By Eric Elezuo
It’s no longer news that the crises hitting various political parties in the country have both direct and remote connections to the fast approaching 2027 general elections, with special emphasis to the presidential election.
In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party and the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), the stories of internal crises and leadership tussles have remained constant, causing the leadership and membership of the various parties to lose direction and focus of the business of opposition. These unfolding scenarios have granted the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) unfettered access to shenaniganism, and hope of rescuing the Presidential villa come 2027, their clueless administration and policies that have ravaged coexistence, not withstanding.
It would be recalled that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), once said that the 2027 election will be a walk in the park for his political camp. The Minister is frolicking with the Tinubu-led APC.
The Minister, who is having a running battle with the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, at a thanksgiving service by Barinada Mpigi, a federal lawmaker, in Koroma, Tai LGA, made the remarks, stressing that the election will be easy for his camp because of the alliance it has forged with other parties as well as controlling the structures of both APC and PDP in Rivers State.
“With the forces we have, I don’t know of anybody who can challenge us,” Wike boasted.
Again, it is no longer news, going by the way events are unfolding, that the Tinubu-led administration is doing everything within its power to instigated crises in opposition parties to turn the country into a one-party state.
The country strives, and has been striving on multi-party convention since independence, but events in the last couple of months, or dating back to the advent of the Tinubu government, has revealed a trend that showed there is a tendency being hatched by the present administration to convert the country to a one-party state, and creat a leeway for Tinubu to reemerge president in 2027.
It is important to note that this infamous trend is not a function of the ballot papers or boxes or electoral propriety, but inordinate manipulations, using the instrumentality of the courts, judiciary, coercion, setting ‘fire’ in political parties and camps and outright intimidation.
Beginning from day President Tinubu goofed on ascension of the throne, political mechanisms have been put in place to lure vibrant opposition figures towards making dramatic switches to the APC via court rulings and inducemnets, giving a cross sections of Nigerian the effontery to believe there is a hidden agenda to welcome a new Nigeria where political positions both elected and appointed are ‘allocated’ to Tinubu’s APC, and especially retaining Tinubu as president, knowing that Nigerians may have a rethink in voting the president and his party as a result of the trending dismal performances so far portrayed.
A few instances have emerged to raise eyebrows as regards the direction and shape Nigeria political landscape is taking, and to prove that the moles from the ruling party have infiltrated all political parties. Among the instances are the following:
THE UNENDING PDP LEADERSHIP IMBROGLIO
It is still yet to be proved that the APC moles have not penetrated the main opposition PDP, going by the unfolding drama of its weakling leadership, as.supervised by the Acting National Chairman, Amb Illiya Umar Damagum and his Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
A cross-section of respondents, who spoke with The Boss, believe that the Damagum leadership, supported by the FCT minister, are working for the APC. The party has been quick to endorse all the activities of the ruling party with its governors forum divided along interest divide.
“This is not hard to imagine. This the Tinubu magic. He has infiltrated the party, and everyone is doing his bidding. Everything points to having him reelected in 2027. If there are no opposition, then the president will have an easy ride back to Aso Rock.
“The crises everywhere is just a typical example of the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob. Tinubu knows what he is doing,” a respondent told The Boss.
THE LEADERSHIP TUSSLE IN LABOUR PARTY AND NNPP
Like in the PDP, the Labour Party and the Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP are also having a running battle to keep their parties to themselves with moles attacking from every corner. The efforts of the Labour Party to harmonize the party by letting go of his Chairman, Julius Abure, whose tenure has technically ended, has remained an illusion. The appointment of Mrs Esther nenadi Usman, has been truncated by the courts, an instrument believed to an APC organ.
SACK OF ALL ELECTED PDP PLATEAU LAWMAKERS
Earlier in September 2023, the Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Sule was sacked by the state election petitions tribunal.
The election petition tribunal sitting in Jos, sacked the lawmaker, who was elected on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) platform in the last election.
He was sacked alongside Danjuma Azi, a member representing Jos North West constituency in the assembly. The tribunal declared the former majority leader of the house, Hon. Naanlong Daniel and Hon. Mark Na’ah, all of the APC as winners of the March 18 elections.
In November, no fewer than four National Assembly members elected on the platform of the PDP including the Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, were sacked by the Appeal Court on the grounds that the PDP had no valid structure in the state. They were replaced with failed APC candidates including the former governor, Simon Lalong, who is now the Minister of Labour and Productivity, sparking unrest in the state. Today, Plateau has successfully landed in the hands of APC
THE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO SACK ZAMFARA GOVERNOR
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara and declared the March 18 governorship election in the state as inconclusive.
The court also ordered a rerun in three local government areas: Maradun, Birnin-Magaji and Bukkuyum.
Zamfara is currently governed by Mr Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party who defeated the then-incumbent governor, Bello Matawalle, of the APC. Matawalle is now the Minister of State for Defence in the Tinubu administration.
The election tribunal in Zamfara had earlier ruled in favour of Mr Lawal but its ruling was overturned by the Appeal Court.
Lawal, like his counterpart in Kano, was rescued by the Supreme Court decision.
THE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO SACK KANO STATE GOVERNOR
The Governor of Kano State survived by whiskers in the quest for the rampage of the APC moles in all sections of the political parties. It wouls be recalled that the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf.
In its judgment, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgment of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that Election
The verdict comes nearly two months after the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on September 20, 2023, sacked Yusuf, declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.
Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the NNPP, was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.
The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.
The ruling came about six months after the APC candidate conceded defeat to Yusuf in the wake of INEC’s presentation of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.
Observers and stakeholders saw the judgment as a means of restoring Kano as an APC stronghold as well as returning its Chairman, and former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje as a force to reckon with in Kano politics in preparation for the 2027 election onslaught. But the Supreme Court intervened, and Yusuf returned as governor.
KOGI AND IMO GUBER ELECTIONS OF 2023
The candidates of the APC, Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, and Usman Ododo of Kogi State, were both declared winners of the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in the states, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid widely reported irregularities.
DailyPost reported that “lapses were recorded in the elections. There were controversies surrounding the data provided on the IReV. Allegations of pre-written results were rife. Worse still, INEC affirmed the controversial results despite alleged evidence of overvoting, disruption of the voting process and clear instances of security agencies aiding the snatching of ballot boxes.”
According to YIAGA Africa, one of the accredited observers for the elections, there were proliferation of the pre-filled result sheet in Polling Unit 020 in Eika/Ohizenyi, Okehi Local Government Area of the state.
The same development was witnessed in PU 004 in Eni Ward of Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area. Yet INEC discountenanced the alarm, and went ahead to release results, and declare the APC candidate winner.
Some observers and Kogi political stakeholders have dismissed everything that happened to the handiwork of the then incumbent Governor, Yahaya Bello. The governor has in turn thanked President Tinubu for the enabling environment to hold and win the election.
In Imo State, a Daily Post investigation reveals that videos were in circulation where security personnel were accused of allegedly helping the government in power disrupt the voting process, and make away with electoral materials.
The paper wrote: “One such incident happened at the Umuchoko Umuohiagu Junction Polling Unit in Ward 11 of Ngor Okpala LGA, where thugs allegedly working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) carted away ballot boxes and other election materials.
“This reportedly happened after the votes were counted and PDP led with 65 votes against APC’s 35 votes and LP’s 17 votes.
Following the alleged gross manipulation and rigging of the polls, some political parties and their candidates, rejected the results.
THE EDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION OF 2024
While the sour taste produced by the Imo and Kogi governorship elections was not swallowed, the Edo election came with mixed feelings on September 21, 2024. Despite warnings from the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki, regarding the activities of the Federal Government in state with a former governor, Adams Oshiomhole, as its front, the authorities turned a blind eye. The APC and its candidate, Monday Okpebholo, were eventually declared winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid complains of electoral malpractice and intimidation from security agencies, who Obaseki boldly declared were working in the interest of the APC. YIAGA Africa also dismissed the Edo election as lacking in merit.
“This government is just positioning itself for the final battle in 2027, and don’t care if they turned this nation into a one-party state. However, it is too early to begin such grandstanding when the elections are still over three years away,” a political analyst told The Boss
An APC stalwart in Lagos State, hinted that there is no better time to do what the party is doing at the present.
“This is the appropriate time to plant only APC members across the country, thanks to the court cases. You know it will be difficult to turn incumbents to party members after the court cases. Using the judiciary to achieve this aim makes everything absolutely foolproof. The party will come after whatever remnants are left in other parties at the conclusion of court cases,” the chieftain, who craved anonymity, said.
The country has only witnessed 17 months of Tinubu’s administration, and it is evident that the ploy has been on since the sixth month of the administration. A lot is still left to be desired in the next two and half years.
Observers have however said that the biggest mole of the APC has remained FCT minister, who became a bride of no particular groom, when he chose to hobnob between two political parties, betraying his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and working for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in an alliance that compensated him with the FCT job in the bargain.
Wike is still enmeshed in a battle of superiority with his protégé, Fubara over the control of Rivers State. It is believed that his only intention of seeking the soul of Rivers is to seal it for Tinubu’s victory in 2027 while pretending to be in PDP.
While the moles relish in their infamous machinations to secure 2027 for Tinubu and APC amid dangerous economic situations that has impoverished the populace, the remnants of the opposition parties are seeking a merger to checkmate the inordinate ambition of a Tinubu government, which many has already dismissed as failed. There are however, still 29 months to May 29, 2027.
Time will surely tell!
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