Recently, news broke that two governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, went to President Muhammadu Buhari with the name of their preferred candidate for the party’s national chairman.
According to the report, “President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected a proposal from two All Progressives Congress (APC) state governors to adopt a certain aspirant as the next national chairman of the party during the February 26 convention”
“Buhari, it was gathered asked the two governors to take their proposal to the party’s Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), their fellow governors and other party leaders for consideration”.
Findings show that the candidate submitted to Mr President is not Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. Meanwhile, I am not insinuating that it must be Al-Makura.
The big question is how on earth will only two governors outsmart other 20 APC governors, and played the ostrich by submitting only a name out of 10 aspirants to Mr President?
Again, since another news broke that progressive governors zoned the national chairman of APC to the North-central, it sounds as if heavens were let loose.
Some aspirants and their supporters abandoned the job of telling the public their worth, rather, they embarked on a suicide mission of castigating the person and competency of Al-Makura, who is the leading aspirant for APC national chairman.
To us in Al-Makura’s fold this is normal in politics, especially that the coast is clear for the emergence of our candidate as APC national chairman, by the grace of God.
APC was formed in February 2013, following the merger of Nigeria’s three biggest opposition parties, namely, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and a faction of the new PDP.
The argument is that of all the above mega parties that formed APC, only CPC is left out in holding the office of APC national chairman.
Now take a look at this, Baba Akande and Chief John Oyegun are from ACN. Adams Oshiomhole, whose original party, Labour Party-LP, formed alliance with ACN in Edo state, also took a shot, then the current national chairman, Mai Mala Buni, of the ANPP.
I respect to Senator George Akume, who is also from ACN, Senator Sani Musa, who just left PDP in 2018 and joined APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, age is not longer on his side.
The argument on the table now is to allow one of the parties that was in the forefront of the merger, CPC, produce the next APC national chairman. And the right man for the job is the then only CPC governor, Senator Al-Makura.
He was already a multi-billionaire businessman before coming into politics and has been a business mogul since the 70s. Many political groups, individuals and captains of industry have tipped Al-Makura to emerge a consensus choice for APC national chairman.
Al-Makura started gaining experience in party administration in 1980 as the Youth Leader of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in old Plateau state during the Second Republic. He was elected into the 1988/1989 Constituent Assembly and became state secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) from 1990 to 1992.
He later merged forces with likeminded political associates in theUNCP during that fateful General Sani Abacha’s transition programme.
Now, the big questions, who is afraid of an Al-Makura APC chairmanship that is premised on equity and fairness? Why are some politicians working underground to ensure Al-Makura, doesn’t emerge as APC’s national chairman?
Only the guilty are frightened by their shadows.
Yakubu Otuwose,
Lafia, Nasarawa state.
