Barely seven months into a new political dispensation in Nigeria, almost all the policies, actions and inactions of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration are being linked to the 2019 general elections, especially by people who now far from the corridors of power.
While there is verbal war, between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s ascension to power has spurred a new phenomenon, intra-party wrangling in the new opposition party. On the one hand, the PDP is accusing the APC of high-handedness, selective justice, persecution and intimidation of its members, all in an effort to maintain power beyond 2019. On the other hand, forces within the party are at one another’s throat as to where the party should stand, especially in respect to national discourse.
While some members, who were probably side-lined at the height of re-election bid of former president Goodluck Jonathan, clearly see Buhari’s anti-graft initiative as a good omen, others, who allegedly made fortunes during the last elections, view the move as vendetta and a clear show of force by the APC government ahead of future polls. The cases of alleged graft by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, PDP’s national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh and many others have remained a prominent reference point for opposition leaders. Similarly, the PDP has punctured most of the verdicts passed by various election tribunals and Court of Appeal that handled the governorship, states as well as the National Assembly cases, which to a great extent favoured the APC. In fact, some PDP officials have convinced themselves that the APC is on a political conquest, desperately re-writing all the good things which the former ruling party did in the last 16 years, all aimed at scoring political goals. In a chat with journalists in Abuja on Monday, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who won a second term after a fierce encounter with Chief Timipre Sylva, his main challenger from the APC, put the blame squarely on those around Buhari. “What I have seen is an insufficient attention by the federal team, which is the team around the president. They seem to have taken their eyes off the nation’s economy and national security imperatives. They seem to be focusing more on political conquest and expansion of the sphere for the authority of their party,” he said. Notably, the PDP has said the prosecution of Dasuki is being motivated by Buhari’s purported plan to seek a second term. The opposition party said the president and the APC are scared that the ex-NSA may be nursing a presidential ambition. Not long before the Dasuki-gate tsunami swept his legs, Metuh said it was unfortunate that Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade had become a war between the APC and the PDP. “Since they have confirmed that this is what the anti-corruption crusade is all about, the APC is obviously seeking to destroy the PDP so that it can push through Buhari’s second tenure in 2019 without opposition from the PDP” said the PDP spokesman. “It was appalling that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former president Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms,” he added. Metuh said in a statement that Dasuki’s trial was a sign that the ruling party felt threatened by his wide political and security network, which he may use, should he decide to contest for the presidency in 2019 on the PDP platform. “The APC and its leaders fear that Dasuki, given his vast political and security network, may be harbouring a presidential ambition, more so that the PDP has zoned its presidential ticket to the north,” he said. However, indications soon emerged that Buhari was not looking back, as few days after Metuh signed the release that expressed the PDP’s position on Dasuki, he too was surreptitiously arrested by the EFCC, over alleged N400 million deals. Metuh and Dasuki, alongside many PDP notables are now in custody. In its response, the APC said the opposition party was just chasing shadows, instead of addressing the issues that prompted the arrest of its stalwarts. The party’s national
While there is verbal war, between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s ascension to power has spurred a new phenomenon, intra-party wrangling in the new opposition party. On the one hand, the PDP is accusing the APC of high-handedness, selective justice, persecution and intimidation of its members, all in an effort to maintain power beyond 2019. On the other hand, forces within the party are at one another’s throat as to where the party should stand, especially in respect to national discourse.
While some members, who were probably side-lined at the height of re-election bid of former president Goodluck Jonathan, clearly see Buhari’s anti-graft initiative as a good omen, others, who allegedly made fortunes during the last elections, view the move as vendetta and a clear show of force by the APC government ahead of future polls. The cases of alleged graft by the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, PDP’s national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh and many others have remained a prominent reference point for opposition leaders. Similarly, the PDP has punctured most of the verdicts passed by various election tribunals and Court of Appeal that handled the governorship, states as well as the National Assembly cases, which to a great extent favoured the APC. In fact, some PDP officials have convinced themselves that the APC is on a political conquest, desperately re-writing all the good things which the former ruling party did in the last 16 years, all aimed at scoring political goals. In a chat with journalists in Abuja on Monday, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who won a second term after a fierce encounter with Chief Timipre Sylva, his main challenger from the APC, put the blame squarely on those around Buhari. “What I have seen is an insufficient attention by the federal team, which is the team around the president. They seem to have taken their eyes off the nation’s economy and national security imperatives. They seem to be focusing more on political conquest and expansion of the sphere for the authority of their party,” he said. Notably, the PDP has said the prosecution of Dasuki is being motivated by Buhari’s purported plan to seek a second term. The opposition party said the president and the APC are scared that the ex-NSA may be nursing a presidential ambition. Not long before the Dasuki-gate tsunami swept his legs, Metuh said it was unfortunate that Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade had become a war between the APC and the PDP. “Since they have confirmed that this is what the anti-corruption crusade is all about, the APC is obviously seeking to destroy the PDP so that it can push through Buhari’s second tenure in 2019 without opposition from the PDP” said the PDP spokesman. “It was appalling that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former president Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms,” he added. Metuh said in a statement that Dasuki’s trial was a sign that the ruling party felt threatened by his wide political and security network, which he may use, should he decide to contest for the presidency in 2019 on the PDP platform. “The APC and its leaders fear that Dasuki, given his vast political and security network, may be harbouring a presidential ambition, more so that the PDP has zoned its presidential ticket to the north,” he said. However, indications soon emerged that Buhari was not looking back, as few days after Metuh signed the release that expressed the PDP’s position on Dasuki, he too was surreptitiously arrested by the EFCC, over alleged N400 million deals. Metuh and Dasuki, alongside many PDP notables are now in custody. In its response, the APC said the opposition party was just chasing shadows, instead of addressing the issues that prompted the arrest of its stalwarts. The party’s national
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