The recently concluded congresses of Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC) at ward level in many states of the federation has
left no one in doubt about the nature of the party’s leadership.
All the commentators I read or listened to so far have expressed
their shock regarding the extent to which some candidates went
to rig the outcome of the exercise. Reports have also confirmed
the widespread irregularities especially in states considered as
the strongholds of the party and its presidential aspirant,
General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).
Barely ten days after writing Fraud, Moneybags and CPC (fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/11/discourse-311-fraud-moneybags-and-cpc.html),
it is disheartening to report back that the fears I expressed in
that article regarding the emerging bad reputation of the party
have materialised. Unless something is done quickly, the
confidence which many Nigerians have – that the party will put
up a formidable challenge to the ruling People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) – will be quickly eroded. The fraud that is taking
place has no equal in the annals of Nigeria’s political history.
The first bad omen came from Katsina, the home state of Buhari
himself. There were widespread allegations that a gubernatorial
aspirant, Senator Yakubu Lado Danmarke, has bribed each member
of the state caretaker committee with N5million and each
chairman of local government caretaker committee with N400,000.
The state committee did not waste time in sitting and declaring
that it has reached a consensus to give Danmarke the
gubernatorial ticket of the party, to the total exclusion of
other candidates. Naturally, the likes of Aminu Masari that did
follow that rule cried foul. A supporter of Danmarke was heard
over the BBC admitting that indeed N5m money was given but as a
“contribution” to running the party. He even rhetorically asked,
“Would the party run without money?”
How could a group of few people sit and decide to give a party
ticket to someone in a state of four million people, without any
primaries and in a party that promises to institute social
justice among 150 million Nigerians? The ward congresses of
Katsina State where ward executives and three ward delegates
will be elected are coming up next week. The story is not over.
But I bet you it will not be different.
Yes. It will not be different from what happened in the
neighbouring state of Kano where the National Chairman of the
party, Senator Rufa’i Hanga, violated the directive of the Board
of Trustees (BOT) not to use the initial limited registration
cards of the party in last Saturday’s congresses. But having
known that the cards were sold mostly to his supporters, Hanga
refused to carry out the directive. Haruna Danzago, the Chairman
of the party in Kano, was heard on air a day before the
congresses threatening that anybody who goes to the venue
without the membership card will be promptly arrested by the
Police. Many people called on Buhari and other BOT members to
complain of this bizarre display of injustice. One of the Board
members was heard advising some of the complainants on phone
that they are free to “resort to whatever is possible to fight
for their rights.” It was an advice given in ignorance of what
the National Chairman of the party had in store in the next few
hours.
As it turned out, in most local governments the congresses did
not take place at all. Results were cooked and submitted to the
party headquarters in Kano. Where the congresses took place,
Hanga’s supporters outsmarted those of other candidates: the
congresses were started at 2am in the night in some places,
others until Fajr prayers were said at 5pm! By 8am when the
congresses were to start officially, all was concluded. This is
a new achievement in rigging. Not even PDP can beat this record,
as a commentator said on Dandalin Siyasa, a yahoo discussion
group. Of course, all the officials and delegates who emerged as
winners from the charade are supporters of the National
Chairman, who is a gubernatorial aspirant in the state. This act
of desperation now gives credence to the allegation that he
purposely formed the party and lured Buhari into it in order to
become the Governor of Kano State. Haruna Danzago, the party
chairman in Kano and who was never short of words in criticising
Governor Shekarau for ‘betraying’ Buhari, told the BBC that
nothing could be perfect in this world. I do not know if Danzago
has realised that by this singular act he has betrayed Buhari
more than any person before in the history of Kano.
I will not leave the Kano scene without weighing the capacity of
CPC for injustice in comparison to the ruling PDP. Last year or
so, the PDP conducted its congress in Kano where it elected
state party executives. It was carried out in broad daylight and
we have not heard the losers, late Abubakar Rimi and his
supporters – complaining of rigging. Parties in this country
have been conducting primaries but never have we seen them
rigged to the extent that is presently done in the CPC.
In Kebbi State, it was a different story. The complaint is
coming from moneybags who joined the party few days ago – a
candidate who is supported by Senator Adamu Aliero, the former
governor of the state, and another, an ex-custom officer, who is
supported by the renowned smuggler, Dahiru Mangal. As usual,
they started making efforts to take over the party using money.
A leaflet was circulated in Birnin Kebbi a day before the
election purporting that a consensus was arrived at which
conceded the ticket to the former custom officer, Abubakar
Garunmalam. This made CPC supporters to further rally around K.
T. Turaki (SAN) who has been nurturing the party since its
formation. The congresses were duly conducted and the supporters
of Turaki won. There are now hues and cries from the moneybags
who, not surprisingly, have the sympathy of the National
Chairman, are calling for the congresses to be cancelled.
This morning, I heard the fire-spitting spokesman of Buhari,
Engr. Buba Galadima, promising party supporters that they have
not shifted from its ideology of social justice and that he will
insist that justice must be done to all after a careful study of
supporters’ complaints and reports from the police and INEC.
Otherwise, Buba threatened to resign from his position as a
member of the BOT or even from the party completely. I just
learnt this afternoon that he has announced the dissolution of
the party executive in Kano and Katsina, a good face-saving
measure.
The threat of Buba should echo in the mind of Buhari, if we will
advise the General honestly. If CPC will not be run in
accordance with the principles of justice which he stood for all
his life but only according to the whims and caprices of
moneybags, he too should consider resigning from the party. The
injustices in the party have been very much around to the
knowledge of the General himself. Decisions of the BOT he chairs
are blatantly ignored by the National Chairman.
Unless due process is followed, starting from the congresses,
CPC will severely suffer from crisis of reputation by this time
next week. The more contentious primaries of Katsina, Jigawa and
Bauchi states are coming next Saturday. The National Chairman
has long ago dissolved the party executives in Bauchi and Jigawa
in favour of some moneybags that joined the party recently. If
the same fraud is repeated at those congresses in favour of such
characters, then the party should as well forget winning any
state during the next election, let alone making Buhari the
President of Nigeria. What would we expect from people who
cannot retrain themselves at party level when we entrust them
with the leadership of this country? Bauchi is a good example.
In that case, Buhari should seriously consider abandoning the
party entirely as Buba threatened. (In fact Buba by his comment
may be preparing the minds of Buhari’s supporters exactly for
that.) It will be too crippled to guarantee his success and too
undeserving for his membership. I have expressed my reservations
to him few weeks before he joined the party based on some
initial signals I intercepted. Now that they have disappointedly
become real, he must start thinking, and think quickly, of a
better option.
And who said such option does not exist? There are many
ideologically credible parties around that have been tested and
trusted. The Peoples’ Redemption Party of Balarabe Musa and
Labour Party will welcome him. They supported his presidential
bid in 2007. Even ACN is far more assuring than CPC, as it is.
Besides, I do not know of any supporter of the General who will
object to his joining the ACN or Labour Party. It will be a
welcome decision and a revolution in our political history. It
will improve his chances of victory and help to significantly
reduce the north-south divide of our politics. This has been my
stand. After he has left CPC, the moneybags can make anything of
it. But at least we have denied them the chance of using Buhari
to hoodwink the masses as it happened in Bauchi in 2007.
This is my advice to the Buhari. I implore every reader to
express his in the comment box below (http://fridaydiscourse.blogspot.com/2010/12/trivial-4-buhari-may-leave-cpc.html
if you are not reading the article from my blog). I will ensure
that it reaches him immediately. Try, please. Your advice could
make a difference.
Bauchi,
13 December 2010