The major, if not the only business a political party has being in existence is that of winning elections. Getting popular and easily sellable candidates to bear its flag in an election is what any political party desirous of winning elections should bother about having in mind that the people (electorate) will be the ultimate deciders at the end of it all. That should also be the primary concern of any party administrator worth his name.
It is with the aforementioned in mind that the abnormalities that characterised the recently conducted primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa State left many strucked and bewildered. The kind of brazen assault on the collective sensibilities of teeming members of the party and the level of desperation shown by the leadership of the party at the national level in its preference for some sacred cows is not only disgusting but will no doubt affect negatively the chances of the party at the general election. A key ingredient of internal democracy is provision of a level playing ground for every candidate interested in an elective office to test his or her popularity within the party by a democratically- conducted primaries which will produce the most popular candidates for the elections proper. Anything short of this is a detour from democratic norms and principles.
The impunal experiences of the northern and western zones of the state are the most disturbing. While in some instances, genuine delegates were illegally substituted and the newly formed lists kept hidden from other aspirants seeking to contest in the nomination process, no election in whatever form was at all held in other places only for report to emanate stating that primaries took place and candidates emerged. Candidates were foisted on the party and by necessary implication, the people based on parochial interest that is not of the party and the state. What happened in the recent APC primaries in Nasarawa State can pass for a good study in impunity and rascality as a result of which, the party came out of the primaries acrimoniously weakened.
In the western zone for instance, the party is disintegrating by the day. The manipulation, injustice and impunity that characterised the nomination process has since led to the exit of Hon. Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi a fine legislator with stellar records of performance and Hon. Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, who to many today is the most popular politician in the state. Like him or loathe him, Wadada is the darling of the masses; he resonates and connects well with them. Like honey attracts bees so does Wadada attracts people. NEVER should the exit of such a juggernaut be contemplated, it must be averted by all means possible by any political party that is desirous of winning elections.
Yesterday, Wadada tested the microphone like it’s said in local parlance by making a grand entry into Keffi pulling huge crowd that is unprecedented in the history of politicking in the state in recent time. While some people were quick in dismissing the crowd as hired, any discerning follower of political events in the state knows that Wadada has always owned and displayed certain authenticity and electricity of bearing that always excite the crowds. Wadada is the Aminu Kano of Nasarawa politics, in the mould of Mahatma Gandhi, in the perception of his teeming followers and admirers who sincerely believe that with him in leadership position succour will be provided and their lives improved. Wadada, for lack of words, is the people’s delight anyday, anytime. Whether rented or not, the magnitude and passion exudes by the Wadada crowd of yesterday is enough to get any genuine lover of the APC scary and worried. It is painful that things went the way they went, especially taking into consideration the labour and sacrifices of Wadada in strengthening the APC in Nasarawa State. He is one that gave the party his all even without commensurately benefiting from the party.
Besides, there are many others whose ambition were brutally truncated by the undemocratic machinations that the national leadership of the party introduced into the process. To say the truth, the party is currently sitting on a keg of gun powder with palpable uncertainty. There is of course a looming danger that project doom for the party. No one needed to be told about the consequences for disenfranchising politicians with mass appeal. For sure, the disenfranchised and their supporters will not take it kindly. While some of them may remain in the party, they may definitely not be committed to its cause going forward.
Here, one can only hope and pray that the party, especially its rascalous leadership wakes up from its arrogant stupor and avert the looming danger before it is too late. The electorate are getting sophisticated by the day and are now more determined than ever before to carry their destiny in their own hands. We must know that the choice of who represent the people at any level of public office lies squarely in the hands of the electorate. All politics is local and no one is God
At this juncture, let me hastenly say that I am not in anyway holding brief for anyone. All I am saying is that at least an opportunity be given to all contestants to test their popularity and have their fate decided by those ‘genuinely’ empowered to do so. No one will bear grudge if he or she was defeated in a free, fair and transparent electoral exercise.
To be continued!!!