Resignation Calls On Yilwatda, Ribadu, Recipe For Crisis In APC?
Recent calls for the resignations of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Goshwen Yilwatda, and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, have brought some questions to mind, if this could be a recipe for an unforeseen crisis in the party.
Recently, the APC announced the emergence of Prof. Yilwatda, an erudite engineering scholar from the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, where he served in various administrative positions, including Head of Department, Director of Information Technology, and member of the University Senate Council.
He was also appointed Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by former President Muhammadu Buhari, Late, in 2017 and posted to Benue State as Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), who took over the mantle of the party’s leadership from Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, a two-term Governor of Kano State and an experienced politician.
Also joining the call of resignation is the National Security Adviser, NSA, Ribadu, who took over from Maj Gen M Monguno, a retired Nigerian Army officer in the Buhari administration, after the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Though the reasons for these calls could not be immediately identified, they may be due to a new crisis brewing in the party between blocs in Osun and Plateau States over the defections of the two states’ chief executives, Ademola Adeleke and Caleb Mutfwang, respectively.
While some interested stakeholders accuse the other side of the divide of preventing the two states’ incumbent governors from defecting to the ruling party, the other side accuses the national chairman of not giving the bigwigs a soft landing, while the NSA is linked to the raging insecurity in the country.
The first group to counter this call is the Northern Nigeria Youth Leaders Forum, NNYLF, otherwise known as the All Progressives Congress Youth Solidarity Network, APC-YSN, against a faction of the association, which issued a two-week ultimatum asking Prof Nentawe to step aside or face mass action.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Danesi Momoh, the APC-YSN alleged that Nentawe ‘failed leadership tests in all parameters’ noting that the APC’s popularity was shrinking daily under his watch and that could complicate President Tinubu’s re-election bid.
According to Prince, Nentanwe has criticized the governor, the man who defeated him, Yilwatda, in the 2023 governorship elections, as having no political value; therefore, he should not be allowed to join the APC.
“The actions of the National Chairman have exposed the danger of assembling governors without electoral value. But in truth, there is no Governor in Nigeria today who does not have electoral value,.
“Therefore, for the National Chairman of the ruling party to think so, he does not understand the political terrain of Nigeria and should be relieved immediately. In fact, he is still largely a political neophyte for the heavy political responsibilities that fall to the Chairman of the ruling party.
“It is obvious that Yilwatda has no charisma, capacity and the clout to command respect even among party members. Since his assumption of office, the National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru has been the one in charge of the party’s affairs.
“The National Secretary spearheaded the mismanaged Ekiti State APC Governorship Primaries, which now leaves a big vacuum, calling for immediate reconciliation if the party must retain its relevance in the State.”
ISSUES WITH OLD AND NEW EXCOS
Prince added that in recent times, the National Chairman has not been able to distinguish between the former exco and the current exco of the party.
“He entertains garbage and does not have the capacity to instill discipline in the party. He has become an “oh yes” Chairman, lacking completely in proper direction.
“Since his emergence as the National Chairman, he has neglected the staff of the party, especially the junior staff, who he has deliberately refused to acknowledge in terms of welfare and working relationship. We have it on good authority that any moment from now, the Party junior staff may stage protest demanding his removal over their welfare.
“Nigeria is surrounded by its enemies and we must not give any room for further protests , specially the ones we could avoid. The party under Yilwatda is silent in terms of mobilisation of support for President Tinubu and his administration. Solidarity is dead in the party and the hitherto growing popularity of the party among millions of everyday party footsoldiers is now, declining on a daily basis.
“We unequivocally call on President Tinubu to intervene as his reelection bid is our major priority at the moment. Mr President has initiated a lot of reforms, which has placed Nigeria on the global map of successful nations. We must ensure its sustainability for the future of the younger generations and even the ones yet unborn.
“We make bold to say that if he, Yilwatda, fails to resign within two weeks, we shall mobilise thousands of APC supporters to shut down the National Secretariat and demand his exit,” he said.
But addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday, National Leader of NNYLF, Comrade Murtala Mohammed-Gamji, said Momoh is first of all, not a member of APC, hence he can not lead a campaign against the party’s National Chairman.
Gamji warned the “so-called” APC-YSN and other faceless institutions against any attempt to tarnish the hard-earned reputations of the APC National Chairman, Yilwatda, and other northern leaders, as the forum would resist such an attempt with vehemence.
He dismissed claims by the group that Nentawe, who is also from Plateau State was blocking Governor Caleb Mutfwang from joining the party, saying the Governor himself had said he was under pressure to move to the ruling party.
“Any group or individual who is calling on our National Chairman to resign or they will embark on protest, will not succeed. Prince Momoh is not a member of APC. We schooled together in ABU Zaria, he’s from Auchi. He’s a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and, even sanctioned in Auchi’s PDP membership in Edo State. So we don’t know his link or his concern with our untouchable chairman.
“We were saying as members of APC and as leaders of all leaders in Nigeria and also leaders of all leaders of any youth organisation in Northern Nigeria, asking him, Momoh, also, advising him, not to play with fire. Because in this Renew Hope agenda, we’re not going to sit at home and look at anybody or group of people who come and jeopardise our survival.
“So, our youths listen to us, no youth will come and follow these kinds of people who don’t have anything to do, rather than destroying people’s image. We are saying no to that and we will never stand by them,” Gamji vowed.
With the fresh brewing crisis in the ruling APC, only time will tell, where and how it will lead, how far it will go and how it will end.
