A disproportionate quantum of emotions has gone into the outcome of the presidential primaries of notable political parties in the country. Winners and losers have had cause to cheer and jeer. Some expectations were met. Many others were dashed. Emotions have run high in a number of cases. But it does appear that some of the frontline contenders who got the opposite of what they had imagined are losing so much sleep over the turn of events. We have a surfeit of them in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
So far, the scenario has been characterized by uneasy silence in the camp of the disappointed. However, after all the hue and cry, some calm is gradually creeping in. But what do these sundry outcries and, in some cases, silences hold for the days ahead? We can hazard as many guesses as there are actors in the entire drama.
The PDP was an early bird in this matter. It pulled the rug from under the feet of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. In the build-up to the primary, Wike was vociferous in his insistence that the ticket of the party should be ceded to the South. Going by the political configuration within the PDP, the South East made a strong case for itself on where the ticket should go. While the South East’s position was being canvassed, Wike was challenged by some interests in the zone to lend his support to their agitation, if he was serious about the enthronement of equity and justice in the party. But the governor did not pick up the challenge. He vacillated as much as he could and ended up with his own presidential ambition. He could not be bothered about the South East and its perennial cries of woe.
Having thrown his hat in the ring, Wike worked hard to actualise his dream. But many who watched him from the sidelines did not give him a chance. They were convinced, for some reason, that the Rivers State governor would not be the face of PDP in the presidential contest. True to their prediction, Wike lost. Then another layer of the game began. The governor made serious moves to be chosen as the party’s vice presidential candidate. But, again, he lost. The masters of the game were decisive in clipping the flapping wings of the audacious governor. Since then, the man has become less visible. Little is being heard of him lately. Then, you ask: what is Wike thinking? What is he up to? The governor may have his plans, but there is nothing that suggests that the power brokers within the party are losing sleep over him. They probably believe that he has reached the end of his tether. That is why some of them are mocking him to his very face.
But while the publics cheer and jeer, some political bigwigs across political divides have been visiting Port Harcourt to consult with Wike. What can be the content of these consultations? Are they anchored on the belief that the governor can be of any consequence in the forthcoming presidential election, or are they just trying to humour him? These questions commend themselves for consideration because even those who are not holding their parties’ presidential tickets are also visiting Port Harcourt to consult with Wike. Is their voyage of any significance, or do they just want to see the new mien and visage of the embattled politician?
What about the big losers in APC? Here again, the South East comes under focus. Some aspirants from the zone, notably, Ogbonnaya Onu and Ken Nnamani, expressed disappointment at the convention ground that the ticket was not ceded to their zone in line with the demands of justice and fairness. One of them, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, was stupefied to the point of numbness. He boycotted the convention midstream. Since then, he has gone into his shell. Chibuike Amaechi who came second in the race has not spoken. We do not know what he is thinking or planning. So, what possibly can be brewing in the covens of these disenchanted political actors within the APC?
While we wait and see, we must situate the actors properly. Those aspirants who felt disappointed by the way the APC presidential primary went had, up till late in the hour, believed that President Muhammadu Buhari would anoint his successor. Yes, the president said so long before the primary election. Then he reinforced it a few weeks to the election when he told APC governors to allow him choose his successor just as he had allowed those of them who were leaving to choose their successors. Knowing the President as someone who does not waste words, many believed that he would anoint his successor. Curiously, the President acted rather strangely when a crucial decision from him mattered most. He abandoned the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu, who had toyed with the idea that the President had adopted the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, as the party’s consensus candidate. By the time this reality was unfolding, it was too late in the day for those who had expected to be anointed by the President to do anything. That was what left the Ogbonnaya Onus and Emeka Nwajiubas of the APC in the lurch. These gentlemen had been close allies of the President for some two decades or more. If the President was going to adopt one of his associates, these men could rightly feel that the lot could fall on one of them. That was the bait these men fell for. If only they knew the mind of the President. If only they knew that he did not care a hoot about their relationship with him. In the end, they lost not only their ministerial positions, they discovered to their utter disappointment that they were not as close to the President’s heart as they imagined. What do these men do with or about the party in the face of this colossal disappointment? That is one of the issues the APC has to contend with as it gears up for the 2023 electoral contest.
For the affected political parties, the reverberations are already telling. In PDP, the way the primaries went has thrown up a Peter Obi. He is the headache the party has to contend with. What about Wike? Will his seeming retreat lead to an upper cut for his party? What is he plotting?
In APC, the silence of the disappointed political players portends uncertainty for the party. What does Amaechi have up his sleeves? What will be the ultimate response of the South East presidential aspirants to the party they rightly feel did not give them a chance? It is questions and more questions.