THERE are indications that the good fortune that smiled on the All Progressives Congress (APC) may not last for long unless the leaders of the party and some of its key sponsors give up some of their demands for the overall shelve interests of the party.
A source at the party's headquarters told National Daily that the level of horse-trading going on five weeks to the hand-over date is astounding. The source said that contrary to the pretense that everything is under his control, President elect Muhammadu Buhari may soon lose his cool with the way some key members of the party are going about the demand for appointments which is not going down well with him.
According to our source who pleaded not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the issues involved, Buhari is not comfortable with demands by some people in the party. He is said not to be comfortable with a supposed list drawn up by Bola Ahmed Tinubu---not because he cannot accommodate them now, but because it will bring bad blood to the party as other key party sponsors will feel cheated. As things stand now, the regions who feel that the sharing of the first top six positions (of President, Vice President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Senate President, and Deputy Speaker ) will likely have the key ministerial positions like Finance, Petroleum, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Agriculture, Education and Health, our source said. But this will come in direct conflict with the demands already tabled by some key members of the Party .While Bola Tinubu is said to have indicated interests in providing candidates for some key ministerial positions, Gov. Chibuike Amechi is said to have warned that the Minister of Petroleum should not elude the south-south region, Rivers State. But another source told this newspaper that Tinubu has marked out his choice for the position of Minister of Petroleum, Finance and Justice. All these are responsible for the ongoing realignment of northern politicians behind Buhari to give him the much needed support and clout to stand any impending intimidation. This may well lead to a clash of interests between the north and the South West, a source at the party's national secretariat told National Daily.
The signs of what to expect manifested with the setting up of Buhari's Transition Team because many in the party believe that being in the team positions people to get appointments in the government once it is formed. This has caused a lot of acrimony as different camps within the Party are working hard to make inputs. Tinubu was said to have made inputs in the list as his choices clashed with those of other members of the party. A party chieftain from the south-south region told the National Daily that in the next few weeks, everything will be clearer on who gets what as he puts his money on the fact that some of the so-called key sponsors of the party will be disappointed.
According to an insider who spoke with the National Daily on conditions of anonymity, if the party survives the present horse-trading going on in Abuja at the moment, then it will likely stay intact till 2019. All these are heightened by the likely defections of some key members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC before the newly elected president forms his cabinet.
The whole issue is not made easy by Buhari's tacit observation of the turn of events. The source said General Buhari was keeping his choices to his chest because did not want the scramble to derail the gubernatorial elections where the party had to sweat it out in some key states of the federation. That was why he did not want to focus on his cabinet until after April 11. According to him, room should be made for some party faithful who failed to make it after the election. However, other camps, most especially Tinubu's camp, are very eager to discuss the issue now and here which many from the northern part of the country frown at. It could be recalled that Tinubu did not have a smooth relationship with Buhari during the campaigns as General Buhari was said to have put down his foot severally to shut out Tinubu.
The ongoing negotiation has thrown up several positions up for grabs, starting with the Senate presidency which the party would have loved to zone to the south east as part of efforts to woo the region ahead of 2019. But with the zone's inability to elect a single senator on the platform of the APC, the party seems to have been having a change of mind, focusing now on the former Governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki. However, this is not going down well with some party bigwigs outside the north central zone, especially those from the north east who are of the opinion that the north central has held that position for the last eight years. They are calling for a rotation to their zone with a former governor from the zone in mind.
The south west group led by Tinubu is said to be gunning for some key ministries such as Finance, Internal Affairs, Petroleum, Aviation, Agriculture and the Speaker of the House of Representatives among others. Those from the south-south, led by Amechi, are said to frown at anybody outside the zone laying claims to the Petroleum Ministry.
It could be recalled that the national leaders and national caucus of the All Progressives Congress officially zoned the office of the Senate President in the 8th Senate to the north central geo-political zone, while the Speaker of the House of Representatives was zoned to the north-east geo-political zone. They also endorsed a zoning arrangement that would see the southwest producing the Deputy Senate President and the south-south, Deputy Speaker. It was learnt that the position of the Speaker was earlier allotted to the southwest but had to be moved to North-east following a strong lobby by leaders from the zone who argued that such arrangement was necessary to compensate them for the massive support for the party during the election. The source hinted further that the party zoned the office of the Majority Leader of the Senate to the southwest.
The present state of things has generally left the southeast in the cold, observers say. The party is said to have a plan to compensate the zone with other appointments to ensure some balance and equity. In all the eight senatorial seats in the zone, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all. This has made it impossible for the zone to aspire for any principal office in the senate.
With this agreement, the current minority leader in the Senate, George Akume from Benue, and Senator Bukola Saraki from Kwara are expected to engage each other in a fierce contest for the Senate Presidency. But a source close to the President elect told National Daily that Saraki will not be the Senate President, for reasons he refused to divulge. He says that General Buhari is not ready to have anybody who has baggage or whose elevation might put his government in a very bad light. So people who have been politically exposed in governments of recent past may be shoved away. And Saraki falls within this group, the source said.
Another source close to the party said that the first appointments will be those of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. These two positions are key to the government and as such, lobbyists have descended on the party's headquarters in Abuja even when it is clear the party has settled for some choices.
For the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, there are feelers that the APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, is among those being considered for the position. Another name that is peddled is that of the former Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, Anambra State born Ben Akabueze, whom, our source says, will be using one stone to kill two birds by Tinubu. Another name said to be under consideration is Ambassador Hakeem Baba Ahmed, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary, who had a stint as the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government under then Col. Hammed Ali (presently Chief of Staff, to the President-elect.
The position of NSA is usually considered the exclusive preserve of the President and the appointment of a new NSA by the President-elect, himself a retired general, is expected to be swift. A source told the National Daily that among those being considered for the positions of NSA are: former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau (retd) and former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Commassie.
The former Army chief who is currently the Director in charge of the Security Directorate of the APC Presidential Campaign Council has an advantage over Commassie whom many still link to the nation's ugly past. More so, his prominent position as the Chairman of the northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum makes it difficult for Buhari who is working hard not to be seen as an ethnic warlord, to pick him, even though he was Gen. Buhari's schoolmate.
However these permutations go, observers are worried at how the APC, a party of multiple contradictions will manage the impending crisis smoothly, according to a top PDP chieftain who doesn't want his name in print. The APC will most likely have problems from day one.
