Nigeria: Ruling party figure denies plans of new set up

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - A senior leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has said he will not quit the party “at any cost”, dismissing speculations he may be teaming up with other politicians to form another political platform.

"This is a party I labored with others to build. We would not abandon it for another. Millions of Nigerians who voted are watching and praying,” Bola Tinubu, a southwestern political colossus hailed for midwifing the coalition that brought President Muhammadu Buhari -- a northerner -- to power in the 2015 election, said in a statement.

The APC, a potpourri of senior figures from at least four former political parties, is now mired in various crises that analysts blame on the egos of its leaders and alleged flawed agendas of its founders. The crises have seen party apparatchiks -- loyal to Tinubu and Buhari -- working at cross-purpose in the past months.

Tinubu is referred to as the national leader of APC for his leading role in the party's formation – a designation that, however, finds no expression in the party's constitution. The president is the leader of the party, according to the APC constitution.

In October, he had openly called for the resignation of party Chairman John Oyegun over what the former called the “shameful and undemocratic” conduct of governorship primaries in southwest Ondo state.

Oyegun is believed to have acted out a script of Buhari loyalists in the primaries, which the party's National Working Committee deemed to be fraudulent and ordered canceled. The primaries stood nonetheless.

Tinubu’s loyalists, meanwhile, insist the president was undermining their boss in his southwestern stronghold, leading to heightened tensions within the party. Those against Tinubu accuse him of working against the president and the party.

But the party leader, a veteran of anti-military rule struggles with huge political goodwill across the country, went vaguely conciliatory in his morning statement.

“I have devoted my political life to achieve what has been achieved. My heart is too much of the people and my mind too fixed on establishing a positive historic legacy... rather than engage in destructive pettiness,” Tinubu said.

His comments were a riposte to reports in some local dailies which suggested that he was plotting with some powerful politicians to float a new party to challenge the APC in future polls.

Party insiders trace the crisis of confidence between Buhari and Tinubu to as far back as before the presidential primaries, which produced the former military ruler as the party's candidate, and to the maneuvering over the Cabinet formation.

Although Tinubu eventually supported Buhari, he was at that point also routing for another aspirant at the prompting of powerful individuals from Buhari’s northern region and beyond who feared the latter’s military credentials and anti-corruption stand.

“Buhari did not find that inconsistency funny. But Tinubu is also facing pressure from party supporters in his southwest and beyond who are alarmed at what they call the ‘northernization’ of powerful Cabinet positions,” according to a top party insider.

“But there are also the issues of Buhari ignoring Tinubu in the running of the government in spite of his enormous contributions to the success of the party.

“As for Buhari’s men, they fear Tinubu would be too powerful if not checked. Also, some of Buhari’s ministers from Tinubu’s region whose nominations were not supported by the politician are among those trying to decimate him,” the insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, added.