ON-GOING INTERNAL WRANGLING/BICKERING WITHIN ACTION CONGRESS – WHERE WILL RIVERS AC GO?
By Ola Babatunde,
olababa2009@yahoo.co.uk, olababa2009@gmail.com, , 08082814269.
National Mirror in its February, 2009 edition, featured an article on page 20 captioned "Plot To Frustrate Atiku Thickens"; it reported that underground plans, moves and efforts to frustrate the former Vice President Abubakar Atiku out of Action Congress have begun. Speculations were rife as to the purpose of the various meetings held in strategic locations like Benin, Abuja and Lagos by chieftains of the party in the past two weeks. We gather that the decision to oust Atiku out of AC was reached at the meeting which had notable chieftains of the party, including three former governors of south west in attendance.
The Nigerian Compass of 22nd of February, 2009 article in the same vein was captioned "Ex-Governor backstabs Atiku, others. Stops ex-VP's loyalists from AC Caucus meetings ….." The report stated that the major damage to the former VP's structure was done while he (Abubakar) was outside the country. The article stated thus, "It was learnt that the first step taken by Tinubu to weaken Abubakar's hold on the AC was by preventing his loyalists from attending the party's caucus meetings. Among those that were denied access to the party's caucus meetings while Abubakar was out of the country were former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh; a former Minister of Women Affairs, Princess Funke Adedoyin and a former Minister of Internal Affairs, Chief Dapo Sarumi…".
The aforementioned statement and a series of other reports on this development, provides some insight into the internal bickering obviously going on in Action Congress. This however is not the main thrust of this article. The major issue, here is the Herculean task of finding out position of the Rivers State Action Congress in this unfolding drama. Every time a major story of this nature breaks, the story behind the story always provides for a better understanding of the parties involved and their reasons for such acts of dissension. Personally, I have looked on with amusement at the way the Rivers state AC has manoeuvred through the political minefield that is Rivers state and Nigeria for a while.
During this period, I have unapologetically found myself becoming a self-confessed disciple of its leader Prince Tonye Princewill. Although much younger than I he has proven to be if I should say so, probably much smarter than I am. From his victory in the AC gubernatorial primaries to his brilliant gubernatorial campaigns that pitched him against the misguided arrogance of the PDP, I have watched him evolve into a new breed politician. He demonstrated this best of breed practice by gallantly conceding to Amaechi in respect of the Rule of Law, following the Supreme court ruling in favour of Amaechi.
On a recent visit to Rivers state where I had previously lived for over 26 years, I discovered that he had not only managed to support a governor on the other side of the political divide, but also was working assiduously, to bring an end to intra party wranglings in rivers state. During this time he has kept through to his AC roots and continued in his criticism of the government where necessary, which truly is the hallmark of opposition without resorting to verbal or physical abuse.
Where did this guy come from? One might be forced to ask, having said this, nothing could have prepared him for what he is now faced with in the wake of the contention between Atiku and Tinubu. Two gladiators who have had a marked influence on the Prince’s rising profile in the AC, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu have stood by him at different times in his career. Both of them love him a great deal despite their weak attempts at denying their role in his support for Amaechi. Based on revelations from an insider, the record shows that when Atiku was outside the country it was Senator Bola Tinubu and the Rivers State AC Leader, Prince Tonye Princewill that sustained and funded the activities of the Chapter. When the Chapter was to pursue its Election Case at the Tribunal, Tinubu it was that bankrolled the best-assembled Legal Team at the Tribunal headed by Kola Awodein ,SAN.
Atiku on the other hand was his backbone from the very beginning. When his long time ally Awuse came complaining about the Prince and his defeat in Rivers state, Atiku stood by the Prince and made a mockery of Awuse's claim that Princewill's victory will be overturned in Abuja. So where does that leave him? Between a rock and a hard place is probably a good way of putting it. Either way he is going to have to exhibit skills beyond those he has demonstrated so far to manoeuvre out of this one..
Recently, I read in the papers that the young Prince donated six air-conditioned buses to the party and additionally relocated the State Secretariat to a more aesthetic property at a location within Port Harcourt. Apart from this, the records show that the State Leader of the party toured and commissioned about ten brand new functional Local Government Secretariats for the party and placed some of the party chieftains on a fixed salary. The Rivers State AC Leader apart from being very vibrant is now the toast of most of the National Leadership of AC across the divides and is on the verge of launching a brand new publicity campaign for AC. The question therein is - do most of the acts and actions of the young Prince look like somebody that will jump the train with Atiku if he decides to move out from AC? Only time will tell but it may be foolhardy for the Prince to do this considering the role Asiwaju played in his life after sustaining the Chapter when it mattered most.
However, another source claimed that this was not the whole story. Apparently along the line when the Prince and his lieutenants in the Rivers State AC took the 'unwise' decision' in the eyes of many Leaders of AC by joining Amaechi's Government, Tinubu not only kept his distance from Prince Tonye and his 'funny group' but allowed his foot soldiers to keep Tonye on his toes and made every attempt to ridicule and expel him from AC. Apparently, it was to Atiku that Tonye and his group ran for succour. On 23rd November, 2007, Tonye and his group were not only at Adamawa State but at Ganye the home-town of the Turaki Adamawa to update him on the rationale of the avantgarde stand of working with a PDP led government which the party has rejected at the National level. Atiku gave him his blessing but Tinubu's men in charge of Publicity section of the party turned it upside down and the nation was confused on the true stand of AC at the National Level with regard to the Rivers State AC on the issue of the Unity Government or what Atiku will like to call bi-partisan relationship between AC and PDP in Rivers State. When the Adamawa State AC was to do its run-off gubernatorial election, the young Prince of Rivers State once again mobilised his men to Yola and collaborated and assisted the Adamawa Chapter with funds to conduct that election. Atiku while welcoming the Prince's Team once again praised and reiterated his support for the ingenuity and superior political reasoning of the Prince in Rivers State; once again, it was Tinubu men at the National Secretariat that tried to rubbish the outcome of this visit.
Atiku known for his political sagacity seems resolved to hold on the gains of the Rivers State Chapter. In the process he has for the last two months visited the Rivers State Chapter twice. During his last visit to the State about a week ago he pointed out that Rivers State had become a home to him especially when funny enough he had not even visited his own home State since his last visit there. On each of these visits, apparently Atiku was hosted at the Presidential Lodge of Government House and accorded full protocols in line with his status as a former Vice President.
My source also informed me that Atiku is on the verge of handing over the structure of PDM in Rivers State to the young Prince. This is the structure Atiku intends to use to launch him back to the centre of politics by April, 2009. Will Tonye now switch loyalty from his political father who pulled him up by his boot strings? Only Tonye can provide the answer to this question.
Tonye Princewill could not be reached for comments. Our attempts to reach his associates Chief C. Eze, media consultant; AC party Chairman Alexander Badey or the secretary Okis Bob Manuel to confirm or deny their Leaders next steps as they all seem to have absorbed themselves in never ending caucus meetings but sources confirmed nobody could dispute most of the facts stated in this article. To me, the truth remains that we can't envy either Tonye or the Rivers State Chapter. Only time will tell where Tonye and his people will fall should Atiku decide to go to PDP or Tinubu decide to revive AD. Either way the Prince will have to display an enormous amount of political maturity to land with his feet first. As a fan of his actions based on previous instincts, I look forward to seeing what direction they take him in this time. It is my belief that the future of Rivers politics and the future of Nigerian politics will be linked now more than ever before and the younger generation will play a major role in that link.
Dr Ola Babatunde is a political analyst and a freelance journalist based in Ibadan
