At last, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the political party that installed the government that has brought Nigeria to its knees, has come out of its closet. Its internal contradictions have become an open secret. The party is no longer prepared to pretend about them.
We can recall with regret how it all began. A horde of disparate elements had rushed into a rainbow coalition. They had no national or patriotic objective. They were just obsessed with power-grab. When, therefore, they got power by default, they did not know what to do with it. The APC has, from inception, been sequestered by political adventurism. It has also been embroiled in internal squabbles. One disparate element has been scheming to outsmart the other. The result is the rudderless leadership that its government has offered Nigerians.
But the real problem is that the party is not apologetic about its failures. Rather, it is being arrogant about it. It has dared anyone who is ill at ease with its bizarre ways to step out for a fight. This is its disposition in the ongoing crisis over the naira swap policy. The national leader of the party, who is also its presidential candidate for the February 25 presidential election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has taken on the government of the day. He said that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, which he helped to install, has failed in all parameters of governance. He is incensed that Buhari’s government has the temerity to redesign naira notes, a policy he said was targeted at him. He is resisting the policy with all the arsenal in his armoury.
In doing this, he has unleashed his attack dogs on the system. Prominent among them is Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who has coopted some other APC governors in the resistance to the withdrawal of the old naira notes. El-Rufai’s Kaduna and the APC governments of Zamfara, Kebbi and, lately, Kano and Ondo have approached the courts with the aim of reversing government’s decision to withdraw the old naira notes from circulation. The APC as a party, its presidential candidate as well as the governors of the party are pushing tirelessly for the retention of the old naira notes. This has left many wondering. Why is the APC fixated about the old national currency? The answer is quite simple. The henchmen of the party have stockpiled trillions of this currency and are, therefore, not prepared to accept any policy that will negate their primitive acquisition. That is why Tinubu is complaining. That is why El-Rufai and his cohorts went into a frenzy. They are ready to take any step or risk anything to ensure that the old notes are not withdrawn.
It is to be noted that neither the Peoples Democratic Party nor the Labour Party is involved in this drama. The presidential candidates of the two parties have even spoken in favour of the naira swap policy. So, why is APC’s case different? Does its leadership live on another planet? The fact of the matter is that APC wants to lead Nigerians by the nose. That is why it is converting a problem that is entirely its own affair to a national headache. What obviously is APC’s internal worries is being made to wear the garb of a national crisis. The APC kingpins want Nigerians to believe that they are fighting a cause that is beneficial to all. But we know that that is a mere smokescreen. The party and its bigwigs are fighting for themselves.
At the centre of their interest in this matter is the forthcoming presidential polls. There is a strong suspicion that some powerful APC members have stashed away huge sums of cash, which they plan to deploy during the elections. The pyramid of cash in their secret vaults has been reserved for vote-buying. But, suddenly, they are about to lose ground following the withdrawal of the old naira notes. The new policy just happened on them. They did not see it coming. That is why they are resisting it. They believe that the implementation of the policy at this time will torpedo their plans for the manipulation of the Nigerian voter. That is why Mallam Nasir El- Rufai, the governor of Kaduna, working with some other APC governors, rushed to court to challenge the currency swap policy. They want to foul the atmosphere and possibly cause a national crisis.
Nigerians must not fall into this trap. The focus of every well-meaning Nigerian should be on the elections. Anything that detracts from that should be seen and treated as an act of sabotage.
As if the onslaught the APC is launching on Nigerians is not bad enough, the party is harassing the Presidency and other institutions of government. El-Rufai claimed the other day that there were elements in the APC trying to sabotage the chances of the party in the elections. Before now, Tinubu and his cohorts had taken on the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele. They labelled him a terrorist. They have attempted to get him arrested on charges that we do not yet understand. The APC is just battle-ready for anybody or institution that is not supporting its strange rulership in Nigeria.
To underline the fact that the party is launching a psychological warfare on all Nigerians, it got Buhari to change his earlier position on the forthcoming national elections. Buhari has been telling Nigerians to vote for any candidate of their choice from any political party. But after Tinubu dragged him out on his F9 performance, the man began to embrace Tinubu. Suddenly and strangely, Buhari is now telling Nigerians to support Tinubu to become President so that he will continue from where he (Buhari) will stop. What a volte face. It is strange that Buhari ate his words after Tinubu called him out for a messy, drag-out fight. It does appear that Buhari is afraid of Tinubu. But why? Why does Buhari catch cold whenever Tinubu sneezes? The answers to these questions form part of those internal oddities that have held the party down. But the real regret here is that the party has visited its internal crisis and contradictions on Nigerians.
It is indeed tragic that Buhari is recommending Tinubu to Nigerians. Whereas some have come away with the feeling that Buhari simply wants to ridicule Tinubu, some others do not seem to know what to make of Buhari’s strange mutations. The party, it would appear, is just playing ping-pong with Nigerians. But if we take the President’s statement seriously, we will be saying that he is asking Nigerians to die in suffering. How can a people who have suffered immeasurably under an order be told to promote and sustain the ugly order that has left them prostrate? Now Nigerians are getting as confused as the APC government. Should this state of affairs continue? All Nigerians of goodwill are saying no to the present disorder represented by APC and the government it formed at the centre.