From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The countless number of visitors trooping into the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to pay courtesy visits on the National chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, could rightly or wrongly stand as proof that he may have started enjoying legitimacy much earlier than expected.
From the about-to-be-sworn in Ministers to the principal officers of the National Assembly, the forum of ex-deputy governors, former legislators, failed aspirants for political positions on the party’s platform and all manner of coalitions, Ganduje’s home and the secretariat of the ruling party, have become a pilgrim of sort.
Visitors from North and South, East and West coming to felicitate and ultimately seek one form of favour or the other, especially appointments, have actually breathed life into the hitherto ghost and despondent Buhari House party secretariat, making it a carnival of sort since few weeks he assumed office.
One after the other, the visitors would pledge their unalloyed loyalties and describe him as the best man for the position, hinging it on his rich and enviable political antecedents and achievements.
Ganduje has undoubtedly received endless showers of encomiums and felicitations to massage his ego, from political heavyweights like the former governors of Rivers and Plateau states, Nyesom Wike, Simon Lalong, innumerable members of APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) to serving State Assembly lawmakers.
For Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Ganduje is the best man to wear the fitted cap. For the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, Ganduje possesses the requisite magic wand to redirect the sinking ship of the party, for the forum of former deputy governors, Ganduje is one of their own, a tested and trusted man of capacity, competent enough to circumvent whatever banana peels placed dangerously along his path.
The encomiums and commendations, confirming his acceptability after the hostility against his appointment, were not only limited to the visitors. The hitherto aggrieved secretariat staff seem to be bubbling with life following the assurances of promotions, salary increments, expected palliative and possible gift of land in Abuja.
So far, in the thinking of many observers, things have continued to fall pleasantly in perfect places for Ganduje, the new sheriff in town. Little wonder close to one month after his assumption in the exalted office, he has continued to enjoy an endless honeymoon of loyalties, especially after overcoming the initial disturbing antagonisms against his emergence.
Above all, there seems to be a little respite for him, shifting his attention from the threatening theatre of war and battleground in his home state, Kano. Interestingly, the number of emissaries from Kano state and beyond, congregating and invading the national headquarters of the ruling party on a daily basis bore eloquent testimony to that.
Expectedly, Kano indigenes and their neighbourhood, comprising myriads of political allies, contractors, loyalists, physically challenged, area boys, and hangers on among many others, may have practically relocated into Abuja and emptied into the party’s secretariat with many of them resuming and closing with him.
But beyond the sycophantic adoration that has trailed him since his resumption, recent developments may have shown that the compliments from the visitors may only be a window dressing, a smokescreen, and certainly not the reliable yardstick to measure the level of his acceptance.
Hostile comments and attacks already creeping in gradually from party chieftains like former spokesperson, Yekini Nabena and erstwhile National Vice Chairman North West, Salihu Moh Lukman, have heightened the trepidations that it is far from being Uhuru for Ganduje yet.
Only recently, in an exclusive chat with Daily Sun, Nabena, while frowning at Ganduje’s appointment as chairman, argued that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for him to improve the crumbling fortune of the party.
Asked if Ganduje will go down disgracefully like other APC chairmen before him, Nabena furiously replied: “It is either he goes down or the party will go down. One of these must happen very soon, especially when he tries to raise his head up to dare those that appointed him. That is where the crisis will start. He will continue to be answerable to the few that installed him.
“Go and mark it, there is certainly going to be an implosion in the APC and it is inevitable because the right things are not done. They said that Ganduje was elected unopposed and I ask how. Did he buy the nomination form, and which convention was he elected? He should stop parading himself as an elected chairman because he is not one…
“They went for Ganduje, what will a man facing a crisis in Kano tell the opposition parties? He is somebody we know from his antecedent in Kano. With Ganduje on the saddle as APC chairman, can the party boldly claim to be sincere in fighting corruption?” Nabena queried rhetorically.
On his part, Lukman had in a letter he wrote to President Tinubu noted that; “making Ganduje the national chairman of APC is a disturbing signal. Many party members are yet to recover from that shock. With all the pending corruption allegations against Ganduje, you opted to nominate him to become the party chairman.
“It was scandalous that you will opt for Ganduje with all the baggage of corruption allegations against him. The emergence of Ganduje as the party chairman sends the disturbing signal of being weakly committed to fighting corruption. This is very troubling and is neither representative of the interest of APC members, nor is it representative of the wider interest of Nigerians,” he wrote with fury.
Frowning further at Ganduje’s anointment, the former Director General PGF warned that; “if our democracy is to develop to the point of being capacitated to resolve our national challenges, the commitment of our leaders to fighting corruption must never be in doubt.
“That our leaders in APC accepted the emergence of Ganduje without much resistance produces the second disturbing signal. This is because the absence of resistance was more a reflection of fear, which is the new reality in APC.
“Once leaders and members of APC continue to feel threatened that when they express opposition against your decision, we may end up with the bigger danger of creating a police state,” Lukman warned.
But generally, despite the encomiums and criticisms that characterised the appointment of Ganduje, the enormous tasks ahead of him seem to be humongous and almost insurmountable.
Apart from embarking on genuine reconciliation of many aggrieved party’s stakeholders, conducting a reliable scientifically-proven verifiable membership registration, ensuring a clean transparent audited financial account and dealings, and instituting an enviable acceptable internal party democracy, the deployment of machinery to guarantee victory for the party in the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states, will stand out as the main litmus test confronting the Ganduje leadership.
Aware that the ruling party is facing a multiplicity of challenges, Ganduje has started well in already expressing reservations over the bogus claims of the over-blotted figure in the party’s membership register.
He did not just fault the over 40 million membership claims but also promised to conduct a more reliable and credible scientifically-proven digitalized membership register from the wards to the state levels.
He had lamented, in his acceptance speech, that despite the acclaimed bogus figure existing only in the membership register, it could not translate to corresponding tangible results during the 2023 presidential election where the party got only eight million votes.
And to match words with action, he has already promised to uphold internal democracy and provide a level playing ground for aspirants to elective positions during party primaries.
To rest the curiosity of members and many Nigerians that he knows the task ahead of him, he promised: “We will deploy technology in the registration of our members. The idea where the current figure of the membership of the party is over 40 million but could not reflect on the result of the last election, where we got only eight million votes, means that it can no longer be business as usual.
“We are going to carry out a scientific registration of members of our great party. We are going to embark on registration from wards to Local Government and the state,” he rolled out his road map to underscore the tasks ahead of him.
Equally aware that endless rancour and acrimonious relationships among party members exist as part of the endemic problem bedevilling the party, Ganduje, perhaps, has already embarked on a bold move to reconcile the hitherto estranged former and incumbent governors of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, and Hope Uzodinma respectively.
But, even if he succeeds in reconciling them, recording such a feat among many other warring factions across the state chapters of the party may certainly not be a smooth ride for Ganduje.
He will likely face a herculean task in pulling the same strings between Okorocha and Uzodinma in other parts of the country where virtually all the state chapters of the party are at daggers drawn.
From Benue state to Zamfara, Enugu to Adamawa, Delta to Abia, Taraba to Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Kogi, Ondo, Lagos, Yobe, Kebbi, and more threateningly Rivers State, peace in the party has almost broken down completely. Things have almost fallen apart among the stakeholders and the centre is still struggling to hold.
Dismissing the possibility of Ganduje making any appreciable reconciliation impact, especially in Rivers State, a chieftain of the party who pleaded anonymity, argued in a chat with Daily Sun that Ganduje has already put the wrong foot forward.
“If Ganduje eventually gets it right, which I doubt strongly, in initiating the difficult move to reconcile Okorocha and Uzodinma, he may have already indirectly complicated the possibility of such a reconciliatory move in Rivers State with his romance with the immediate past governor, Wike.
“Take or leave it, his action in hosting Wike has already sent a negative hostile signal to his arch-rival, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi that his presence and service is no longer needed in the party. Look at Ganduje’s compliments that Wike joining APC will certainly improve the chances of the ruling party, especially in 2027. Can you imagine that?
“It is even more worrisome that Wike is not yet a member of our party. The implication is that whatever Amaechi may have contributed to the success of our party previously is now inconsequential because the indication is that the party’s leadership is now working with Wike. Ganduje has started wrongly in terms of his reconciliatory move. Too bad really,” the chieftain lamented.
Probably also aware of the unnerving task ahead of him, Ganduje, in his acceptance speech, also itemised the road map his administration intends to embark on to achieve success.
Hear him: “Our main focus will be promoting party unity, defending and increasing the number of executive and legislative seats we currently hold. Under my watch, internal democracy will be strictly adhered to with a deliberate policy to engage in wider consultations and make the party functional throughout the year.
“More reforms will be carried out in the party in alignment with the current political landscape. Our party must remain rooted among the people, must demonstrate a willingness to serve and make sacrifices, and must be willing to acknowledge and address our weaknesses. It’s a huge privilege, an honour, and a great responsibility to take on this job and I will do it with everything I have to the best of my ability for my party and my country.
“We will ensure a level playing field for all party members that want to contest elections under the party’s platform. Our primary elections would be free, transparent and fair,” he promised to underscore the endemic menace affecting the ruling party.
And perhaps jolted by the precarious delicate situation facing the party ahead of the governorship election in the three states of Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states, Ganduje had sued for peace, stressing: “Let me also use this opportunity to call on members of our party and all the people of Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states to close ranks and ensure that the APC wins in the forthcoming governorship elections.”
For many pundits and party members disturbed by his standing on the integrity transparency index, he also has words of promises to rest their curiosity. “Let me assure you that as national chairman, I will lead with integrity, transparency, and a deep sense of responsibility. We are going to work tirelessly for a cohesive APC and a united, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria.
“It will be challenging but with dedication, I have confidence that we can achieve a prosperous APC. Thank you for trusting in our party,” he noted recently.
More importantly, in the thinking of many political watchers, the way he handles the continuous grudges over the annoying reward system in the party to members and the insensitive manner APC leaders imposed another Muslim-Muslim leadership in the party, may make or mar his administration.
Already, expressing anxiety, APC chieftain, Lukman had noted that: “largely because of the atmosphere of fear surrounding the emergence of Ganduje as national chairman, the wider debate of using the vacancies created to respond to the challenge of inclusivity given that we won the 2023 election with a Muslim-Muslim ticket was lost.
“Rather than even attempting to respond to that challenge and demonstrate that truly we only invoke the Muslim-Muslim ticket as an electoral strategy, in a very insensitive manner, we still imposed another Muslim-Muslim scenario in the party with the national chairman and national secretary both Muslims.
“And we want to claim we are a progressive party? What is the brand of our progressive politics? Certainly, not the one Nigerians expect, which endears us to citizens on account of which Nigerians have given us the mandate to manage the affairs of government since 2015,” Lukman noted.
Beyond the apprehensions over Ganduje’s future and the doubt over his capacity to rebrand the ruling party, he must eschew the temptations and prove that he will not use his position as a vindictive weapon to scale the supremacy battle raging between him and his estranged godfather, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
He must also stand in the gap to ensure that there was no repeat of the situation under former president Muhammadu Buhari where party members that worked tirelessly, risked their lives, and deployed human and material resources to ensure victory for the party were neglected without reward to checkmate the possibility of the party imploding.