When in February 2013, the All Progressives Congress, APC, was formed following the historic merger of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and later the nPDP bloc, Tinubu must have led himself into believing he had acquired another Bourdillon, especially, when one considers the amount of influence he wields in the APC, his insatiable desire to wield more influence and the rather inordinate sense of entitlement he exudes occasionally.
No one can ever dispute the fact that the Asiwaju of Lagos State has enjoyed unrestrained power and influence within the APC, calling the shots on several occasions especially, on major decisions of the Party including being given the liberty to decide who occupies some sensitive positions in the Party and the APC-led government.
From nominating the running mate to Buhari to producing the first National Chairman of the Party, Chief John Oyegun and personally orchestrating his removal to replacing him with Adams Oshiomole to singly picking former Governor Fashola’s successor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and sacking of the same, despite his widespread acceptance and laudable performance to lobbying and making frantic moves to decide who becomes the Senate President and Speaker of the House and all other numerous instances of overbearing and overreaching tendencies indicative of his desire to lord it over the Party, Tinubu, had truly had his reign.
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Sadly, Asiwaju, the self-styled national leader of the APC – a placatory title which he holds so dear – has failed grossly to use his position to unite and strengthen the Party. On the contrary, he has only succeeded in using the title of ‘National Leader’ to serve his personal agenda and advance his 2023 Presidential ambition to the detriment of the Party.
Expectedly, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, fondly called BAT by his admirers could not see through the dark thickness of his own ambition and desperation for power even in broad daylight, otherwise, he would not hurriedly label others over ambitious.
Back to the title of National Leader. Criticisms on Tinubu’s choice of this title have continued to grow, especially, when there is a sitting President elected on the platform of the same Party. This clearly suggests a duplication of Party leadership and strips the President of a role in his Party since the President is not the President of APC but the entire nation. The choice to keep the title of National Leader, lends credence to the argument of critics, exposes his weird hunger for power and latent desire to own the party, albeit, undeservedly.
It is unsettling, how BAT could now claim to love Buhari even more than those who went out of their ways and practically laid down their lives to ensure Buhari emerged the Party’s Presidential flag bearer for the 2015 general elections. Not everyone can forget so soon that supporting Buhari was an afterthought for BAT, even a blind man could see that the handwriting on his wall was Tambuwal. In fact, contrary to what he would want the public to believe, his concession of the Presidential ticket to Buhari was not borne out of selflessness, it was as a result of many other factors which were clearly not in his favour.
This Tinubu’s sudden and newly found love for Buhari reminds me of the words of the former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki: “It is clear that while my own decision is based on protecting the collective national interest, Tinubu will rather live with the identified inadequacies of the government for the sake of fulfilling and preserving his presidential ambition in 2023.” Saraki’s statement accentuates Tinubu’s preference for power over good governance which he believes only him can offer. For those who understand the circuitous nature of politics and Tinubu’s age-long ambition to become President, this should be a source of grave concern.
No sooner was Buhari sworn into office in 2015 as President than Tinubu began to unfold his plans for 2023 by making frantic and controversial moves to secure juicy and strategic appointments for his loyalists, including attempts to hijack the leadership of both the Senate and the House. While the President was busy trying to fix the nation and deliver on his campaign promises to Nigerians, Tinubu was busy building political camps and structures and oiling his political machinery in preparation for 2023. How else can one define over ambitiousness?
Ahead of 2023, bookmarkers predict that Tinubu may lead the much talked about third force following his cast iron presidential ambition. This prediction explains his percieved desperate attempts to hijack the party structure, handpick NASS leadership, scramble to position his lieutenants in strategic position in the government and pull down anything or anyone perceived to be an obstacle. This also explains why Chief Oyegun was booted out as National Chairman and why Ambode could not make a comeback as Governor of Lagos State despite having the support of the electorates.
In fact, some insiders have fingered Tinubu to be behind the many fragmentation observed within the rank and file of the APC across almost all geopolitical zones in the country. This is considered by many to be Tinubu’s forked strategy of fragmenting and destabilizing Party structures in other geopolitical zones while building a strong cohesion in the South-West bloc, his supposed conquered political territory. It is believed that this strategy would help him gain easy control of the Party structure and advance his Presidential ambition under the platform of APC.
Another angle to the suspected Tinubu strategy is to considerably weaken the structures of the Party in all the geopolitical zones apart from the Southwest his natural domain while activating his ACN bloc within the APC for a possible merger with other willing groups or Parties to create a third force should he fail to have his way in the APC by which time the APC is considerably weakened and in no good shape to contend with his new Party.
No right thinking person will be swayed by the argument that Tinubu would not want to abandon the Party he built for another Party. Political Parties are built to sustain political ambitions, a Tinubu would not hesitate to move if and when that political Party can no longer guarranty the actualisation of his ambition.
However, the odds are fiercely against Tinubu. Whether in the APC or the projected third force. Every careful observer would agree that in recent times, Tinubu’s much-vaunted Southwest strength is fast becoming more imaginary than real. Some political pundits have opined that Tinubu may be living in the shadows of his past political strength. Although, this may be taken with a pinch of salt, facts on ground tend to corroborate it and may be signalling the possible political end of the lord of the bourdillon.
Also, recent political indicators inform that Tinubu is loosing grip of the Southwest and may likely have his influence trimmed down to Lagos state only. For instance, prior to this time, he controlled the entire Southwest States deciding who becomes the Governor but recently his overreaching tendencies were cut short, first in Ondo, then Ekiti where his preferred candidates for Governor failed at the primaries.
Again, Tinubu was dealt a huge blow with the ministerial nomination list when he could barely push his preferred candidates through including slots in the Southwest. It was a sour outing for Jagaban as available facts indicate he hardly made any input in the two ministerial slots given to Lagos State. Fashola having served previously as a minister under Buhari is considered to have attained a status of his own this same line of thought also applies to Mamora who clinched the second ministerial slot in Lagos despite allegedly not being Tinubu’s preferred candidate.
In Ondo and Ekiti States Akeredolu and Fayemi, respectively, pushed through their candidates. In Ogun State, former Governor Amosun’s candidate, Lekan Adegbite made the list to the chagrin of Tinubu. It is believed that the configuration of Buhari’s second term cabinet tells a lot about the politics of 2023.
Going into 2023, Tinubu’s past political feats may blind and deny him the opportunity to carry out a thorough and realistic evaluation of his true political strength especially with the emergence of “Some Powerful Individuals” in the words of Tinubu, around the Villa.
Granted, Tinubu may have enjoyed many political victories in the past and of course the present political system, most of which are nothing but mere privileges as the ‘National Leader.’ However, while basking in the euphoria of these many victories he must learn the difference between a conquest and concession, one area he has failed to deploy sufficient political tact.
The present political times, remind us once more of the cautionary tale of David and Goliath. While Goliath bragged in his strength and vast battle experiences, his mind was clouded by past victories with his bag full of antiquated tricks from past successes, he forgot so easily that David also, was a courageous young man with multiple guises and skills. His undoing is a story you are all familiar with.
It does appear the National leader has a lot of homework to do following his dwindling political fortunes in recent times. While Tinubu continues to portrays himself as the superman and go-to guy who has the Buhari-led government and the interest of the masses at heart, he is reminded that it took David just one stone to end the victorious reign of Goliath.
*** Priestley Nna, an author and political analyst, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
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