Thewill Editorial: Between Good Governance And The Leadership Question In Apc

BEVERLY HILLS, October 04, (THEWILL) – The recent faceoff between the acclaimed national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party's National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, is one that will not do the party or the country any good.

Coming at a time when the nation is grappling with the challenge posed by an economic recession, which is already having severe excruciating effect on the people, the inaction of a derailing ruling party has further pushed the country to the woods.

Tinubu had demanded the resignation of Oyegun over what he called his anti-democratic handling of the party's governorship primary election in Ondo State, which produced Rotimi Akeredolu as party's flagbearer. He described the chairman’s action as a “political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order.”

The former Lagos governor struck the right cord when he said: “If the party cannot justly govern itself, it will find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation.”

The party has, however, set up a mediation team headed by the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal. In a bid to settling the feud, he is reported to have so far consulted widely, including meeting with the party's leader, President Muhammadu Buhari.

THEWILL is in support of whatever will ensure the smooth sailing of the ruling party, even if it requires the removal of the national chairman, that is, if he is found to have failed in his responsibilities. For former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar had, while accusing the Oyegun-led leadership of breaking the rules of the party, stated that “You cannot break your own rules without creating problems”.

The party leadership should be above board since the President is saddled with too many national responsibilities to be forced into resolving internal wranglings in the party. Oyegun and members of the NWC must therefore lead the party aright, especially in the absence of a functional Board of Trustees, BOT.

There is no gain stressing the fact that this internal squabble is the least thing Nigerians expect from a governing party that promised to deliver the goods once elected into power.

With the naira on a free fall and prices of commodities getting out of the reach of the common man, the APC must stand firm and united to justify the people's confidence in voting them to power. A divided party will only slow down the wheel of governance.

THEWILL urges the APC to prove to Nigerians that it is not only capable of governing itself, but that it is better than the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which it went all out to get out of power. More than anything else, the president needs the support of party members to steer the ship of state out of the present precarious situation.

Some have argued that the disunity in the party is partly responsible for the poor results of the present government. With nearly half of its four-year mandate already spent, crisis in the party only signals negativity and a party ill prepared for governance.

We recall that the watershed created in the election of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives, was also due to the party's inability to manage its internal democracy.

Incidentally, the bad blood that resulted from its maladministration is the difficult prices that the people are presently paying to survive. Sadly, most people are unable to afford the basic things of life under the current government.

It was also the party's inability to tame its members that led to the logjam in the last Kogi State governorship election. Although, the Supreme Court recently resolved the dispute between the governor, Yahaya Bello and erstwhile running mate, James Faleke, it is worth noting that feathers have been ruffled.

THEWILL cautions the APC to immediately put its house in order and better position itself to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians. While it is normal for party leaders to disagree on issues, it is awful when such disagreements are allowed to affect the governance of the country and erode the people’s confidence.