Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, and so, the
ruling All Progressives Congress, APC seems to be learning
almost every day.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
Senator Rabiu Kwankwanso was dressed in a flowing white
gown with the red Kwankwansiya cap to match this past
Monday evening. His posture was far from a rattle snake
about to limp for prey as he sat down to a session with
newsmen in his Maitama Abuja residence.
However, after about an 80 minute session with newsmen
that evening, he had sufficiently rattled his party in a way
only a rattle snake could have done on a prey. The APC
was, however, not Kwankwanso’s immediate prey that
evening.
“It is sad that the party did not get it right; it is unfortunate
and I can tell you categorically that the party is divided, but
it is not too late to correct many things and that is what I
think the party should be doing right now”.
The president of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki and his
deputy, Ike Ekweremadu were the immediate preys of
Senator Kwankwanso who warned Saraki not to destroy
their party, with his alleged ambitions.
Senator Kwankwanso did not hide his objection to the
emergence of Saraki as the President of the Senate and
Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Indeed, in the perspective of a key associate of Dogara,
Senator Kwakwanso did more damage more than anyone
else to stop the emergence of Dogara as speaker and it was
said that if not for him, Dogara and as such, Saraki would
have easily emerged as speaker.
When the former governor cautioned Saraki about his
ambition, it inevitably brought to fore the flowing issue of
the 2019 ambitions of the separate leaders of the APC which
their critics in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP had for long argued would be the ruin of the new ruling
party.
Saraki’s alleged 2019 presidential ambition, as has been
generally reported, was the basis of the opposition several
party leaders had against his emergence. Kwankwanso who
teamed up with the Bola Tinubu camp in opposing Saraki’s
Senate Presidency quest is also reported to be interested in
the 2019 pie having been deputy speaker, governor,
minister and now, senator.
Remarkably, Kwankwanso and Saraki were central leaders
of the G7 or new Peoples Democratic Party, PDP group who
left the then ruling party in November 2013.
In his session with newsmen, an emboldened Kwankwanso
who probably only defers to President Olusegun Obasanjo,
confessed that he supported Senator George Akume in the
Senate leadership contest and switched on to Senator
Ahmad Lawan when Akume stepped down for Lawan.
His reason for supporting Akume ahead of his fellow nPDP
co-leader some said was simply in view of 2019 given that
Akume is not in the permutations for the presidency.
If Kwankwanso was restrained in his vituperations against
Saraki, the outbursts the same day, of the deputy national
publicity secretary of the party, Comrade Timi Frank against
the national chairman and working committee simply went
overboard.
Frank, in another session with newsmen in Abuja demanded
the resignation of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as national
chairman. He even took on the party icon and his
immediate boss,, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, charging him with
misdemeanour in the discharge of his duties. Those who
contacted Mohammed on the issue said the party
spokesman was in a state of shock over the issue.
Noting that his party was slacking in its promise of change,
Frank said faulted the party’s decision to present a set of
nominees for the National Assembly leadership contests
saying that the decision of the leadership had shown the
party to be out of touch with its base.
“If my party could not keep to the promise of change, then
we must correct them to keep to that. I have no fear or
favour than to say that the current leadership of the party
has practically failed. With this incident alone, the chairman
should resign from his position after taking a position
against the people and the people’s position has finally
come to stay.
“In the Western world, by today the party’s national
chairman would have resigned honourably. Not just the
national chairman but the entire leadership that took this
decision of conducting mock election against the outcry of
the larger members of the party. Against the bigger picture
of Nigerians. A hand-full of the party leadership came to
take a decision, and by today the people have shown that
the voice of the people is the voice of God.
“You could see the way the party including the national
chairman was speaking before the NASS leadership
elections; it showed clearly that the chairman had totally
taken sides which wasn’t meant to be. I understand, he took
some of those decisions based on pressure. In this century,
APC as a party does not need a chairman that will be under
pressure.
“And the party’s national chairman caused it because times
without number some leaders told him to come up with a
zoning formula from the beginning. He was asked to take a
decision and let people follow that but he didn’t do that.
They were playing hide and seek with the issue until the last
minute when they saw the danger, and they wanted to play
hanky-panky, which led us to lose one position at the
Senate.”
Frank’s call immediately echoed the sound of war from the
leadership contest. Frank is a well known associate of
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and even though he
didn’t claim to be speaking on his behalf, few would doubt
that he resounded the opinion of Atiku on the National
Assembly leadership contest.
Atiku had backed Saraki and Dogara against the desire of
Kwankwanso, Tinubu and others and the reason was easily
because the duo did not back his own presidential
aspiration last year.
There is also the growing perception that Atiku has joined
the school of thought which believes that Tinubu’s wings in
the party should be clipped.
It was as such not surprising that his Man Friday, Frank in
the same outburst questioned the alleged claim by his party
boss, Lai Mohammed that President Muhammadu Buhari is
not the party leader.
“Let’s go back and ask Lai Mohammed who the leader of
the party is. If he does not recognise the president as the
leader. In my own view, If Lai Mohammed that is my direct
boss could come up to tell Nigerians that the president is
only a product of the party and not the national leader of the
party, then he should have been able to tell us who the
leader of the party is.
“We have seen that even in then PDP, former President
Goodluck Jonathan was the leader of the party. If in our own
case the President cannot be the leader of the party, he
should tell us who the leader is then,” Frank averred.
Against the call by the likes of Kwankwanso that
Ekweremadu should resign his position as Deputy Senate
President, Frank dug in saying, “those that are calling for
the deputy senate president to resign are anti-people, and I
will campaign against it. I will continue to support Bukola
Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu and every progressive Nigerian
should support this mission as it will take Nigeria to the
next phase because failure to do this will disrupt
democracy.”
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