As the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) holds its maiden National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in two years today, BODE OLAGOKE looks at the issues that may dominate the agenda.
Palpable fears abound that the APC’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting today might open yet another chapter in the already sweltering affairs of the ruling party.
Primarily, the leadership of the party had severally been lambasted for flaunting its constitution by not holding the meeting as at when due. In fact, failure to hold the long overdue meeting has been the bone of contention between the party Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Chief Timi Frank.
The meeting is coming at a time most members’ anger against the leadership of the party may have risen to a boiling, in fact unbearable level. So many known leaders of the party are said to have already lost faith in the leadership of the Benin-born national chairman, Chief Oyegun.
Many die-hard members of the party are frustrated that the Chief Oyegun-led NWC had never held the mandatory midterm constitutional national convention, and had expectedly called for the heads of the members of the committee, particularly Oyegun’s.
APC constitution
According to Article 25 (A) (i) of the APC constitution states that the National Convention of the Party shall be held once in Two (2) years at a date, venue and time to be recommended by the National Working Committee and approved by the National Executive Committee subject to the issuance of the statutory notices to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and at least fourteen (14) days notice to members eligible to attend.
Also, the constitution provides that the National Executive Committee may summon an emergency National Convention any time provided at least seven (7) days notice of the meeting shall be given to all members eligible to attend. But disappointedly, these provisions have been breached long before now, and it raises the fear that today’s meeting may be used by aggrieved members of the committee to punish the Chief Oyegun.
Aggrieved Non-NWC members
Again, at a forum organised by aggrieved non-NWC members of the party, the members of the National Executive Council (NEC), who had some time ago sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, demanded for urgent NEC meeting of the party. They had decried the leadership style of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by Chief John Oyegun.
The forum had complained that if nothing was done by the President, the situation might lead to “preventable, avoidable and unnecessary intra-party cracks”. They had reason that failure to nib it in the bud could degenerate into an uncontrollable backlash on the party.
A copy of the letter obtained by Blueprint newspapers, which was signed by a National Ex-officio, South-west coordinator, Hon. Omolayo O. Akintola, dated 6th April, 2017, tagged “Save our party-APC”, was addressed to President Buhari.
The APC Non-NWC (NEC) members’ forum is a body of national officers of the party who are not members of the National Working Committee.
The forum complained that they have written several letters to the national chairman, Chief Oyegun, “without any positive reactions hence their resort to ‘Save our party’ request.”
It reads: “We strongly feel that an urgent call on the appropriate quarters of the party be made to ensure that NEC meeting of our party as provided (for) by Article 25 of our party constitution is obeyed to quarantine resolution of matters affecting the party amicably.
“We are equally greatly displeased with the ways of handling party matters solely by the National Working Committee only without any recourse to the NEC from which NWC derived her powers.
“Also to be noted for appropriate advice is the exclusion of sizeable number of federating states from the scheme of things within the party because many states are not presently represented by party officers on the current National Working Committee, hence, the need to be having regular NEC meetings pending the much awaited amendment to the present party constitution.
It was gathered, however, that the group plans to pass a vote-of- no confidence on the Chief Oyegun-led NWC, at today’s NEC meeting.
Party, government relationship
From the above observation, the party in view of many loyalists is alienated from government. As the ruling party at the centre, this has serious negative political implications which may have impacted on the party’s administrative systems and organisations. This has clearly resulted to a situation where the party’s hierarchy is in the dark about many happenings in government, and it speaks volume by the absence of synergy between the party and the federal government.
Perhaps, had there been is a regular forum for interaction between the party leadership, the executive and legislative arms of the government to discuss and agree on a common ground with respect to government policy formulation and execution, the widening gap may have been avoided.
Party finance
Prevalence of discord in the ranks of the five major parties and myriads of associations that eventually formed the APC has been evident in the poor funding of the party’s secretariat. While there is a funding stream that should normally have come from collection of membership dues and contributions, it is, however, embarrassing that a ruling party does not have funds to meet its basic needs, including payment of salaries of secretariat staff. It is highly ridiculing that NWC officials from the different parties and associations pay from their purses whoever staff an official directly recruited, notwithstanding that such staff works in the APC secretariat.
Therefore, as the APC NEC members meet today, it is expected that they work out an urgent sustainable funding model to enable the party to function properly.
Appointment
Another issue that may generate controversy is the lamentations about how President Buhari made appointments, which some of the APC members believe, has not been in their interest. In fact, a prominent group loyal to the President at the weekend cried out that the government has been hijacked stressing that 50 percent of cabinet members are from the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP).
According to the Comptroller General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali, unless something is done urgently for those that laboured for the party’s and Buhari’s victory, the government might be losing the “battle.”
Ali said: “When we were there working and jumping on the street and reaching every corner, we were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria. Now, the key word is good governance for Nigerians. We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because he is on course.
“But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these people are the ones that are calling the shot today. That is why we are derailing. If we had the right people who had the vision and have been there in and out, I believe that we will not be going the way we are going today.”
Similarly, Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong, corroborated Col. Ali’s points and added that even some governors, are not being carried along when key federal appointments are made.
“Let Mr. President bewared that this is the time to do it right because even as governors we are also complaining in our various state, we are saying it. We complained in our state we only hear appointments made from our states, and then people start asking the governor ‘where is this man coming from?’ Even we don’t know where such man is coming from.
“Many people have complained. I’m sure governors have complained that we should know who and who will protect Mr. President and his administration. So that when you appoint him and you find him guilty or you find him wanting you could hold the governor responsible because in our various states when we established BSO (Buhari Support Organisation) but today they are not enjoying the fruits of their labour. It means that something is wrong and we have been to point it out”.
Political analysts are unanimous that whatever form the agenda of today’s APC NEC meeting may take, the members will not come out smiling at each other.
