Privatization of APP: The Joint Bid of Babangida and Obasanjo
By
Dr. Aliyu Tilde
Babangida has recently become a frequent visitor to
Aso Rock. Long ago, he has conceded not to contest
2003 against Obasanjo. He is slated for 2007. Maradona
is therefore expected to play his best skill to ensure
that Obasanjo is re-elected for a second term. If
Obasanjo would perchance fail to win the ticket of the
PDP at the primaries, or anything happens contrary to
his ambition, then Babangida will go ahead to contest
in 2003 under a party most likely other than the PDP.
The result of both scenarios is to ensure that Nigeria
remains stuck to these two best friends of the
'international community' that the country ever
produced. This essay is about the steps taken so far
to make this plan real. Read on and pray that may God
save Nigeria.
1
To win a battle, generals believe in complete
domination of the field, like in football. That was
done in 2003 when Babangida and few others muscled all
presidential aspirants, including the winner of the
APP primaries in Kaduna, to ensure that the nation did
not have any better choice than Obasanjo. It worked,
then. After he assumed office, Obasanjo on his part
ensured that he has consolidated his power by holding
the PDP in firm grip while slowly but steadily
weakening the opposition through various means.
However, Obasanjo has turned out to be a disgusting
failure. Period. He has failed to perform to the
satisfaction of the greatest percentage of Nigerians.
The feeling of dissatisfaction started with the
Northerners and it quickly spread to the Southeast and
the South-south. He concentrated on his people, the
Southwest, for which reason they have now vowed to
vote for him if the rest of the country would reject
him. In addition, Obasanjo's administration is likely
to be the worst in terms of performance. It has not
fulfilled any of its promises (do you remember the
250,000 digital land lines per state?). To complicate
matters, his regime is most likely to be the winner of
the most-corrupt-government gold medal in the history
of Nigeria.
The feeling of discontent has now reached undeniable
levels of catastrophe. Something has to be done, if he
is to return in 2003.
2
Given this record of failure, it is clear that the
old bottle in which the beer called Obasanjo was sold
is no longer attractive. In fact the bottle has
broken. No one will attempt to remind us of his first
tenure between 1976 and 1979. That will not sell
anymore. No one will also convince Nigerians, as done
before, that when elected again he will perform
creditably and remain fair to all Nigerians. Finally,
no one will tell us that for the continuous peaceful
coexistence of our dear nation we need to rotate the
Presidency to the South, and especially to the
southwest who were denied June 12. We have repaid that
debt.
Perhaps it is in consideration of this inadequacy
that Obasanjo has tried, in addition to his grip over
the PDP and weakening of the opposition, to count on
the power of money and the role of INEC in the
forthcoming elections. He has been working on the old
theory that money can buy Nigerians. (Otherwise, let
him tell us what he needs N32billion for).
However, that theory too is faced with a problem.
Many people are learning quickly. The North in
particular, for strategic reasons, is acquiring the
political skills of the Southwest that collective
interest overrides the personal. Thus, as 2003
approaches there are strong feelings that Obasanjo
will not make it. The resolve is so strong that
northerners even in the PDP have resolved not to vote
for him, of course except the few who are unlucky to
enjoy his largesse. This is what led the Arewa
Consultative Forum (ACF) to resolve that it will
ensure that northerners keep their political
differences aside and vote for a consensus candidate
in place of Obasanjo in 2003. This was a declaration
of war against Obasanjo. It must not retreat. Its
candidate can be anyone else, but certainly not
Obasanjo. This sounded nice to our ears.
3
The Obasanjo camp was quick to realize the loophole
in ACF's position. It picked the idea and pinned it on
its drawing board, neatly and interestingly so far.
It is known that there cannot be a chance for any
northern candidate in the PDP. Forget it, unless if
you want to break the party or get Obasanjo to make a
'tactical withdrawal' from his ambition re-election.
The party from which Obasanjo's opponent is logically
expected to come from, as of now, is the APP. So the
government started to see how they could hijack the
APP through the supporters of Babangida in various
political associations. Or is it a coincidence? I
asked this question because with or without ACF the
surest way to the success of Obasanjo, again as it
happened in 1999, is to deny the emergence of any
credible candidate in the APP especially from the
North. That is if any candidate will be permitted at
all.
So the move to have an absolute control over APP
became imperative. The ACF consensus candidature came
in as a convenient device to facilitate the
realization of this plan. Let there be a candidate in
the ACF from the North, but he must be someone who is
too weak to defeat Obasanjo, as we had in 1993 between
Tofa and Abiola. Or get the elders of the ACF to work
out how the North will support a candidate from the
South who will contest against Obasanjo but with
little chance of victory, as we had in 1999 between
Falae and Obasanjo. The bottom line is that a credible
candidate must not be allowed to emerge from the APP,
at all cost. Period.
4
Suddenly Buhari joined politics, in the APP. It is
something the Obasanjo and the Babangida camps never
prayed to happen though they have constantly lived
under the fear of its possibility. When they confirmed
that he will register in Daura on the April 25, a
friend reliably told me that Aso Rock was overcome
with fear and consternation. Suddenly, a campaign to
write him of started in earnest. Forget the small
voices of Iro Dan Musa and Balarabe Musa. Even people
in high positions like Vice President Atiku Abubakar
descended so low to the level of saying that Buhari is
not a democrat by his antecedents (which are not worse
than those of Obasanjo, anyway), in spite of his
constitutional right to do so. Atiku was instantly
rewarded with stones where he made the statement at
Kafanchan and later at Kachia. (You can see that the
intifadah against Obasanjo-Atiku political tyranny did
not start in Kano)
With the reality of Buhari in politics it became
obvious that the initial plan by the Obasanjo
government to control the APP must be pursued
seriously and in earnest. This lion must be stopped,
they reasoned. Negotiations with Babangida
associations like the UNPP (former UNDP) were renewed
with vigor. By the time Buhari joined politics a joint
committee of the APP and UNPP has already been
inaugurated with seven members from both sides. The
chairman of the committee came from UNPP.
With this development how can we not discern that APP
is not undergoing privatization already? How could
there be an equal representation between two partners
that are both unequal in status and in number? How can
a registered political party with millions of
supporters including governors, legislators and local
government chairmen accept to stand on equal footing
with an association that is there only in name and is
yet to be registered and tested on the difficult
political terrain of Nigeria? In fact, what merger can
take place between the two when UNPP is still
insisting on seeking registration with INEC? Why can't
its members, including Babangida, join the APP
unconditionally?
Well, despite lack of adequate answers to these
questions, the privatization talks continued, not
under el-Rufa'i but people like Augustus Aikhomu, the
chairman of the joint committee and former
vice-president of Babangida. They gained additional
momentum with the entrance of Buhari into politics as
we said earlier. I remember that Tuesday night,
shortly after he joined politics when a significant
breakthrough was reported made in the negotiations at
Abuja. The breakthrough was so important that a party
was held to celebrate it that very night. I do not
know what it was, but I know that the celebration took
place. To my utmost disgust, the Sokoto State
Governor, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa was there rejoicing
with members of the committee.
5
The interest of Bafarawa in the merger and his
attendance of the celebration that took place that
night really confirmed my fears that the merger is
mischievous. Otherwise, how could the same governor
who announced the declaration of war against Obasanjo
by the North belong to such a group - the Babangida
group - that is clearly opposed to the candidature of
Buhari? The whole thing became intriguing. I later
learnt that the same Bafarawa was against the
inclusion of APP members who have independent
disposition. And why the celebration at the middle of
the night?
So as fast as the mind could travel, I started
questioning whether or not ACF itself meant well by
its declaration. I traveled to Kano, Kaduna and Abuja
to confirm the truth or otherwise of my suspicion. I
was glad to find out that the intention of ACF was
indeed noble but somehow it was hijacked by the
Babangida and Obasanjo camps and fitted into the
political calculation of Obasanjo tazarce just
mentioned above. Bafarawa, I later discovered, is a
'boy' to a close associate of Babangida in the
presidency hailing from the former Sokoto State. We
should not also forget that he is a governor that has
ambition to continue beyond 2003.
I will not hide my gross disappointment with Bafarawa
and his ongoing role in the privatization of the APP.
I am sure that the citizens of Sokoto and other
northerners are equally disappointed. I have planned
to pay him a courtesy call on my visit to Sokoto
scheduled to take place soon. With this development I
have dropped him from my itinerary. I will rather
visit the Sultan and the Hubbare to rejoice in the
history that the city was once the seat of social
justice during the Shehu and from it the Sardauna
hailed. It is shame that its leadership will today be
associated with scuttling the interest of social
justice. All the same, Sokoto must keep its cool.
There must not be any intifadah.
Or could it be that Bafarawa, a virulent critic of
Obasanjo, does not know that the aim of Babangida is
to acquire the shares in APP for Obasanjo? I hope he
realizes that very soon and retrace his steps.
Otherwise, he will be putting his seat in Sokoto under
a strong jeopardy.
6
If the registration of Buhari has revived the
interest of Babangida and Obasanjo to purchase the
APP, the Kano incident has propelled the transaction
to move at rocket speed. On that day both Babangida
and Atiku have watched, live before their eyes, the
support which, without embarking on a single campaign
so far, Buhari has among the people, elite and masses
alike.
The impression is now given that the commotion was
caused by thugs. This is the tallest lie I have ever
heard of. Actually there were two separate types of
protests that took place that day, both spontaneously
triggered by the arrival of Buhari. The first was
carried out right inside the hall where only the elite
were present. They booed Atiku to silence. He folded
his speech halfway through it, stopped awhile, looking
very furious, and went back to his seat. Babangida
attempted to come forward. He was shouted at with
unprintable words. He complied and quickly retraced
his steps back to his seat. I never saw nor heard a
general so cowardly retreat. What a pity. What a
downfall.
The thugs, if there was any, carried their intifadah
outside the hall when Atiku and Governor Kwankwaso
were hurriedly leaving the venue. Surprisingly, these
were the same thugs who were hired, as Wada Nas
narrated, by the Kano State Government to receive the
Vice President.
This event has disturbed both Babangida and Atiku.
That evening a colleague who knows Babangida fairly
well vowed that Babangida would not sleep the night.
He was right. A week later, I witnessed a supporter of
Babangida confirming that his master was highly
disturbed with the high level of support he saw given
to Buhari in Kano which was beyond his imagination. He
revealed that Babangida was planning to join the race.
But the supporter, who was talking to another PDP
stalwart in my state, said it is too late for him.
7
A day later, that was last Friday, Buhari visited the
national APP secretariat in Abuja to formally
introduce himself to the party at the national level.
The chairman of the party was glad. It was out of his
happiness that he informed the Buhari delegation about
the ongoing merger talks with UNPP and some other
associations like Nigerian Mandate Group of John Nwodo
and Reality Organization from Abia State. Curiously,
all these associations are undeniably contraptions of
Babangida. I respected the chairman for the courage to
introduce this matter at the reception visit. I like
people with courage.
In reaction, a member of the Buhari delegation, who
happened to be a former APP chairman of one of the
Northwestern states, revealed that supporters of the
party, including himself, do not know anything about
the merger. He implored the chairman of the party to
explain the rationale and the modalities of the talks
and what will be of the party at the end. Even members
of the National Executive Council of the party are not
in a better position to know what is going on. Trust
our lovely sister, Hajiya Naja'atu Muhammed, who is
also a member of the National Executive Council of the
APP. She joined in interrogating the chairman of the
party at the meeting. Luckily for the chairman, she
was sick, so she spoke quietly, asking: "How can we
return to the grassroots and explain to our supporters
that the APP which some of them are already dying for
has dissolved into something else, with a different
logo and a different name?" May God improve her
condition of health.
The chairman's response was far from satisfactory, to
be honest, perhaps because he did not want to announce
the details prematurely. He only assured members that
he has never been a sell out in his life and so he
will not be a party to any attempt to sell out the
party which he has suffered in the last four years to
keep together. Ironically, he conceded that he would
allow only a small disruption in the logo and in the
name. (I later on learnt that the changes will also
include the constitution) He said doing so was
necessary to attract the large crowd knocking at the
door of the party, including some 80 members of the
National Assembly who want to decamp from the PDP! The
changes in the party identities will help them 'save
their face.' He also assured members of the party at
the meeting that whatever agreement has been reached
at by the joint merger committee it has to be reported
to the National Working Committee which will meet on
the 22nd of this month for its consideration.
8
The fear now is that the National Executive Council
will go ahead to approve the merger and implement it
without reference to the national convention of the
party. In fact, even at the convention it has all the
power it needs to ensure that delegates and
representatives, one way or another, support the
merger. Through this means the hopes of the masses
that Buhari will win the presidential ticket of the
party would be dashed, to the dictate and delight of
Babangida and the Presidency.
A week ago I saw a new poster of APP with a Babangida
background. It confirmed my suspicion. There were also
Babangida posters in Kaduna and Abuja that appeared
that week. There is now a strong rumor that Babangida
will join the party next month, not to actually
contest against Obasanjo in 2003 but to divide the
votes that Buhari will get such that a weak southerner
will emerge as the presidential candidate of the party
in the next elections. On a deeper thought I have
dismissed this on the ground that Babangida is a
tactician, not a fighter. He cannot risk putting his
reputation at stake by competing openly against
Buhari, especially after witnessing his support in
Kano two weeks ago. If he loses in the contest, which
is quite possible, he has broken the myth he created
of the most indomitable power broker in the country.
He will rather prefer to remain behind the scenes. I
wish he will be brave enough to contest.
So I became more inclined to believe another story
that reached me some hours before I wrote this
article. Here it is. Our readers will remember that
Babangida was scheduled to meet with Buhari two weeks
ago for reconciliation talks. He accepted the
invitation after Buhari spoke to him personally on
phone about the matter. However, he failed to turn up;
I thought it was because he was tired from the two
preceding nights he spent in Aso Rock. Rather, he gave
the excuse that he will prefer the reconciliation to
be made not directly between the two of them but
through the committee of the ACF that includes Alhaji
Maitama Sule and other elders.
However, as my source revealed, the ultimate
objective of that committee, after succeeding in the
reconciliation, is to persuade Buhari to withdraw from
the presidential race in favor of a southern candidate
either from the South-south or from the Southeast.
Buhari has been intimated about the move and strongly
advised never to listen to that appeal. If he does,
the masses will pelt him as they pelted Atiku in Kano.
Reconciliation, yes; withdrawal, NO.
9
So, dear reader, after going this far in our
discourse, we have returned to where we started.
Whatever the maneuvers and the intrigues, the goal is
that Babangida is working for Obasanjo while he waits
for his turn, hopefully, in 2007. To achieve this it
is important to ensure that no credible candidate
contests the presidency against Obasanjo especially
from the North. This can be attained in a number of
ways: Suppress all contenders from the PDP; get
control of the leadership of the APP; do not register
new parties; and now, ensure either by persuasion or
by connivance that Buhari has withdrawn or is defeated
at the APP primaries.
10
In conclusion I will appeal to APP and ACF leadership
to be on the guard. They must not give way to the
lures of wealth - for that is all Babangida and the
present government possess, neither should they allow
their simplicity to be exploited. The Buhari camp must
also be on the look out. There is no harm in their
effort to mend fences with every one who feels
disgruntled, justifiably or not. But that must not be
at the expense of Buhari's integrity. He must not
withdraw from the race. I strongly believe that he can
succeed, with the help of God and the determination of
the majority of Nigerians, with or without the support
of Babangida.
As for Obasanjo, Babangida, and their supporters, a
word is enough: Power belongs to God. If he has
willed, in His Mercy, to free this country from the
shackles of corruption, deceit and incompetence in
governance - things that both the regimes of Obasanjo
and Babangida share in common, nothing can stop His
Decree - not wealth, not deceit and not a campaign of
calumny. Simple. Zakaran da Allah ya nufa da chara,
ana muzuru ana shaho, sai ya yi.