The Trouble with the APC

I am taken aback by the suggestion that party internal matters should now be subject of National Assembly debates.

The level of ignorance at display by the leadership of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in its handling of the country’s National Assembly (NASS) power struggle is becoming more embarrassing by the day, to put it mildly.

It began with APC wanting NASS leadership positions shared in such a way that overall - and in the order of national protocol - the regions that gave majority votes to President Buhari would have made it a disproportionate, winner-take-all, as follows: North West (1); North East (1); North Central (0), and the South West (2). As would be expected, politics of self-interest kicked in and the North Central, through Olusola Saraki, not only pooh-poohed the arrangement but also rallied his colleagues to ensure that the power equation was altered in favour of his region, the North Central. Based on Saraki’s yeoman efforts, each of the victorious zones now has one powerful portfolio, as follows: North West (President), South West (Vice President), North Central (Senate President), and North East (Speaker). Although South East and South South are orphans in the current arrangement - having massively voted for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - the South East scraped through to win the Deputy Senate Presidency position as part of the bargaining chips to install Saraki as President.

One would have thought that after this debacle, the APC would learn the lesson that it needs a broad national coalition to make it as formidable as the PDP used to be. But no; last week, the party was alleged to have issued another command to the NASS leaders to choose principal officers that, on the face of it, will not pass the equity test again. If Saraki and Speaker Dogara had hearkened to their party’s wishes - through the two directives - the top executive-legislative positions would have been shared as follows: North East (3), North West (3), South West (3), North Central (1), South East (0), and South South (1).

It’s easy to see why the North Central balked at this sharing arrangement.

APC Senators who favour the party’s plan had on Wednesday 24 June argued that the second APC demand letter be read on the floor and quoted their Standing Rules to justify the abnormality. It's no small comfort that another APC Senator rightly lectured his colleague on the difference between nominating principal officers “from" a majority party (as stated in the rules) and nominating such officers “by” the majority party. Beyond this, I myself was taken aback by the implication that party internal matters could now be subjected to National Assembly floor debates.

I see the APC problem in four dimensions.

First, authors of the APC sharing formula refuse to accept that APC is now a national movement – and no longer any of the parochial configurations that were controlled by leaders who imposed their will in the management of the old alliance partners (ANPP, CPC, ACN, nAPGA, and nPDP).

Second, rabid supporters of Gov. Bola Tinubu need to recognize that their idol is no longer the leader of the APC at this moment, but only a respected party elder and founder; leadership of APC has transferred through election to President Buhari. If he plays his cards well, Tinubu could still become the power behind the throne. This, however, is not Tinubu's only worry; he will soon find out that Osinbajo, his former “houseboy,” is now standing heads and shoulders above his master in the national stage.

Third, the subtle change in the leadership equation also means that, going forward, the President will be the only person that non-South West alliance partners will listen to in almost all things political. The reason for this is not far-fetched. Tinubu's influence and resources may have helped the emergence of Buhari as party candidate but he had little or no influence on other victorious candidates outside the South West. He will also not be able to determine the political future of politicians outside the South West. If this reality has not sank in and the President henceforth given due respect by rabid Tinubu supporters (which includes the current APC leadership,) it is easy to predict that Buhari will stay aloof and let those who think they have the big stick continue to wield it, ineffectually.

Fourth, the more the APC problem worsens through arbitrary and inequitable party impositions, and the more South East and South South legislators of the APC stock (and the regions in general) keep being ignored and “punished” for not giving majority votes to the APC at the last national elections, the more the two regions (SE and SS) will gradually transform from their current perception as political minefield to become political goldmines. The election of Ike Ekweremadu (PDP) as deputy Senate President is already a pointer to what is certain to play out as the realignment of political interests begin for 2019.

Goodbye, Sam Amadi?

As is often the case when power mongers get on a case, the best way to achieve an objective is to tarnish the image of a shining star.

Epko (l) and Amadi ... when the going was good

The campaign to dethrone Mr. Sam Amadi as Chair of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has gathered steam, judging by today’s editorial in The Punch newspaper. This campaign began when one of NERC’s Commissioners, Eyo Ekpo (who is fast gaining a reputation as a spoiler wherever he goes), allegedly wrote to the President a few days after he was sworn in to say that he was resigning from his post because the commission has “failed.”

Here’s a follow-up killer punch (pun intended):

“It will be naïve of the President to think that he can soldier on without making quick, vital changes at some departments and agencies, which played major roles in the rot that pervaded the last administration. We are talking about agencies like the EFCC, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Ports Authority, the Office of the National Security Adviser, and even the defense service chiefs.”

What the…?

The current leadership of the EFCC has definitely been more professional than political, unlike previous ones. Sam Amadi's NERC played a pivotal role in stabilizing and sometimes seeking to control the excesses of other power sector reform managers, such as the ex-VP Namadi Sambo's manipulations in both the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) that he led, as well as Nebo’s acts of duplicity in the Power Ministry (e.g. introducing a second regulator in the power sector ostensibly to checkmate Amadi’s principled and incorruptible NERC). Everyone understands "ports authority" to mean the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and, this being the case, NPA in The Punch editorial is certainly not the same as NIMASA where the rot in the maritime sector allegedly took place. I wonder what the National Security Adviser was supposed to do that he didn’t. Finally, President Buhari is in a position to know that the service chiefs will obey the last command – and this is the call of whoever is Commander-in-Chief. I therefore consider this a silly categorization by The Punch for the simple reason that it totally ignores the areas that can be classified as rotten in the last administration - in a blind quest by power mongers hanging around Buhari to unseat a few good managers that we will find in targeted "lucrative" or strategic MDAs.

If you want proof that this is a diversionary or worse, sponsored editorial, take a look at the people that were eulogized for helping OBJ do well during his administration – el Rufa’i, Oby Ezekwesili, and Ribadu; there’s no mention of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala whose name has gone down in history as the one who, once upon a time, took Nigeria out of debt during the same regime! What single historical achievement can we ascribe to the tenure of Oby Ezekwesili and Nuhu Ribadu, if I may ask? As for el Rufa'i, he is a workaholic, no doubt about it, but unless age has tempered him, we are likely to also want to measure the cost-effectiveness of the changes he will bring to his current post in Kaduna.

The petition/resignation allegedly written by Eyo Ekpo to the President appears in itself a study in raw angst and self-immolation. Reading the DailyTrust’s report on the matter, it appears that Eyo became frustrated following his redeployment by Chairman of NERC. Why was he redeployed? According to the story, the Commission was embarrassed that Eyo, as head of tariffs and market rates division, forced through a decision to raise tariff of commercial power customers by as much as 103 percent! The Commission had to hurriedly review the error after MAN, poultry association and steel companies cried out. The last straw was when power distribution companies issued a force majeure saying they could no longer meet their obligations under the Ekpo-inspired tariff plan.

The Sam Amadi I know will not care a hoot if he’s removed. Tutored in the Chambers of the late Gani Fawehinmi, he has remained a true disciple of Gani’s brand of fearlessness and incorruptibility. The tenure of the Commission that he leads ends barely three months from now, according to the Daily Trust. Thus, it is possible that the campaign for his removal may be for the President not to renew Amadi’s tenure. But, as is often the case when power mongers get on a case, the best way to achieve this objective includes an attempt to tarnish the reputation of a shining star.

Iso'rait.

A Note to Nyesom Wike

There is a narrative playing out in the press that you are out on a vendetta mission against your predecessor. This narrative will hurt your administration. 

Gov. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

Let me start with a digression, in order to put off those I do not want to read the important message I have for His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike!

I have an abiding interest in deconstructing names of Rivers State indigenes of Igbo extraction who seek to distance themselves from their defeated cousins after the Civil War. They do this by reconstructing village and people names to make it less Igbo and more “Rivers” in character. It suddenly occurs to me that the original names of the governor could have been Ezenwa Onyesom Nwike, with the first letters removed from the last two names and a letter substituted at the end of the first name to make it conform to the post-war Rivers character. Ezenwa Onyesom Nwike makes sense to those who are versed in Igbo.

If you’re still reading, your Excellency and his supporters, pardon me if this interpretation is wrong. And please don’t let this detract from what I am about to say to you and your people about good governance in this state that the people have put under your charge for four years.

There is a narrative playing out today in the press that you are out on a vendetta mission against your predecessor, Gov. Chibuike Amechi (his names are Igbo-compliant, I must say.) Today, I have picked up this narrative from at least two different stories in The Punch newspaper – one of it from Amechi himself and the other from the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC). If you’re not careful, this narrative will slowly take root and successfully hurt your administration, the same way that you successfully used the “betrayer” narrative to win the election in Rivers state against the same man. Even though Amechi had tried to turn the tables by using the same narrative against you, the people saw and understood that his was the more traitorous because your campaign team cast it as a society-wide treachery, unlike his that was perceived as mere kitchen-cabinet disloyalty.

Therefore, I implore you to borrow a leaf from Abuja, precisely the way that President Buhari has created elbow room to operate with his predecessor - after their bruising electoral combat. This is without prejudice to the reality that admittedly, President Jonathan paved the way for rapport with his successor, unlike Governor Amechi who decided to become Amechi to the bitter end, and continues to be so.

Herein lies the danger. You need to realize that fate - cemented by the peoples' votes - has moved you out of the kitchen cabinet quarrel and placed you squarely in charge of the welfare of the almost 10 million citizens of Rivers State. You cannot remove your eye from this number to focus instead on a handful of yesterday’s men who, for all you know, may at the moment be eyeing plum jobs in Abuja and only using the media to make themselves appear relevant in the state.

Take it easy, your Excellency, and take it step by step. Disband the probe panel you have set up, if indeed you have. Look instead to your development agenda. If, in the course of implementation of your agenda, you were to find anything that your predecessor erected to stand in the way, quietly, very quietly, dismantle without fanfare in the interest of the millions of people who are now looking up to you to make a real difference in the governance of the state.

Amechi and his people will not be able to stop you from connecting powerfully with the citizens of Rivers State and delivering a performance that guarantees a second term and land you a good spot in history. Chasing after Amechi and his band of ex-this ex-that will; you'll only succeed in diverting your attention from the task ahead of you which is onerous.

If I were in your shoes, I would sit down to plot how Rivers State will overtake Lagos in all indices of development and become the number one business and leisure destination in West Africa. This means, among other things, coming up with a 10-year strategic development plan for the state that you will have the opportunity to midwife for eight (8) years and thereafter create room for a chosen successor to complete. This is how your worthy predecessors at the Lion Building Enugu would have done it – the very reason why, among other things, Port Harcourt (the Garden City) and Calabar were created as destinations for tourism and maritime business by the Zik and Okpara administrations in Enugu, before the Civil War tore the region apart.

You can do it this, your Excellency, if you were to overcome the Amechi angst, completely ignore the intermittent irritations, and face up to the great task ahead.

Good luck and best wishes.

OGUAGU ANIKWE

Stop Wasting Time, Gov. Ugwuanyi

Your Excellency

I came across two news stories from Enugu that prompted this letter. I consider writing to you a matter of urgency based on the import of both stories - if they are true.

In the one, you were said to be finding it difficult to choose your cabinet because there were too many vested interests that you had to satisfy and there aren’t enough jobs for the boys, especially now that the federal option has allegedly been closed with the change of government in Abuja. In the other, your immediate predecessor implied that a way out could be to take the state to the APC (by defecting) so that Enugu's mouth will not be removed from the federal breast milk.

As a citizen of Enugu, I tried very hard to hide my disappointment at the turn of events. Where is the Igbo can-do spirit which pulls creative solutions out of the hat to meet with difficult challenges?

I have six things to say on these ugly developments coming out of our dear state.

First, you are in charge now. I hope someone hammers this fact into your head early enough. If what we read is true, then it is certain that you will eventually fall out with some of the godfathers, no matter the charm you exude or the quantity of your trade-mark smile that you deploy in your relationship with them. You might as well do it now – diplomatically of course – so that you’ll be able to get the committed technocrats that will help you discharge your electoral mandate, rather than select from the jobbers’ list that is sure to be handed over to you.

Second, in deciding on the direction of governance to follow, there are only three options. You could turn into yourself and proceed to amass as much cash as you can, not caring for anybody but yourself and your immediate constituency. It has been done before. You could also, out of gratitude, suck up to the drain pipes (the political godfathers and tin gods) by integrating them fully into a four-year bazaar. None of your predecessors had fully implemented this option. You can turn your back on aggrandizement and political patronage and get serious, competent and committed folks who will help you squarely leave a firm and lasting footprint in the sands of Enugu history. Whichever option you decide to choose, the result will be released in 2019 when we shall watch as you either forcibly, violently wrestle a second term ticket, or smile home with the ticket that no one else will be seriously contesting with you based on performance.

Third, it does not matter which party you belong to, for Enugu to continue to enjoy what those with limited vision think the state has lost by voting PDP. President Buhari and the international community will do business with you (no question about it) if you keep a cool head and concentrate on governance rather than politics in the next three years. If you want examples to support this statement, look to your neighbor Anambra and note how she has managed to walk a fine line between governance and federal politics - without belonging to the then ruling party. The darkest period in Anambra history was when the state was coupled to Aso Rock through godfathers. Have you noticed how the current Governor wasted little time in renewing the links between Awka and Abuja?

Fourth, whatever you choose to do, remember that you are no longer a politician. The people’s vote has catapulted you to the top as father of Enugu citizens at home, in the Diaspora, in APC, PDP as well as the apolitical. If you want to take Enugu out of PDP, why not consider taking her to APGA instead, where you will thereafter be perceived as neutral and will have all the opportunities to do business with everybody without being seen as an enemy? There is such a thing as integrity, and you will lose this rare virtue if you were to be seen to have abandoned the party that not only made you but helped the state through your predecessor – for a mess of pottage that will allegedly be served by a different party in Abuja? Who told those with the doomsday predictions that what belongs to Enugu State (in terms of federal appointments and allocations) will now be lost, with an active Governor at the Lion Building?

Fifth, there is money to be made from Enugu itself, and a huge potential to tap the resources of the state for much more. Look inwards. Be creative. Look ahead. In two years, your IGR harvest can account for 40 percent of the state budget. If you don’t know what to do to reach this milestone, ask for help. Enugu is blessed with first-class human resource that will help you develop and implement ideas to turn the state around economically. Unfortunately, majority are apolitical; they especially detest “local” politics and will not bother you with what they know - unless you ask them for help. Seek them out and ask for help.

Sixth, people testify to your good nature. Your Excellency, I fear that this will be your undoing because you may not be willing to summon the political will to break through the political barricade that jobbers and kinsmen are sure to erect around you. As it is, you must break through this cordon in order to free your spirit to soar high and meet the history that has already beckoned.

I wish you good luck as you set sail. And please stop wasting time.

Your sincerely,

Ogbuagu Anikwe

Between Malam Garba Shehu and Ogbeni Femi Adesina

It's a poor mix. If President Buhari wanted both men that badly, why couldn’t one of them become the Minister of Information?

Today's announcement of the appointment of spokespersons for President Muhammadu Buhari once again brings to mind something that always bother me about political appointments in Nigeria. I’ve always marveled at how very often sentiments (who you like the more) and patronage (who introduced you to the boss) come to play a big part in appointments to very critical positions.

I simply can’t understand the benchmarks applied to come to the judgment that Femi Adesina should be the boss of Garba Shehu.

Don’t get me wrong; I think both are thoroughbred professionals and I congratulate them, especially Femi who has obviously worked hard for the position by using his column in The Sun to give President Buhari a solid backing during the campaigns.

And, for the record, I have steered away from Garba since 2007 when I headed the editorial group at the Atiku Media Office, because he treated me in a manner that I will never forget in my life – which came as a shock to me because I know that he is a first-class PR man with the critical media community that he related with on behalf of Atiku Abubakar.

This nothwithstanding, I think that by any yardstick – age, experience in the profession, knowledge of political communications, and respect among the critical media constituency – Garba is by far the better candidate, so why make him an assistant and Femi an Adviser (of cabinet rank)?

For those who do not know, here’s how Garba compares with Femi in our profession:

• Garba and Femi are both graduates of mass communications, Garba from the premier Jackson School (UNN) and Femi from the highly regarded Unilag Mass Comm Department; They both qualify on that basis
• Garba began his journalism career 33 years ago; Femi is reportedly 28 years on the beat.
• Garba edited a daily newspaper over a decade before Femi got his first appointment as one.
• Garba managed the PR department of a very big corporate organization (Alscon); Femi has no such experience.
• Garba managed media campaigns in at least three different national elections; Femi has no such experience;
• Garba managed a political personality (Atiku Abubakar), running a first class media office that has become a model in Africa; Femi has no such experience.
• Garba managed a newspaper organisation, decades before Femi got his most recent job as MD of Sun;
• Garba knows every political reporter (radio, TV, newspaper, online media) worth knowing in Nigeria – by name; at this moment, Femi cannot claim the same.
• Garba was elected President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors more than a decade before Femi got to the position.

I just can't fathom the reason for this pecking order. If President Buhari wanted the two men that badly, why couldn’t one of them become the Minister of Information? Will that position now go to the parrot Lai Mohammed, a lawyer and first-class propagandist but a very poor strategic communicator? What will it say about the President if Mohammed becomes the government spokesman while the two persons who qualify for the job are busy jostling for better positioning at the door of the Aso Rock inner chambers?