Some of our ‘bad’ friends smile and laugh with us. Then, they go behind our back and laugh at us …with their ‘good’ friends. Mitta Xinindlu
One of the practices, of Nigeria politicians is deliberately betraying anybody just to remain relevant in the polity and reinvent themselves in any situation. It is in public knowledge that the governing ruling party is facing many protracted internal crisis putting it into one feud to another, all in an effort by segment of stakeholders to take the control of the party structure whereby the crisis have grown to pitiable and dirty politics resulting in booting out two party National Working committees.
Former National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for being responsible for the crisis in the party and for being highhandedness and lacked the courage to confront the pockets of political despots who could not operate along the party’s rules. It was under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led National Working Committee (NWC) that the strength of the party drastically reduced as it had lost 7 states to PDP before and after 2019 general elections.
Some party stakeholders blamed Oshiomhole for allegedly sold the gubernatorial primary elections to the highest bidders while others argued that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole narrowed the party to himself.
In 2019, APC disqualified from participating in the Rivers state gubernatorial election, as it failed to act in line with electoral act of conducting internal primary election for its choice of flag bearer in Rivers state. The party lost opportunity of winning an election at the PDP strong base states. It badly managed governorship election victory in Bayelsa state arisen from the shady primary election to choose its flag bearers in Bayelsa and Zamfara states.
These crises were created in the party where many aggrieved members rushed to the court to seek justice leaving the party with many litigations across the country. This led to the birth of Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, on June 25, 2020.
Political watchers observed that the formation of Caretaker Committee was crucial at that critical time when the party was on the verge of collapse . It became like a theatre of infighting both at the national level and state many States.
So, Governor Mala Buni appointment as the Caretaker Committee Chairman was not surprised to the party stakeholders having served twice as National Secretary of the party, and conversant with the party’s internal mechanism.
To be honest with reality, history will be kind to Governor Buni’s stewardship in APC, as his stabilising committee embarked on visitations and consultation missions to meet all national leaders and other party stakeholders across the country in order to accommodate all interests.
Members had acknowledged that the interim committee healed the wounds of the aggrieved by repositioning the party and restored peace to the party after the protracted leadership crisis.
Evidently, APC CECPC has witnessed that the fortunes of the party has greatly improved as the committee
brought back many aggrieved party members and even reconciled many prominent party members across the country.
Critical stakeholders have resolved their differences in favour of party’s interest. It is an understatement to say life has returned to the party with the bubbling nature of a once abandoned ruling party National Secretariat.
Against all odds, APC Caretaker Committee had organised party ward congresses, local governments congresses and the states congresses, where officers were elected into their respective offices. The work done by the CECPC bolstered the confidence of the party, which has now been transformed.
But there are some Anti CECPC forces working assiduously to rubbish the noticeable achievements recorded by the Caretaker Committee by spinning different narratives to the effect that Buni wants to continue to run the affairs of the party up to the time the party would conduct its Presidential primary where candidates for 2023 elections would emerge and use the party’s national chairman platform to lobby for the position of vice-president.
Let these anti-Buni forces be reminded that CECPC reduced many litigations against the party, paid off all the party’s debts, procured the building housing its National Headquarters and raised its membership, all of them fully registered.
On over stay in office, let them recall that the first six months period, was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no time Governor Mai Mala Buni Single handedly sought the committee’s extension without the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari. For all the three times extension, there were collective inputs of all stakeholders.
The recent untenable calls on the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to relinquish his chairmanship of the Committee clearly hit the bricks after INEC rejected the nomination of Niger State as the Chairman of Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party.
The treachery committed against Governor Buni clearly presents a hidden agenda they have and is like exactly what Julius Caesar experienced. He was betrayed by many people whom he thought were his close friends, but are his internal opponents cloth as trusted companions.
But despite the numerous opposition rhetoric from anti Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee to discredit the Bunis efforts and the good works, the Buni led caretaker Committee worked assiduously with all sincerity of purpose, re-energised and rescued the troubled party that was heading towards imminent collapse and disintegration,
Dukawa writes in from Kano and can be reached at [email protected]
[…] If not in social capital, then where is government’s spend going? Infrastructure, I am often told. But basic costs continue to rise. Especially for businesses. This ordinarily means that the investment in infrastructure is either of a variety that has a long lag between being put in place and when it positively impacts the economy. Or (perish the thought) government may have been spending the wrong sums on the wrong things (remember that the potential returns on investment in social capital is much higher in economies like ours than that from investment in infrastructure). Either way, businesses, small, medium and big, formal and informal, are complaining of the effect of the diminution in final demand on their custom. Where they can no longer raise prices without alienating what is left of their customer base, and thus go out of business, most manufacturers have resorted to shrinkflation (that, incidentally, is the proper name for what we call “satchetisation”). […]