With the contest for 2007 still three years away, the question at almost every gathering in Abuja is who would succeed President Obasanjo? Would the likely replacement be from the ranks of one of the three frontliners being pushed forward by various groups and organisations, that is Vice- President Atiku Abubakar, former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, and former military administrator of Lagos State, Buba Marwa, a brigadier general, or outside the PDP, is uncertain.
But for the moment, these three personalities are at the center of events involving many members of the National Assembly. The three are at the center of discussions among many members of the National Working Committee of (NWC) of the ruling PDP, and indeed, the three are becoming the issue that drives political momentum in Abuja. Last week, the issue of 2007 became the central driving force that is now threatening the unity of the main opposition party, the ANPP. The crisis started in a rather funny way.
Although spinners within the party would like journalists and indeed, Nigerians to believe that the incipient crisis within the party has nothing to do with 2007, but the truth is rather different. Addressing newsmen in Abuja last Thursday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Nnamdi Olebara, pointed out that the crisis has to do with issues unrelated to 2007. This was the opinion he attempted to give out after two days meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
According to him, it started first as an allegation of collection of large sums of money against the National Chairman of the party, Chief Don Etiebet, from the Presidency. The allegation was published in a weekly news magazine, The Insider. Thereafter, journalists wanted to know if the allegation was true and the person asked was the National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Sani El-Katuzu. El- Katuzu in his response to the enquiries from journalists, stated that he could not totally vouch for the National Chairman, it was a response that ignited the problem. El-Katuzu for doubting the integrity of Etiebet, was promptly suspended by the NWC last week, and replaced with Dr Francis Egu, a close ally of the National Chairman.
ANPP’s party spokesman, Mr Olebara, in his press statement, denounced El-Katuzu saying, “the NWC condemns the ugly statement to the Press by the National Secretary of the Party, Alh. Sani El-Katuzu, lending credence to the Insider magazine's unfounded publication. The NWC has thoroughly investigated the story of 300 million naira bribe allegation given to our National Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet, by the Presidency, to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) as published by The Insider magazine, and found the story to be completely untrue, malicious, frivolous and sponsored by mischief makers. The NWC condemns the ugly statement to the Press by Alhaji Sani El-Katuzu.
The NWC, for reasons of serious allegations bordering on credibility, misappropriations insubordination and incompetence, the National Secretary, Alh. Sani El-Katuzu has been suspended from office and a panel of inquiry headed by Gen. Bashir Magashi, National Legal Adviser, has been set up to look into these allegations.” The ANPP spokesman disclosed that the NWC re-affirmed its confidence in the leadership of Chief Don Etiebet as the National Chairman of the party.
“The NWC of our great party re-affirms its unreserved and unflinching confidence in our National Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet and equally vouches for his integrity. We urge our teeming members and supporters to discountenance all such ill-motivated and character-smearing rumours, insinuations and innuendoes directed against the leadership of our great party.” In a veiled way, however, the National Publicity Secretary of the ANPP alluded to the external forces that may be taking control of some mechanisms of the party. He stated that the ruling PDP was responsible for the supposed mudslinging allegation against Etiebet. This was what Mr Olebara wanted us to know on camera about the crisis.
However, he slipped in the course of the conference, by some other measures announced. He announced the dissolution of the Executive Committees of the party at all levels in the five states of Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Imo and Kano. According to top sources within the party, events in the party have more bearing to the scheming towards the 2007 presidential ambition than the issue of mere allegation. “If you look at the whole drama very well, you will see a pattern to it. El-Katuzu was the nominee of the Yobe State Governor and it is curious that he got suspended from the party without the governor lifting a finger to help him, “ stated a top source in the party.
According to another source, the relationship between the National Chairman of the party and the National Secretary got sour because of the clash of interests between the two. The source revealed that the Chairman is nursing a Presidential ambition on the belief that the ANPP could be made to zone the Presidential ticket of the party to the South in 2007 having zoned same to the North in 2003 Presidential election. Thus, if the ticket goes to the South, and being the only visible southerner within the party after the death of the vice-presidential candidate of the party, Dr Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo, it would be an easy meal for him to consume. According to the source, the National Chairman is alleged to have set out to weed out any possible opposition he could face within the party’s national control machinery and the most potent for now is the suspended National Secretary who is believed to represent interests diametrically opposed to Etiebet’s interest. The source further stressed that the suspension of the National scribe of the party was basically to checkmate the widening interest of the North-East governors of the party to control the party machinery.
It was learnt that some of the Governors of the party form the zone, especially Yobe State Governor, Bukar Ibrahim, is also nursing a similar ambition of running for the Presidency in 2007. The game plan here then was to root out the influence of the governor from the party ahead of the December 11, 2004 National Convention of the party where the critical issue of which zone will produce the next presidential candidate of the party, would be decided. It was learnt that the clash of ambitions within the top echelons of the party have been responsible for the continued absence of the governors elected on the platform of the party from all functions of the party for months now.
Eventhough the interest of the National Chairman and that of some of the state governors are opposite, another very debilitating influence in the crisis now rocking the party is the perceived loyalty of critical members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to the presidential ambition of former President Ibrahim Babangida. A very reliable source within the party revealed that the dissolution of the party’s executive committees in the five states mentioned above was informed largely by the fraternization of the party executives there with organs of Babangida’s campaign machinery. Although most of the affected members of the dissolved executive committees are political followers of the late Okadigbo, the source revealed that they were seen to be amenable to Babangida’s interest, which in a way, would be a major impediment to the interest of Etiebet within the party.
Although the December 11, 2004 convention of the party is still months away, indications within the party already shows that the present leadership of the party would need to go the extra mile in strengthening its hold on the party as it is likely that the decision taken by the NWC of the party would be upturned by the NEC of the party which would hold two days to the convention date. A source at the party secretariat even revealed that moves are on to ensure that the present set of NWC members are completely replaced at the convention. One thing that is very certain today, is that ANPP has lost the steam to pose a credible opposition to the ruling PDP and it may not be able to re-steam until after the December convention, if the present crisis turns into a protracted one, especially when the National Secretary of the party is going to face a panel of enquiry over other allegations bordering on “misappropriations, insubordination and incompetence.”
Although the National Publicity Secretary would want Nigerians to believe that the PDP is behind the ANPP problem; the question, however, is whether the PDP should be blamed. The National Chairman of the party had been romancing with the PDP government since 2003. In December, 2003 when President Obasanjo, the man the ANPP would want Nigerians to believe, was not properly elected, hosted the Commonwealth heads of government, the ANPP Chairman was at the State House on the invitation of the President to be part of the welcoming party, to shake the hands of the Queen of England. Again, when the PDP-led government imposed a state of emergency in Plateau State, the ANPP National Chairman walked into the chambers of the House of Representatives to embrace the PDP chairman, Audu Ogbeh and gave a message of solidarity to the PDP government's decision. So, how the ANPP men would now turn around to blame the PDP, is what many observers are pondering.
