It is insensitive and self-serving for any politician or
political party to pretend about the important role of
religious and ethnic emotions in unifying and stabilizing the
Nigerian polity. Owing to the realities of our very deep
diversity, confidence is built by reassuring the various
interests through fair representations in the key
decision-making organs of government. This is why the
president, vice president, senate president, speaker of the
House of Representatives, Secretary to the government of the
federation has never been dominated by any one sector. It has
promoted a sense of belonging.
More than that, democracy is about spread. Our law is careful
about this and has therefore prescribed that for a president
to emerge, he or she must win a minimum of 25% of votes in at
least 2/3 of Nigeria’s thirty-six states and Abuja. The
primary aim of this unique legislation is to avoid sailing a
lopsided ship of state.
Right from the beginning, careful observers of Nigerian
political history had concluded that it would be easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the APC to
pick its presidential candidate for the 2015 polls through a
credible process. This opinion is strengthened by the “Tinubu
Factor.” It is an open secret that Tinubu is the godfather of
the APC. Unfortunately, he does not believe in internal
democracy. On the other hand, Buhari, the soul of APC is a “Me
or nobody” personality, who would want to have his way all the
time or jump ship. He believes too much in his wisdom. In
democracy, “I know it all” characters do not add value to the
leadership culture.
The greatest fear of many political watchers is that since the
APC is built on the fragile foundation of anger, frustration,
hate, and desperation, the party will crumble shortly after
the emergence of their presidential candidate for the 2015
polls. Deep cracks have started emerging. It was widely
alleged that the former governor of Borno State, Modu Sheriff
threatened to physically assault the godfather of the APC,
Tinubu over a minor political difference.
There is also the issue of protecting the interests of the G5
governors the APC tricked to dump the ruling PDP in order to
gain popularity- not credibility. The APC is presently weighed
down by a moral burden to honour the unwritten agreement with
the likes of Amaechi and Okoroacha. Unfortunately, the vexed
presidential ambition of the former vice president, Atiku
Abubakar has distorted initial calculations. The band of
“fair-weather” stakeholders and secret financiers of the APC
now feel that they have been used and dumped in order to
please Atiku. This is one reason for the bad blood between the
band fair-weather and legion of traditional stakeholders of
the APC.
Acting as if all of these were not bad enough, the leadership
of the APC rained acidic abuses on the judiciary following the
High Court ruling concerning the 37 House of Representatives
members that decamped from the PDP. Many Nigerians were quick
in pointing out that the APC holds the judiciary in contempt
whenever court judgments do not go their way. This is
dangerous. There are therefore genuine reasons for Nigerians
to believe that the judiciary and the masses by extension will
suffer grievous harm should the APC succeed in sweeping their
way into Aso Rock.
Being a party that is led by mostly angry, desperate, and
self-serving politicians, many observers are not surprised
that a minority but influential section of the leadership of
the APC is contemplating “handpicking” their presidential
candidate for the 2015. A large segment of APC members are
already angry that their leaders are playing with the idea of
fielding a Muslim-Muslim pair for the Nigerian presidency.
For the first time in a very long while, Fani-Kayode, a former
aviation minister, APC leader, and vocal antagonist of the PDP
took side with reason. He condemned in strong terms any plan
by the APC to undermine Christians by presenting a
Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket. He went on to predict that
the party would suffer massive defeat if tried to show
disrespect for the large Christian community.
In a veiled attempt to endorse the rumoured Muslim-Muslim
ticket, a prominent anti-GEJ campaigner, former minister of
the FCT, and Deputy National Secretary of the APC, Mallam
Nasir el Rufai wrote on his Facebook account in direct
response to the possible Buhari-Tinubu pairing: “The APC will
present an integrity-competence ticket, not religion. Politics
and governance are not to be mixed or dictated by any
religion.” He went further to state that “How these persons
worship God is private to them and does not matter to
discerning Nigerians, particularly young people that suffer
most from bad governance, unemployment, and the ‘Jonathanian’
culture of impunity.” This is one of cheapest lies this writer
has heard in recent times. If Nigerian youths truly care less
about religion, why is it that many of them hide behind it to
destroy innocent lives and properties? This is a moment of
truth. It should be devoid of parochial reasoning.
El Rufai is indirectly saying that Nigerians should not be
troubled about the possible Buhari-Tinubu ticket because there
are no credible Christians in the APC that can fly the party’s
flag.
It is quite sad that El Rufai thinks he can continue to
manipulate Nigerian youths with sour dirges for his personal
political gains. For some time now, he has been lamenting so
much about the plight of Nigerian youths. Meanwhile, he did
nothing to improve the lots of youths while he was in
government. Ironically, two of his unemployed daughters are
still youths. If with all his connections and fabulous wealth
he made over the last twelve years, he could not help his own
daughters, what other proof has he to convince Nigerian youths
that his tears are not that of a crocodile? Instead of helping
his daughters, El Rufai turned round to blame President
Jonathan. This is clearly a case of one cutting his own nose
in order to spite his face.
El Rufai plays politics with everything, including the private
lives of his immediate family members. He deliberately made
sure his two daughters are not working so that he can use same
to campaign against Jonathan in the 2015 polls. Unfortunately,
his plot backfired. Many discerning Nigerians are now asking:
If the PDP is not good, why can’t any of the APC states proof
the ruling party wrong by offering his two unemployed
daughters jobs?
Another question: Is it sin to do good to one’s country? It
was John F. Kenny, a former American president who said, “And
so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for
you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Talking about unemployment in the country; the situation would
not have been this bad today if El Rufai had delivered on his
official mandate as DG of BPE some few years back. He did not
only supervise the butchering of Nigeria’s “meat” among his
bosses and cronies, the BPE was run like a private estate; the
same way he did while he was minister of the FCT. Impunity was
his second name. Despite all of these, El Rufai finds courage
to accuse President Jonathan of impunity.
In case El Rufai is feigning ignorance, Buba Marwa left the
APC because of impunity. There are presently two factions of
the APC in Lagos State because of impunity. What is closer to
impunity than for godfathers to force candidates on the party?
This is commonplace among APC leaders