The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has become a theatre of cold war between principal party leaders, in addition to corresponding open conflicts. Apparently, President Muhammadu Buhari, leader of the ruling APC, has been in dilemma over the way out of the intractable quagmire in the ruling party. The President has tactically been oscillating between leading party leaders in the conflicts, weighing options and considering risks of aligning with a faction and disregarding the other.
President Buhari has seemingly come to the point of weighing the political capital or asset of respective stakeholder in the storm of the conflicts in considering where to pitch his tent henceforth.
The President was chairman of the APC Caucus which on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, considered the endorsement of the tenure of Oyegun, NWC and other executives for the next one year commencing from June 2018 that was later endorsed at the Wednesday NEC meeting.
The tenure elongation proposal was made by 31 States chairman of APC across the country at their pre-Caucus meeting deliberations.
A month after, President Buhari overturned the decision taken at a meeting he was chairman.
The decision of the President to nullify the tenure elongation took APC leaders unaware as it was not part of the agenda for the NEC meeting, though, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Yakubu Dogara; President of the Senate, Dr. Nukola Saraki, had insisted on the removal of Oyegun.
APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had also warned that the tenure elongation was a breach of the party’s constitution and the constitution of Nigeria.
Tinubu was absent at the meetings, perhaps, to express his discontentment.
There are indications that President Buhari resolved to sacrifice Oyegun in order tom rebuild his union with Tinubu, who may be considered to have higher political capital.
The resolution may not be unconnected with the political exigency that virtually all renown elder statesmen and political leaders who supported Buhari to seat of power in 2015 have abandoned him and aligned with opposition forces build up to unseat the president in 2019. At the moment, Tinubu is the only established political leader that is still standing with Buhari.
President Buahri may, perhaps, have read the handwriting on the wall when at the national caucus meeting on Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Tinubu, Bisi Akande, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, were absent, including Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, who had openly opposed the tenure elongation for Oyegun.
There were strong indications that if the tenure of the NWC and Oyegun was extended, it could have devastating outcomes for the unity of the party in the buildup to the 2019 general elections.
After the Monday caucus meeting, Oyegun had dismissed any possibility of revisiting his removal, saying the NEC meeting will be to concluded the agenda the party leaders could not conclude in the previous meetings.
“No, the meeting concluded the agenda we started the last time we met which we did not complete. Today we discussed true federalism, something a lot more serious, a lot more serious,” Oyegun had said.
However, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, had said that Oyegun’s tenure extension will be on the agenda at the NEC meeting, saying:, “whatever NEC decides, that will be binding on all of us as faithful members of the party.”
Saraki was at the meetings this time after being absent from the February Caucus and NEC meetings.
Recent developments in the polity have increased the tension in the APC. Leaders of the ruling party have shown signs of panic as the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is gradually reconciling with the Nigerian people and rebuilding its political machine; in addition to the rising of the Third Force being nurtured by the Movement for Coalition of Nigerians (NCN) led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, complemented by Nigeria Interventionist Movement (NIM) led by Olise Agbakoba and others.
Former Heqad of State, Ibrahim Babangida, including former Defence Minister, T.Y. Danjuma, have also shown their disaffection with the Buhari administration after their massive support in 2015.
More so, Northern leaders are also consulting in the search for Buhari’s successor.
Generally, indices of depreciating goodwill and solidarity for both Buhari and APC are becoming obvious in the polity. Thus, President Buhari has every reason to review his political calculus in handling controversies and conflicts, building or rebuilding new coalitions in APC which reflected in his decision in declaring the tenure extension of Oyegun illegal.
Speaking at the Tuesday NEC meeting in Abuja, Buhari expressed the hope that they take the opportunity of the gathering to resolve outstanding issues and consolidate our plans towards making APC the strongest defender of the interests of our people.
“As we all know, a motion was moved at the last national Executive Committee meeting of February 27, 2018, to the effect that when the tenure of the current executives expire in June this year, they should be allowed to continue for one year.
“This motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last NEC meeting, even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. Others have even taken the matter to court.”
The President subsequently declared the tenure extension illegal and unconstitutional, warning that the party must eschew from actions that will lead to litigations.
The President maintained that the Nigerian constitution prescribes that people should present themselves for elections, acknowledging that the tenure extension breaches the constitution of the country.