*By Abba Adakole*<\/p>\n
Some commentators have said it times without count that the All
\nProgressives Congress (APC), the only party of progressives, is another
\nside of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coin, but I have often disagreed
\nwithout going public with these commentators. However, recent happenings
\nare giving me cause for concern.<\/p>\n
First, it was Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, but I concluded that his case was
\ngood riddance, because I was never comfy with the man, having been named,
\nrightly or wrongly, as one of those that created the monster that is
\nravaging the north east of the country. But in the case of Nuhu Ribadu, I
\ncame to the sober conclusion that something may indeed be wrong with the
\nAPC, or it is really no different from the PDP.<\/p>\n
If I had any doubts about the accusation against Sheriff, a recent comment
\nby APC’s All Progressives Youth Forum said it all. It disclosed that it
\nwould hold a nationwide \u00e2\u20ac\u017dthanksgiving with special Sunday church service in
\nchurches and Jumma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122at prayers in Mosques over the defection of former
\nGovernor of Borno State to the PDP.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the group, Ismail Ahmed, in a statement, said the group
\nreceived news of the planned defection of Sheriff with so much joy, saying
\nthe former Governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exit from the APC was the best thing that happened to
\nthe life of the party. The Forum said it had conducted very serious
\ninvestigations about all the games in trying to attach a bad name to the
\nAPC locally and internationally and “found out that the PDP uses sponsored
\ncommentators in Nigeria to link Sheriff with Boko Haram, rightly or
\nwrongly, and because he was a chieftain of the APC, it was easy to sell
\nthat to Nigerians using the media.”<\/p>\n
But Sheriff himself is singing a different tune in explaining his departure
\nfrom the APC and relationship with Boko Haram. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our interest should be on
\nwhat makes the nation move forward. My decisions will be guided by the
\ninterest of the nation first. My thinking of moving to the PDP is also in
\nthe interest of the nation. We believe that every time, as a leader who
\nleads people, you should advise them on the right course of action,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He added that whatever information he had on Boko Haram with benefit of his
\nhaving governed Borno, he had forwarded to security agencies. He said, “I
\nam not a security man or personnel. Whatever that, as a civilian, I can do,
\nusing my position as the chief executive of the state for eight years, what
\nI have seen during my tenure I will contribute to the security agencies
\nthrough whom I got the information.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What you have to understand is that this country is a big country and
\nBorno State is a difficult state from any other state in Nigeria. Borno has
\nthe biggest land mass bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon. It is an open
\nborder. Borno is not like the Republic of Benin with only one entrance into
\nNigeria. In Borno, you can enter from 20 different points into the country.
\nTherefore, you need a perfect understanding of the terrain. You need
\nevery knowledge that any politician has, particularly any politician that
\noperated in Borno State. That is all we can contribute for now.\u00e2\u20ac<\/p>\n
What irks most about the APC’s Forum position was the strenuous effort it
\nmade to tie the Boko Haram’s noose around Sheriff, forgetting that it was
\naccentuating the argument that the former Senator and Governor put this
\ngroup together when he was part of the opposition parties that formed APC.
\nIn effect the group confirmed all the accusations against the APC.<\/p>\n
I do not wish to comment about Femi Fani-Kayode who has become more of an
\nalbatross on the party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neck because the party mismanaged the relationship
\nwith him and others. But Nuhu Ribadu’s matter disturbs so much, because
\nlike his “former” friend, Nasir el-Rufai, he was a beautiful bride APC
\nshould have done all to keep. Sadly, the Party lost him to the PDP.<\/p>\n
From being a presidential aspirant, he now wants to govern his native
\nAdamawa State, where another of APC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s governors, or turncoats from the PDP,
\nMurtala Nyako, so mismanaged the State he was booted out. In response to
\nthis move Nasir el-Rufai made one of the most blasphemous of statements of
\nall time against Islam. A loudmouth who should still be in mourning had
\nthis to say on Twitter, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will only consider the choice of defection to
\nthe People Democratic Party (PDP) when Satan repents and converts to Islam.
\nI will consider the option; then reject it.\u00e2\u20ac<\/p>\n
Why APC allowed men like this into its midst must still rankle it. If
\nel-Rufai is a good Muslim as he claims, then the repentance of Satan into
\nhis religion is not good enough for him? He has again insulted the
\nsensibilities of Muslims just as he did to Christians a short while ago. It
\nis known that he joined the APC because he was about to be nailed by his
\nformer friends in the PDP, but must he always speak before thinking? Must
\nhe set the APC up with the Muslims as he did with the Christians? APC
\nleaders should quickly tell him to reconsider his thoughtless fanaticism or
\nbe shown the way out.<\/p>\n
Back to Ribadu! When he said he had left the APC, a statement was credited
\nto him in which he lashed out at the turncoat governors now giving the APC
\nsleepless nights. He quickly denied it on his Facebook page, suggesting
\nthat politics was not going to make him lose his friends in the APC, but
\nthis appeared unsatisfactory and they took him to the cleaners, if a
\nstatement ascribed to the Rivers APC is anything to go by.<\/p>\n
Apparently looking out for Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the Rivers Chapter
\nthundered that his defection was a political suicide, and his denial on his
\npage was not one in the true sense. The Rivers APC went further: “Ribadu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
\noutburst is very unfortunate and borne out of ignorance of what the
\nantecedents of Amaechi are. It is on record that during the days of Chief
\nRufus Ada George as Governor of Rivers State, he offered Amaechi
\nappointment as one of his Commissioners but Amaechi declined and instead
\nnominated his cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, whom George appointed as the
\nCommissioner for Education.<\/p>\n
“This does not in any way indicate somebody who is hungry for power. While
\nAmaechi, like Ribadu, has exercised his constitutional right to seek
\nelection as Governor, his feats, which he rightfully attributes to the
\ngrace of God, conclusively prove that he never sought office due to hunger
\nfor power but, rather, in order to render service and make the society a
\nbetter place.<\/p>\n
“This is in direct contrast to the conduct of Mallam Ribadu, who after
\nbeing the presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria
\nin 2011, has now stooped so low to buy PDP gubernatorial form to contest
\nthe governorship of Adamawa State thereby committing a political suicide
\nand if we still know PDP very well, Ribadu will surely regret this unwise
\nstep in a matter of few weeks. And to think that this is the same PDP
\nwhich Ribadu once described as a den of thieves! So between Amaechi and
\nRibadu, who should rightly be accused of being hungry for power?”<\/p>\n
In this classic case of political brickbats, the APC continues to show the
\nworld that it is a bunch of unthinking politicians that cannot be trusted
\nsix months to elections. The earlier the Party gets its acts together, the
\nbetter, else, it is just the other side of the PDP coin. May be the APC
\nshould all collapse into the PDP and save the country the tension it is
\nenmeshed in. Head or tail, APC and PDP are all the same.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
*Mr Adakole contributed this piece from Abuja.*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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