The All Progressives’ Congress (APC) has been struggling hard since the party won the presidential elections last year. To those of us who are student of politics, we saw it coming. Personally, I was optimistic that President Buhari still has it in him to rein in the contending power structures, the perennial malcontents, the malicious hijackers, the racketeers and profiteers who penetrate any government in power. I was wrong! Buhari is an Oligarch with whom the poor pitched their hopes incredulously. Yes, he is a tad more honest but he suffers from the same set of limiting myopia that has plagued every leader Nigeria has produced. Buhari is not the topic, he is an actor. Follow me!
Reproach does not and cannot diminish the sweetness of honey; no matter what anyone says, Tinubu made Buhari happen. We are alive, we are witnesses. Followers of my wall on Facebook, read the minute by minute maneuvers. Buhari would not have survived the primaries. He had no money of his own to prosecute the campaign and induce delegates. 48hours to the congress, he had less than 5,000 posters. Nothing was happening until the master of end game politics moved in at night. Money happened! Atiku was fenced beyond his wits. He could not reach his delegates. When he got to the stadium, the Asiwaju machine had removed all traces of him. The venue was blanketed by Buhari’s posters and operatives. It was a no contest. Even Buhari’s closest associates could not believe it. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were completely blindsighted. They had banked on Atiku’s emergence. I have written it before; “When it comes to political strategy, Asiwaju Tinubu is in a class of one. He is the bell cow of Nigerian politics, a quick study and a tenacious worker with a manic work ethic.”
The compound fractures we are seeing in the APC today would have been simple fractures, if Jonathan did not postpone the elections. The postponement was an inside job. It was sold to them by a popular and fiery preacher who runs with the hares and hunts with the hounds. By the time the elections was postponed, they were running out of funds. Buhari ran to Chatham house and stayed on thereafter to limit expenses. We all remember the state of flux we were in then. During this crucial time, they had to crawl to Atiku and beg him for money. And Atiku really made them beg. He kept them in wait for more than a week before he pitifully bailed them out. With his money, he negotiated his way in. Buhari’s trouble started…To be continued.
Credit: Bamidele Ademola-Olateju