By Barnabas Nwankwo
During the recent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu commended the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the watch of former Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje for doing a great job for the Party.
Tinubu cited the APC electoral victories in Edo and Ondo states among others that the Ganduje-led National Working Committee (NWC) successfully prosecuted.
I thank Mr. President for the praises and commendation, an indication that he appreciates when people have done a good job unlike those who lack the character to do so.
However, we need to remind Ganduje and his team of the age long dictum which says that to whom much is given much is equally expected.
But the commendation for the leadership of the APC is hardly the essence of this write-up as we will soon discover.
The Anambra governorship election is fast approaching. In fact, the fever that ought to go with that election sometime in November this year is already on as we can see from the unexpected, unplanned, hasty and suspicious defections involving characters who, few years ago, did not see anything good about the APC.
But that is not to say that new comers should not be welcome into the Party, even with their bad behaviour since the APC has a proper inbuilt mechanism to correct any unbecoming demeanour.
Incidentally, the entrance of some politicians into the APC in Anambra recently should not be the issue that ought to bother well meaning members of the Party across all divide.
What should be of concern to every card carrying member of the APC, instead, is the smouldering and clandestine scheming by some political carpet beggars who are hell bent on ensuring that an alliance is struck between the APC and the Governor Chukwuma Soludo-led Anambra All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) because of the interest to ensure that he returns to the Agu Awka House.
Insinuations are strong that Soludo is working day and night to get the buy-in of some key figures in the ruling APC to have APGA enter into a political rapprochement in his desperation to be reelected governor even when all the indices suggest that he will be a gunner should APC ignore such usual antics and field a candidate of APC extraction, well tutored on the policies and programmes of the Party.
In Anambra today, it is a well known fact that Soludo has not lived up to the peoples expectations, and therefore, it will be counterproductive if the APC leadership for any reason, allow a man who does not have the capacity to defeat an APC candidate, to hang on their wings to deny the Party the opportunity of winning Anambra State in the November elections.
We have heard of Soludo’s secret meetings with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other top leaders in Nigeria whom, he had enlisted to take over the challenge of convincing the APC leadership to enter into an alliance with the APGA in in order that he might have a soft landing.
This is where the Ganduje-led APC NWC as well as the NEC of the Party must keep their eyes wide open, wear their thinking caps, and resist the temptation of any alliance with a dead Party in Anambra because of the danger doing so might portend in future.
The APC as it is currently constituted has worked hard to develop a structure that recognises members with the capacity to sustain the dream of the Party.
A Soludo will not, repeat will, not guarantee such arrangement.
At least what had happened to the APGA these few years he has been in the saddle should be the yardstick to measure what may happen to APC where Soludo is helped to win the election in the name of political alliance.
A man who is fighting everybody in his State, and believes he is an all knowing god will find it difficult to function in a Party where team work has guaranteed the members victory.
Since Soludo believes he has worked for Ndi Anambra and deserves to be reelected, it is therefore imperative that he should fly the flag of the same Party with which he was helped to come to power about three and half years ago.
Let no one be deceived that the reason he is desperately seeking an alliance with APC is because there are no more politicians of worth in the APGA to help him return to power having either driven them away or quarrelled with them.
The only person Soludo cannot quarrel with is himself.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
…Nwankwo, a rights activist lives in Awka.
