Opinion: Winners and losers from Delta APC Ward Congress

Against all expectations of possible rancor and public disturbances, the Ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State held over the weekend in all 270 wards in the State.

Surprisingly reports from most local government areas suggest that the exercise went well without hitches. Prior to the exercise which held on Saturday, there had been reports of aggrieved party members alleging that some materials for the exercise were taken to unknown destinations by unknown interested party. There were even protests at the state headquarters of the party in Asaba suggesting that all was not well as the aggrieved party men alleged that forms were being withheld from a section of the party leadership heightening fears of possible break down of law and order on Saturday.

But Saturday came and went without incidents. The reports from various parts of the state did not support any claim of violence from any quarters to the shock of many. It was later in the evening of Saturday that feelers came that a faction of the state leadership of the party, were expressing the fears that consequent upon the split judgment of the Supreme Court which returned Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC as duly elected with references to the legality or otherwise of the Governor Buni-led Special Congress and Extraordinary Convention Committee of the APC, there was need to boycott the exercise. That may have accounted for the peaceful outcome of the exercise as the forces opposed to the leadership of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege saw no need to flex muscles when they believed there was trouble ahead. Opinion had been widely divided with regards the propriety or otherwise of the Buni-led Caretaker Committee of the APC as different interpretations have been read to the Supreme Court judgment.

Exercise was successful- Omo-Agege: In his reaction, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and leader of the APC in the south-south region disclosed that the exercise was a huge success describing the outcome as foundation for the party’s victories in Delta State and beyond. In a statement he personally signed on Saturday, Omo-Agege admonished winners to be magnanimous in victory as none should be treated as losers since the victories belong to all by the peaceful conduct which has proven naysayers wrong.

‘’Today, our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), conducted our Ward Congress across the nation. It is heart-warming that our leaders and members in all 25 Local Government Areas of Delta State participated actively, responsibly and peacefully in this internal exercise of our party. The keen grassroots interest in the congress and massive turnout everywhere are particularly encouraging. Our people simply reaffirmed the reality that the APC has truly attained new, robust strategic electoral strengths to dominate the politics of Delta State.

‘’We thank our leaders and members for ensuring that the Ward Congress in Delta State and other parts of the country is overwhelmingly successful. It is equally commendable that where divergences of opinions existed, such were largely handled responsibly, lawfully and harmlessly. That is the essential spirit and beauty of democracy – finding compromise from initial different perspectives through civilized means.

‘’It is in our collective interest for today’s winners to be genuinely magnanimous in victory by embracing and respecting their opponents. Nobody should be treated as a loser under any circumstances. Mutual respect through constructive engagements is a critical component of productive politics. Our new ward executives are trusted to humbly embrace this approach in piloting the affairs of our party at the grassroots’’, Omo-Agege had said.

Exercise as a Gambletaken too far: But Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Festus Keyamo and a sect within the party leadership in Delta State who believed that the Supreme Court judgment on the Ondo Governorship polls does not support the continued stay of Governor Buni as Caretaker Chairman of the party have a different view of the ward congress. Keyamo and his sect described the exercise as a gamble taken too far since the team believed that APC narrowly escaped the gavel in Ondo State over Governor Buni’s hold on the party as Chairman.

‘’The narrow split decision of 4 Supreme Court Justices to 3 deliberated amongst others on the legality of Gov. Mai Mala Buni as a sitting governor to run the affairs of our great party as Chairman of the caretaker committee. The minority decision contended that our great party ought to have been sent packing from the Ondo state government house on the basis that Gov. Mai Mala Buni being a sitting governor and also concurrently serving as Chairman of the APC caretaker committee offends section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and our own Article 17 of the APC Constitution, having signed the nomination with which Gov. Akeredolu was selected as our party’s candidate in Ondo State. The said minority decision portrayed that the official actions of Gov. Mai Mala Buni serving as Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in respect of our great party is a nullity.

‘’It must be known that the decision by our great party to proceed with the Ward Congresses in Delta State and across the country is a GAMBLE TAKEN TOO FAR. We hereby categorically state that we have since informed all party members to boycott the said Ward Congresses as same is devoid of any legitimacy in both procedure and substance as it relates to the Guidelines (and in the face of the Supreme Court judgment, the legitimacy of those Guidelines may be called to question later)’’, the Keyamo group had contended.

Those with Chief Festus Keyamo on the basis of this argument include Dr. Alex Ideh, Olorogun Great Ogboru, Rt. Hon. Victor Ochei, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya, Dr. Cairo Ojugbo, Dr. (Mrs.) Marian Ali, AVM Okorodudu (Rtd), Dr. Eugene Okolocha, and Hon. Timinimi.

No Legal encumbrances against Ward Congress:However, Leader of the Party in the South-South, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the Prophet Jones Erue-led State Exco of the party went ahead to comply with the directive from the National Headquarters of the party to conduct the congress in a free and rancor-free manner. The contention among the party leadership is that there were no legal encumbrances hindering the party from going ahead with the congress.

In a statement signed by 23 leaders of the APC in Delta State on Sunday, a vote of implicit confidence was passed on the Governor Buni-led Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Committee of the party, contending further that APC was working miracles all over Delta State and that no internal or external enemies could extinguish the light already brightening the political horizon.  

The statement by the party leaders after the congress reads: ‘’Following the recent decision of the Supreme Court in JEGEDE v. AKEREDOLU, some hastily wrote and released supposedly “confidential” memos to the public to threaten, blackmail and stampede the CECPC from carrying out its hugely important assignment as delegated by our NEC – the highest organ of our Party. 

‘’However, the futility of that scheme was smartly exposed and buried by many, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami and our own Deputy President of the Senate. Confused about their dead-on-arrival plot to sabotage our Party from within, they have chosen to insult leaders who rallied our members to respect the directive of our Party to participate in the hugely successful Ward Congress of yesterday, Saturday, 31st July, 2021.

‘’In further rebuttal of the fake flag raised again on the CECPC, we note that the CECPC is a Congress and Convention Planning Committee’ with responsibility to conduct our Congresses and National Convention and bring in executives from the Ward right up to the National level. This power was duly delegated to the CECPC by NEC presided over by Victor Giadom pursuant to a court order. Therefore, the CECPC’s ad-hoc duty to organize congresses/convention is distinct and unchallengeable. Indeed, serving Governors often head similar ad-hoc committees constituted by their parties to conduct congresses and primaries. That, unquestionably, is not an ‘executive’ or ‘salaried’ role under the 1999 Constitution (section 183). So, it is political naiveté and mischief to question the validity of our hugely successful Ward Congress using a clearly flawed premise.

‘’Finally, may we remind those fanning embers of disunity that political leadership is about capacity, not noisemaking, blackmail and empty threats. We advise again that it is better for the broom to sweep together. No scheme will taint the massive success recorded by the CECPC at the just concluded Ward Congress nationwide, including Delta State. We are satisfied with the conduct of the Ward Congress exercise which was duly monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and congratulate our new Ward Executives in the 270 Wards of Delta State.

‘’Accordingly, we pass a vote of implicit confidence on the national leadership of the APC under the guidance of His Excellency, Hon. Mai- Malam Buni and all members of the CECPC for steadying the sailing of our great Party with great results to show for it. The CECPC deserves our full support, not vilification’’.

The statement was signed by Prophet Jones Ode Erue - Delta State APC Caretaker Chairman; His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege - Deputy President of the Senate; Distinguished Senator Peter Nwaoboshi - Current Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District; Air Vice Marshall Frank Ajobena - Former Military Administrator of Abia State; Olorogun Otega Emerhor- Member of Board of Trustees of APC and Governorship candidate 2015; Hon. (Rev.) Francis Ejiroghene Waive - Current member, House of Representatives representing Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency; Hon. Stella Okotete - National Woman Leader, APC National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee; Hon Fred Okpohworo- Former member, Federal House of Representatives; Chief Cyril Ogodo- Former Delta APC State Deputy Chairman; Hon. Halims Agoda - Former member, Federal House of Representatives; and Hon. Temi Harriman- Former member, Federal House of Representatives. Others are Hon. (Engr.) Doris Uboh - Former Member, Federal House of Representatives; Hon. Innocent Anidi- Current Minority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly; Hon. Harvest Igben- Former Minority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly; Hon. Julius Okpoko Former Minority Leader Delta State House of Assembly; Barr. Valentine Onojeghuo- State Legal Adviser, Delta APC Caretaker Committee; Comrade Chuks Erhire - State Treasurer, Delta APC Caretaker Committee; Chief Paulinus Akpeki - Former Member, Federal House of Representatives; Evang. Anna Agoda- State Woman Leader, Delta APC Caretaker Committee; Chief Hyacinth Enuha - co-opted member of Caucus; Chief Ede Dafinone - Member of Board of NEXIM Bank and Co-opted member of Caucus; Chief Jerry Lucky Esigie - Co-opted member of Caucus and Hon. Moses Anaughe - Former Minority Leader, Delta State House of Assembly and Federal Commissioner, Federal Character Commission.

Keyamo scored an own goal: Meanwhile, a New-York based public affairs analysts, Dr Daniel Bwala has described the action of Chief Festus Keyamo to boycott the ward congress as a political own goal. According to Bwala, ‘’the Supreme Court never made a conclusive decision on the subject because they said since Gov. Buni was not joined, the justice of the case would not be served to decide on the issue of the legality or otherwise of executive acts under his leadership. The Supreme Court justices are wise on that because they know, no case is decided on the merit when both parties are not heard and secondly, since the justices are not spirits they are in no position to know what Gov. Buni would converse to justify his position of leadership. In other words the statement of the Supreme Court in passing is not premised on a live issue and therefore, Festus Keyamo goofed in assuming it does.

‘’Section 183 of the constitution of Nigeria and Article 17 (iv) refer to positions that are tenured for four years and subject to re-election. The Caretaker committee positions are however not tenured for four years with option of re-election; they are positions in caretaker capacities for the sole aim of organizing the convention and other ancillary matters. With respect to the judgment of the Supreme Court it does not apply here and cannot be used to sustain argument against the caretaker committee or Gov. Mai. Buni. That’s why Festus Keyamo scored an owned goal’’, Dr Bwala had concluded.

The winners and losers: The argument for and against the Buni-led Caretaker committee continues. The ward congresses have come and gone. In the event that the Court invalidates the exercise, will that preclude Ovie Omo-Agege from participating in any other congress that may be organized later? The answer is no. But in the event that the Courts validate the Congresses as already concluded, what would be the fate of Keyamo and his co-travelers who boycotted the exercise? That is the reason why Omo-Agege is a smart politician who likes taking chances and working to put his right foot forward in all circumstances. At the end of the whole argument, there shall be likely losers and winners. But what becomes of the entire enterprise, only time will tell.

By Okorohohi Michael

×