By Saad Umar Esq.
There is a frightening stats in the 2023 Presidential Election results: substantial majority (64%) of voters rejected the APC. APC collected just 36% of the votes. Only the system saved APC from receiving a shellacking. And this is what happens when tributary of the river is clogged with treachery of self-seeking opportunists.
States that hitherto reliably vote APC were flipped by the PDP. Bauchi State was one of those states. Indeed, APC is dying in Bauchi. In the last three state-wide elections, the fortunes of the APC kept dwindling. In 2015, APC won 91% of the votes in Bauchi. The numbers went down to 77% in 2019. Ominously, in the 2023 Election, APC lost by managing just 37.1% of the votes. It could get worse.
Conversely, the PDP keeps gaining ground. Its votes share rose from 8.4% to 20.4% and to about 50% in 2015, 2019 and 2023 respectively.
That’s the Presidential Election. In the governorship election, the APC fared worse. APC lost the governorship election by less than 15 thousand votes in 2019 and by nearly a 100 thousand votes in 2023. In fact, APC and its predecessors won just two out of seven governorship elections held in this fourth republic.
More, a similar fate befell APC in the House of Assembly elections. APC picked only 8 out of 31 seats in play during the last election. It’s a disaster given our performance in the 2019 election: APC won 22 of those same seats – a super majority.
For purposes of this piece, we can add the last (2020) phantom local government election. Though it was a sham, the results declared by Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission suggested PDP swept the board. 100% loss for the APC and 100% win for the PDP. Again, it was a joke but APC accepted it without a fight. We didn’t even go to court. Perhaps it thought it a waste of time.
Now, why does APC keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in a state widely considered to be its stronghold? There are many reasons. But the main reason, in a nutshell, is leadership, failure of leadership. That’s the mind of many members of APC.
However one looks at it, the leadership has failed in a key aspect of their job. The primary responsibility of the leader is to lead the party to victory. They failed in this regard and soon, under their leadership, APC will be history.
Worse still, the leadership is alleged to have worked against the party and actively supported Governor Bala Muhammad, not only in 2023 but also in 2019 elections. APC gave them everything: jobs, money, fame and influence; but they don’t even hide their love affair with Qaura and PDP! Traitors.
Anti-party is a serious offence. It should be sanctioned. It’s beyond belief to retain those accused of the offence in the party much less as leaders.
Regardless, even if allegations remain allegations, is it reasonable to reward failed leaders? Why do we continue keeping them as leaders? If Bauchi APC were a football club, and hired a coach and the coach keeps losing matches, the coach can’t keep his job, he gets fired like Chelsea’s Graham Potter. A commander that keeps losing battle after battle and is accused of helping the enemy is killed or rebuffed like generals William Hull of America or Antonio Lòpez of Mexico.
But not in APC. They are rewarded with higher appointments. Also, the renegades and mugwumps who defected to other parties and fought the APC are welcome back with open arms and rewarded with juicy jobs, while loyal party members that worked hard are repaid with nothing but contempt and ingratitude.
How can such a party survive? This is why APC is shriveling, it’s on the verge of perishing.
If we don’t find a new leader to nourish the party and make it flourish, it’ll perish. Luckily however, Allah has elected Senator Shehu Buba as leader over us. A politician from amongst ourselves. He lives in our midst. More importantly, he’s elected by Bauchi not selected by Abuja. Since Bauchi elected him, he will be accountable to Bauchi. We can’t keep the party under the control of carpetbaggers and politicasters anymore.
Leadership must be by election not selection. Senator Shehu is the highest ranking elected public officials from Bauchi in the APC. He should lead. An appointee must not be placed above him. The National Order of Precedence Act ranks a senator over and above cabinet ministers, SGF or any of the highest ranking appointees of the federal government, for good reasons.
Under Senator Shehu, APC will survive and thrive. Because he is an effective politician gifted with gravitas, knowledge, wisdom, altruism, justness, empathy and bodily prowess. He will put an end to the era of monkey dey work baboon dey chop.
Saad is the Deputy Chairman of APC Publicity Committee, Bauchi State and former Director-General of BASEPA.
