It’s the season of electioneering and political engineering, and the field is wide open for political aspirants to throw their hats into the ring. As expected, the stage would be divided, the campaign would be dreadful; some will go high, others might play simple; banters for banters, however, there must be a winner, and most importantly, a nation must be delivered.
But at this moment of intense politicking, what lies ahead for the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and its forthcoming national congress that will usher in news executives are still beclouded. Ahead of February 26, 2022, the national convention is currently on top-level political maneuvering. However, whether the party will cross the red sea or not is a huge complication giving the party’s confidence to have carried on with the inauguration of chairmen despite factional crisis across the states.
Quite tellingly, it’s a blend of truism and fact that any serious contender for the 2023 presidency must have aligned itself to the party chairman to enjoy some kind of shrewd favoritism to clinch the party ticket. In that line, it’s also as a matter-of-fact that whoever leads the party must have paid his political dues to hold ground with Governor Mai Mala Buni-led National Caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention planning Committee (CECPC) leadership.
Interestingly, cut across the nation, elite political leaders have lined up for the party’s highest office. Here is the long list: Sunny Moniedafe; Senator George Akume; Senator Tanko Al-Makura; former Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda; former governors of Zamfara and Borno states, Abdulaziz Yari and, Senator Sani Mohammed Musa; Malam Saliu Mustapha and of recent a young Minna-based politician and right activist, Mohammadu Saidu Estu joined the race.
But if the party decided to zone its National Secretary position of the APC to the South-East while the North-Central gets the chairmanship of the party, the race is narrowed and the tussle is drawn among a number of politicians who are currently gunning for this post. They include Senator George Akume, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, Malam Saliu Mustapha, Senator Sani Mohammed Musa and the youngest among them, Mohammadu Saidu-Estu.
Who are these political gladiators, what are they up to and their individual capabilities? Perhaps these are vital questions that must not go unanswered.
Al-Makura:
Tanko Al-Makura is a big lion in the jungle race; he is regarded as a first-class contender for the chairmanship job.
After joining politics, Almakura became the youth leader of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Plateau State. He was elected to the Assembly of 1988–89, representing the Lafia–Obi Federal Constituency of what is now Nasarawa State. He was state secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC) party in Plateau State from 1990 to 1992. Al-makura was a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State in 1998
Being the former governor of Nasarawa State, he was also of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) legacy bloc of the APC – a bloc that is yet to have a shot at the national chairmanship seat since the amalgamation that formed the party.
Al-Makura is believed to have gotten the backing of his successor, Gov. Abdullahi Sule. Promoters of Al-Makura’s candidacy also believe that he may enjoy presidential backing, owing to his CPC roots.
Mustapha:
The name Saliu Mustapha in the list of top aspirants which comprises former governors and senators might come initially as a surprise to many — he may have not echoed in resounding fame in the Nigerian political firmament before now— but it will interest some to know that the young and silent businessman has paid his due in politics.
Mustapha, an astute politician from Kwara, represents new hope in the political landscape of the country.
His political career started in the early 2000s when he became the first national publicity secretary of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), a defunct political party that contested in the 2003 Nigerian presidential election. He later became a member of the ANPP and was devoted to the presidential ambition of Muhammadu Buhari. In 2009, when a breakaway faction of the ANPP led by Muhammadu Buhari formed the Congress for Progressive Change, Mustapha became the national deputy chairman of the party. He held this position until the party merged and formed the All Progressives Congress.
Thus, at this current time when the CPC bloc is angling to produce the next national chairman, Mustapha may cash in on this to clinch the party’s highest office. Meanwhile, both the defunct ACN and the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) blocs have had their slots; so it is the turn of the CPC bloc to produce the next national chairman.
What will also work for him is his ability to manage people. Coming from a state with two factions of the All Progressive Congress – one led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and the other led by the Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, he had maintained a balanced relationship with both parties. Always appealing for peace and internal democracy and accountability in the party, he is seen as a candidate very fit for the top seat.
Musa:
Mohammed Sani Musa is the senator representing the Niger East Senatorial District of Niger State at the Nigerian 9th National Assembly.
On February 7, 2019, his political career received a major boost when the Federal High Court in Abuja declared him as the Niger East Senatorial District candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the February 23, 2019 election, agreeing that Musa was the declared winner of the primary election the APC conducted in the senatorial district on October 2, 2018
In February 23, 2019, Niger East Senatorial district election, Musa won with 229,415 votes ahead of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ibrahim Ishaku, who got 116,143 votes.
Sani 313, as fondly called, while declaring his intention to become the next national chairman said: “My experience in private and public sectors, the capacity required to manage diverse people and interests, irrespective of tribe, religion and region is already imbibed by me. I am a mobilizer, a bridge-builder, and a strategist that is passionate about the wholesome development of the nation. I possess a strong interpersonal skill by demonstrating the utmost discretion and integrity in all of my dealings.”
He has robust acceptability among the old and young party members, as well as among the various statutory organs of the party. This explains the increasing number of endorsements of his aspiration by many groups across the political, ethnic and religious divide in the last three weeks. He was recently adjudged as the best innovative senator by Telegraph Newspaper.
He is believed to have the endorsement of his governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, who may use his influence as a member of the Buni-led caretaker committee to swing support for Sani 313.
Akume:
Senator George Akume is the current Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs and former two-term governor of Benue State.
For Akume and for his supporters, he is the most eligible aspirant to occupy the post of the national chairman of the APC. One of his supporters said: “Our leader has all it takes to lead the party. Having successfully governed a state for eight years, he was a senator, where he was elected as Minority Leader because of the traits his colleagues saw in him and now a minister. This is the type of leader we need to bring his experience to bear in piloting the affairs of the party.”
“The coast is clear, the party looks set for the national convention and the job schedule for the incoming NWC is designed. What is important is the emergence of a national chairman that will be able to manage the fallout of the congresses conducted, effectively prepare and fashion a strategy that will ensure victory for the party comes 2023.
In the words of a chieftain of the party, Abdullahi Jalo: “The kind of national chairman we need now can unite the party, he must have grassroots appeal and command the respect of all members.”
