The party has begun this process with the announcement about a month ago that, though the party’s constitution specifically states that the presidential candidate shall emerge through direct or indirect primary election, its National Executive Committee, NEC, has chosen the modified direct primary option. Delegates who would elect the party’s presidential flag bearer would be determined by the provision of this Article 12 of the party’s constitution. Unlike the direct primary where every card-carrying member of the party will determine the candidates, the statutory and elected ad-hoc delegates will choose the party’s candidates at all levels, including ward, local government, state and national level.
As explained by Senator Osita Izunaso, APC’s national organising secretary, this implies that the delegates will be drawn from across the federation in a process that will begin with a Special Ad-hoc Congress to elect ad-hoc delegates to the congresses and National Convention by first week of October while the primaries will begin in November and end by first week of December. “It has been worked out and we are going to publish it so that we will know the delegates. So, we are set for the primaries of 2015 general elections,” he said. Izunaso added that while the party did not expect the indirect primary option to be acceptable to all the presidential aspirants, it would not to create any crisis if it was conducted in a free and fair manner. The party followed the decision up with the release of a timetable for the primary about three weeks ago. According to the party, sale of nomination forms for presidential aspirants will commence on 20 October and end on 6 November, while screening of Presidential aspirants has been slated for between 10 and 13 November; 14 and 15 November are for appeals. The party’s national convention is slated for Tuesday, 2 December.
This magazine gathered that the APC timetable, especially, the fixing of the convention to December, which is just two months to the election already fixed by INEC for February, was designed with the aim of giving the party the opportunity of seeing what its main opponent was going to do. But the release of the timetable and the choice of indirect primaries have become a source of mutual suspicion between aspirants of the party and their supporters even before the process started.
While some of the leading presidential aspirants of the party and their supporters want the party to change its decision and adopt the direct primaries or use the consensus option to choose its candidate, others prefer the party to stick to its earlier choice. It was gathered that the two opposing sides to the issue failed to agree on the modality to be adopted to choose the party’s presidential candidate at the National Caucus and the National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party held in Abuja about two weeks ago, though this was the main agenda of summoning the meeting.
Those calling for direct primaries had argued that it will give the over 30 million members of the party the opportunity of taking part in the election of the presidential candidate as opposed to about 20,000 members that do so under the indirect primaries option. This, they argued, would make the candidate acceptable to all members of the party and prevent a situation in which some deep-pocket aspirants may buy up delegates who will be assembled in a place, most probably in Abuja, if the indirect option is used. On the other hand, those advocating for modified or indirect primary argued that it is more practical for the party at its current stage as it may not have the resources, manpower and security to set up voting in every polling booth as INEC would do in general election if the direct primary option is adopted.
They also argued that membership of the party is fluid at the moment as people are joining the party everyday and this, combined with the crises still dogging some state chapters of the party, may throw the party into bigger problems if the primary option is adopted. There is also fear that conducting the primary across the different states – as will happen if the direct option system is used – would leave the selection process open for influence by governors of the party. At the opposite ends of the argument are the two leading aspirants of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), a former military head of state, and former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar.
General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
While appreciating the devotion of over 48 youth groups that have been busy selling his candidacy across the country without any form of direct monetary inducement from him last Tuesday, General Buhari (retd.) described himself as the poorest among those seeking to rule the country. “I am very proud of you and thankful for all the support you have demonstrated. Whatever we have been able to do, the credit belongs to you. We may be the most underfunded project in the history of this country, but by the grace of God and your support, we are the greatest crowd puller in the nation today…,” the former head of state told over 48 different groups rooting for him under the aegis of Buhari Support Group. Buhari had also at that occasion assured the group that he would soon make a formal announcement on the issue.
Buhari’s allusion to the state of his pocket reflected the fears among his supporters that if the party went ahead with its plans to use the modified direct primary to choose its candidate, he may be bidded out of the process as he may not be able to match the financial clout other contestants may use to lure delegates. Indeed, the former head of state had, after the event, told journalists that he preferred the use of the consensus option rather than the indirect primaries since most of the officials of the party, from the ward to the national levels, were chosen through the same system. “It is the primaries that will determine who eventually represents the party and in which capacity. If I get the party’s nomination, I will redouble my efforts and commitment until we clinch the presidency.” And when Buhari eventually declares this week, he would only be doing what many Nigerians had expected since he led the CPC, the platform on which he contested the presidency in the 2011 presidential election, to merge with other parties to form APC last year.
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