political party to another. Besides, the APC won the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 2015 elections, though it fell shy of winning a super-majority to override the ability of the opposition People’s Democratic Party to block legislation.
ACN, CPC Merger…
You will recall that the CPC was a breakaway faction of another opposition party, the All Nigerian People’s Party [ANPP]. The principal powerhouse behind the CPC was Muhammadu Buhari who had run for the presidency on the platform of the ANPP twice in 2003 and 2007 and lost. Hence as a result of his disappointment with events within the ANPP then, him and his supporters decided to form a new political party not tainted, not burdened with the problems and poor public perception of the ANPP.
On the other hand, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a political party in Nigeria, formed in anticipation of the 2015 elections. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of Democrats, and several other minor political parties in September 2006.
In February 2013 the All Progressive Congress party (APC) merged with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance to form the All Progressives Congress, APC. APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by almost 2.6 million votes.
The APC Ticket for 2015 Presidential Election in Retrospect
Soon after the successful merger and the formation of a new political party, the APC stood out as the strongest opposition party for the Goodluck Jonathan PDP lead government. The Former Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, offered himself to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest the 2015 presidential election on the ticket of his party.
Muhammadu Buhari made this offer shortly after the APC Support Group identified him as the man who should be allowed to fly the party’s flag on account of his “veracious personality, capacity for mass mobilization, influence, and status as an African political icon”.
Interestingly, the group had urged leaders of the party such as Chief Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, John Odigie Oyegun and other stakeholders to ensure that Buhari is fielded, as
“This is the greatest service they could do to Nigeria at this critical time”. “I intend to offer myself for the position of the president of the republic on the platform of our great party; I intend to make a formal announcement soon”, Buhari said.
“I hope I can count on your continuing support and sacrifice. However, I would like to point out to you that, to be more meaningful, your support must extend beyond my person and always be available to the party and all those that the party puts forward; because it is the party that is the platform” Buhari said.
The Story Behind the Buhari-Osinbajo APC Presidential Ticket
There is this school of thought saying that the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu selected Prof, Pastor Yemi Osinbajo as the running mate to Muhammadu Buhari for the 2015 elections, however, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has given an insight into how he became the number two citizen.
Osinbajo’s explanation came against the backdrop of the controversy trailing a portion of a recently launched book by Prof John Paden on President Muhammadu Buhari, titled “Muhammadu Buhari: Challenges of Leadership.” The book claimed that Osinbajo emerged as vice president despite opposition by the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
In his book, though Paden stated that the former Lagos State governor had wanted the Vice President position for himself and not Osinbajo. However, Tinubu explained what happened before the 2015 elections on the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket.
According to him, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), narrated that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) emerged Vice President as a product of religious balancing which became an issue in last year’s presidential election. This is even as he said President Muhammadu Buhari may be slow, but he is steady, especially now that he is older and given his experience.
Tinubu noted that the choice of Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate in the 2015 presidential election proved that the President was not intolerable to religious differences as it was insinuated.
“There was the issue of selecting a running mate and after a careful study and discussion, it was agreed that we should fill the religious balance ticket, given the sensitivity of the moment,” he said.
“Based on this conclusion, the name of a renowned professor, Yemi Osinbajo, the professor of Law and former Lagos State Attorney-General during my time as governor was proposed and accepted as running mate.
“Osinbajo was also a pastor in the largest church in the country, this is for those trying to paint Buhari as an intolerant religious leader,” Tinubu said.
The Race To 2023 Has Begun, Who Succeeds Buhari?
Now many people are asking, is Osinbajo a ‘sacrificial lamb’? As the wrath of Aso Rock cabal was unleashed, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo seems to have found himself in political bad weather as a cabal operating under the support of President Muhammadu Buhari are allegedly working against the professor of law as permutations for the 2023 elections get underway.
Also, the intrigues surrounding the persecuted and suspended National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is very disturbing. Can Oshiomole survive the onslaught as governors within the party have declared their support for the court order suspending him? The governors insisted that the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) replace him immediately to fill the void created by his suspension.
Oshiomhole, nonetheless, hurried to obtain a counter ruling from a Federal High Court in Kano asking it to set aside the ruling of Abuja High Court. He also prayed the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing any other person as the national chairman of the party.
Moreover, Tinubu is known to have installed Oshiomhole and has supported him ab initio. He defended him from the party’s ambitious state chief executives who see the national chairman as a stumbling block to their 2023 presidential aspirations. Persons close to the power play in the party say all is set for a rough encounter with the national leader, who however is believed to have the ears of President Muhammadu Buhari.
With the recent development, Ajimobi, who was the immediate past governor of Oyo State, would step into Oshiomhole’s shoes as acting national chairman, being the most senior officer of the party.
He (Ajimobi) would mount the saddle based on Article 14.2 (iii) of the APC constitution, which states that: “Deputy National Chairman, North/South shall act as the National Chairman in the absence of the National Chairman.”
However, Oshiomhole said that he had proceeded to appeal the ruling, insisting that he remained the national chairman of the party.
The Many Conspiracies and Conjectures for the Soul of APC
Oshiomole to Betray Tinubu, Why?
Recall that in January, Charles Idahosa, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, has warned APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu to beware of the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election. Idahosa said Oshiomhole will disappoint Bola Tinubu because of his ambition to become the vice-president.
He alleged that the APC’s National Chairman has pledged his allegiance to a Northern presidential candidate in 2023. Idahosa made the allegation while speaking with Daily Independent. He said…
“I feel so sorry for Tinubu because he doesn’t know who Oshiomhole is. I am aware he is one of those giving him support as the National chairman.
“Oshiomhole will disappoint him seriously. He will not support him in 2023, he can take that to the bank.
“Tinubu is one of the people supporting him as National chairman thinking that Oshiomhole will use his influence as National chairman to make him get the (2023)ticket.
”What he doesn’t know is that Oshiomhole’s ambition is to become Vice President to a northern presidential candidate in 2023. He is going to pair a northern candidate against the interest of Tinubu.”
Governor Nasir El-Rufai to betray President Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu and Adams Oshiomole?
In the same vein, Shehu Sani, the lawmaker who represented Kaduna Central in the eighth Nigerian Senate, has said that Governor Nasir El-Rufai will soon betray President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
Sani, who said this in a Facebook post while responding to El-Rufai’s comments online, warned that Buhari would soon taste the venom of the Kaduna governor’s treachery.
El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State had posted photos of Sani and former lawmaker Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, mocking them and boasting that he was responsible for their defeat in the 2019 general election and their “permanent” retirement from politics.
Sani said El-Rufai’s inability to emerge as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum showed that the Kaduna governor could not win anything without Buhari’s help.
He wrote:
“Your treacherous history of jumping from one godfather to another is well-known to all Nigerians.
“And I have always believed that it’s a matter of time before PMB will have a taste of your patented venom and perfidy once you reach a point that he is of no further importance to you.”
The former lawmaker said El-Rufai was an “opportunist who uses people in power only to betray them later.”
Sani added, “You can’t claim to have ‘retired’ anyone from politics when all your life is about hanging on President Buhari and dropping his name to achieve your goals. You have yet to prove your ‘power of retirement’ by standing on your feet through the recent one you did was trying to be the chairman of governors’ forum and you woefully failed.
“Your treacherous history of jumping from one godfather to another is well-known to all Nigerians. And I have always believed that it’s a matter of time before PMB will have a taste of your patented venom and perfidy once you reach a point that he is of no further importance to you.”
Plan to eliminate Oshiomhole is to weaken APC ahead of 2023 – Party Chieftain
The APC south-south national vice-chairman, Hilliard Eta has revealed those behind the crisis currently rocking the party – Eta explained that the plot to remove Adams Oshiomhole as the APC national chairman is to weaken the ruling party.
According to The Nation, Eta alleged that the motive of the people behind the plan was to make way for their 2023 presidential ambitions. The party chieftain explained that their plan is aimed at weakening the ruling party’s fortune thereby moving members to another party for them to pursue their selfish ambition at the next general elections.
Though Eta blamed the selfish ambition of some governors for the party’s current crisis, he went on to note that the reason they are determined to remove the national chairman is so that they can actualize their interests.
The Embattled national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole On his Twitter He said: “I happen to know that there is this move by some of these people to weaken the party and get some people out so they can form another political group to challenge the party in 2023. But, that can be done without heating the polity the way they are doing now.
“Those who love this party must call the troublemakers to order, whatever happens to this party between now and 2023 will affect the democratic fabrics of this country. So, we must be mindful of not just the corporate health of APC but that of the entire Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, Eta dismissed reports that have been circulating about Oshiomhole’s kinsmen abandoning him in the south-south. The APC vice-chairman insisted that members and leaders from the geo-political zone of the party are behind Oshiomhole’s leadership.
What happens next?
