Tag: #Inyali Peter

Yesterday, August 23rd, 2023 the long awaited replacement of vacant National and Zonal Working Committee offices in the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC was filled and Cross River State which is the only South-South state governed by the APC is the biggest loser. Some of us had warned against the process and unevenness that depicted the choice of whom the leadership of the party in the state favoured to replace Dr. Betta Edu, the Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation as National Woman Leader (NWL) but our good counsel as in many cases, hit the bricks wall. The consequences is starring at us all, today.

It is traditional and constitutional in the APC that when a position becomes vacant, a replacement always comes from where the former occupant hails from. However, this time around, the National Executive Council of the party which has the power of the convention nullified the existing zoning and directed re-arrangement of positions.

This meant that all vacant positions were thrown open for the best lobbiest to take. Unfortunately, Cross River State leadership didn’t take this into account because if it did, it wouldn’t have assumed erroneously that they can throw any name devoid of equity and simple logic and still retain the position simply because the last occupant hails from the state. Instead of deploying all its arsenals to lobby and negotiate to retain the position or least, press for higher or equivalent alternatives, some vested interests hijacked the process and decided to go about it surreptitiously.

The right thing would have been to call an Extraordinary Stakeholders meeting where critical stakeholders of the party across the state would meet, discuss and agree on who to project. But this was thrown to the abyss and a certain powerful woman from Cross River South was allowed to impress her inordinate personal interest on the leadership who secretly forwarded her name to the national secretariat without proper consultation or consent of majority of the Stakeholders.

But that wasn’t all. God created a second chance for them to correct their wrong when some overzealous page boys released the information and party members of good conscience protested. In limpid display of impunity, the leadership of the party in the state refused to listen to the voice of reason by pressing on with their plots. And now, the state has lost out completely. No Woman Leader. No alternative!

Imagine for a moment the influence the candidate that had the support of majority of the stakeholders would have had in the national secretariat had they listened to the voice of reason! The truth is that majority of APC stalwarts in the state were unsatisfied with the choice of the candidate that was forwarded and the process that produced her but decided to maintain unholy silence to see how much influence those who brought her have in Abuja.

When her name got to Abuja, the leadership of the party in South South consulted some leaders that were sidelined and they bluntly said she was not a product of collective decision. This empowered leaders from other states to unite against her interest and in the end, Edo won. Akwa Ibom even came closer at some point than Cross River because those with influence in the national that would have synergized with the state leadership to pursue her course decided to allow “them do their thing”.

The bitter truth is that Governor Bassey Otu needs to re-consider those he listens to. It’s not normal that the only South-South Governor had failed to directly produce a Minister even when his state had two. He has failed again to retain the National Working Committee position he inherited or secured alternative to the state. These failures are largely due to pushing for candidates who emerge through a skewed process and with little acceptability amongst stakeholders. It’s still early but the signs we’re seeing are very dangerous for the State and the Governor. He needs to expand his team and consult more.

As my friend Richie Romanus stated in his expository piece two days ago, the state has been so favoured in this administration. There’s need for urgent extraordinary stakeholders that should aim to achieve synergy and collaboration. Without mincing words, if all hands were on deck, Cross River wouldn’t have lost the National Woman Leader to another State. There are more to come, our leaders need collaboration to attract things to the state if not their advantage would amount to nothing.

It’s hoped that going forward, this would serve as a lesson that would catalyst the needed adjustments in the interest of the party and state.

Congratulations to Dr. Mary Alile Idele, the new National Woman Leader of APC. May her reign bring prosperity to our great party.

One of the major challenges facing political parties in Nigeria is complete absence of internal democracy. The country’s democracy is still at its infant stage and it’s evolving, however, in the anti-democratic tendency of always subverting or attempting to subvert the wishes of the people by a conservative few called “stakeholders” has become a serious cankerworm that has eaten deep into the heart of political parties and politicians in the country.

This terrible and injurious tendency is usually highlighted mostly during primaries for the nomination of candidates. It is almost becoming a tradition in our politics that the wishes of the people in selecting candidates don’t count and this trend is seen in almost all the parties even though it’s increasingly becoming worst in APC, especially the Cross River State chapter.

As a foundation member of APC from 2013 when it was formed, I can say that one of the things that endeared the party to so many Nigerians in 2015 was the promise of internal democracy which was displayed across the country during primaries for the selection of candidates.

The 2014 APC Presidential primaries was adjudged the best in the country by political watchers and this gave more credibility to the party as Nigerians saw a classical departure from the trend in PDP where candidates were always imposed.

While the party is trying to sustain the 2014 legacy in some states, in others like Cross River, the situation has been messy and a direct opposite of it. APC primaries in the state is a myth and a mere show to fulfill all righteousness as candidates emerge through other undemocratic ways like imposition.

This pitiable situation has always plagued the party into crisis but it seems the people don’t learn. When everybody was expecting that APC was finally ready to challenge the PDP dominance in the state after the leader of the party and Honourable Minister of State, Power, Prince Goddy Jedy Agba ended the over three years leadership tussle, the first major assignment undertaken by the party is threatening to tear it apart again and it’s not for any reason but the same old story of imposition.

When would the Cross River APC learn that as an opposition, it’s more profitable to go with the wishes of the majority than those of the minority which is mostly driven by personal interest?

The Cross River North APC senatorial primary has shown clearly that the party doesn’t learn and it’s not ready to be taken seriously in the state. If this is not the case, how can one explain the wisdom in repeating one thing over and over again that has not worked yet expecting different results? Primary is a test of one’s strength, popularity and acceptability and not a sort of a joke where a few people just want to impose their opinions on everybody.

As usual, after hurting people’s emotions, they stay in Abuja and talk of reconciliation. What is reconciliation in the face of injustice? You rob a man and all the people only to turn back to call for reconciliation? You abuse the people’s sensitivity and only to turnaround to ask them to sheath their sword in the interest of peace? What’s peace when impunity holds sway?

I find the call for reconciliation in a APC as deliberate trivialization and mischaracterization of an important issue of injustice and stealing of one’s mandate as bizarre and spurious. Reconciliation and justice are two inseparable variables. World over, forgiveness and reconciliation are not achieved where injustice is served in place of justice.

If truly the leaders of the party want reconciliation, they should start by admitting that they have made mistakes by giving the Cross River North APC ticket to the person that won it and stop the pretense. You can’t deliberately kill a man’s joy simply because you think you can always ask for forgiveness.

An anonymous APC leader said that “the call for reconciliation has mostly come from the Joe Agi proponents, ostensibly to firm up the purported candidature of their Principal but while their prayers are yet to approach the efficacy line,they have yet to admit their ‘sin’ or fault of subverting the process of our ‘holy’ democracy believed by all to be better than a military command tactic same as they invented and propagated in the recent primary elections”.

More and more members are now aware that the only thing of interest to most Cross River APC leaders is federal appointment and nothing more. The common man on the street would work for the party at the end, the leaders would go to Abuja to struggle for appointments that don’t have direct benefits to the average party members. All they do is to stop the party from winning elections and if APC don’t win election, how would the people who have played opposition all their lives benefit?

A stitch in time saves nine. It’s either the APC show commitment for sincere reconciliation by allowing the wishes of the people to stand to safe it from the impending doom or continue to deceive themselves and joke over a fallacious reconciliation that’s built on injustice and abuse.

I know some people who have never supported the APC beyond the social media would come after me but let me remind everybody that in 2019, I was a lone voice crying for the soul of APC but nobody listened and in the end, the party suffered embarrassing defeats in all the elections except Abi/Yakur federal constituency. Except something is done, the bye-election is as good as over for the APC.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are strictly that of Inyali Peter and does not represent The Lumine News.