Bola Tinubu, the APC National leader, has broken his silence
on the moves made by some members of the party to remove the National Chairman
of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, from office.
Recall that on March 4th, Justice Danlami Senchi of an Abuja
High Court sitting in Jabi, suspended Oshiomhole as APC National Chairman
following a petition from aggrieved members of the party who argue that he
cannot continue to be the party chairman since he has been suspended in his
ward in his home state, Edo state. The court order has been set aside by Kano
state High court.
Since then, there have been moves and countermoves by some
members of the party to remove Oshiomole from office.
In a statement released today Sunday March 15th, Tinubu said
while Nigeria has been able to contain Coronavirus, there are still
“Ambition-virus 2023” infecting some politicians in the land.
He condemned the moves to remove Oshiomole from office
While Corona has been presently contained in Nigeria, we
must be alert to another sickness that seems rampant within a certain segment
of society. That sickness is old Ambition-virus 2023. This illness afflicts
many in the political class along with their allies in the media.
Those touched by this malady find that their ability to tell
time and discern the difference between the present and the future has been
strongly impaired. The carriers of this sickness are confused as to the very
season our nation now finds itself.
They conflate things, which no sensible person would
conflate. The primary symptom of their malady is the driving tendency to
believe the events of 2023 will be decided before we even exit the year 2020.
Consequently, everything they say and do is geared toward
obsessive jockeying for position to control and manipulate a race still three
years away. In doing so, they recklessly undermine the very party which they
claim to serve and weaken the administration of President Buhari to which they
claim to be loyal. They line up to run a race for which the track has not even yet
been constructed.
Put another way, they seek to pluck the fruit before the
seed is even planted. As such, their actions border on the pathological. True,
ambition is inherent in human endeavour. Without it, nothing great is achieved.
However, strong ambition applied in the wrong way has never done anything
positive.
At best, it results in confusion. Usually, its results in
something worse. No matter how great one’s ambition and how able one may be,
nobody can rush or speed time. That is beyond the realm of human capacity. To
do so is to contest against fate itself. When it ends, such a contest rarely
ends well.
In a well-structured society, people come to understand that
the time for politics is seasonal; it is periodic. The responsibilities of
governance are what is perpetual. Many of our politicians sadly have inverted
this reality. Politics and
electioneering are secondary to governance for they are but tools of
governance, the platforms by which one demonstrates his or her worthiness to
lead a great people.
The more a person obsesses over and constantly engages in
political manoeuvring is a warning sign. Not only is he prone to the 2023
virus. He likely has little to offer in the way of good governance. He wants to
hold public office that you might serve him not he serve you.
For if he had adequately studied and been acquainted with
the ways and means of progressive governance, he would be focused on that
important task at the present moment. He certainly would not drown himself and
all around him in harmful political intrigue.”
The former Lagos state governor said those working for
Oshiomhole's removal are doing so because they perceive he would be an obstacle
to their 2023 ambitions.
The plotters launched their attack solely because they
perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions. People went to
court knowing full well the party constitution prohibits such action because
these people had not yet exhausted all internal disciplinary procedures.
We even had a national deputy secretary improperly call for
a NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself the acting national
chairman. Clearly, this man would not have summoned the temerity to make such a
move had he not been instigated by powerful individuals who he thought would
reward or, at least, protect him for committing the wrongful act.
Those engaged in these manoeuvres see themselves as clever
or cunning. They do so because they only understand the mean craft of political
intrigue. They have yet to understand the value and long-term utility of
democratic governance. Thus, they embark on the strangest of quest. They would
rather dismantle and weaken the institutional core of their party just to gain
control of that weakened edifice in order to pilfer the party nomination, which
they crave. This is more than sad.
Many of us expended sweat, tears, toil and sleepless nights
to build this party. Our personal sacrifices were not insignificant. We built
this party not simply as a vehicle for personal ambition. We built the party
because we saw it as perhaps the only enduring hope to bring progressive
governance to this nation. Those who now seek to abuse the party by using it as
their personal device do it great harm.
They should not be allowed to sacrifice this collective
enterprise at the altar of their self-aggrandizement. Somehow, some way they
should find in themselves the bearing to adhere to the democratic spirit on
which the party was founded. To be an APC member means more than merely
carrying a membership card. It means to believe in a set of ideals and
principles geared to our highest purpose as a party and a nation.
He tackled the anti-Oshiomhole elements within APC, stating
they were distracting President Muhammadu Buhari from fixing the nation.
According to him: “In a broader context, those afflicted with the 2023 virus do
a grave disservice to President Buhari and his administration. They should be
trying their best to help the president. Instead of seeing President Buhari as
our present leader and commander-in-chief, their sole contemplation is upon his
eventual exit. Yet, not even a full year has passed since his second inaugural.
How can they be committed to helping him realise his mandate when the fullness
of their gaze is affixed to seizing this very mandate for themselves?
The President is faced with many challenges. He is fighting
hard on security to keep the population safe. He is pushing for economic
reforms that will augur future sustainable growth. His disdain for corruption
remains unwavering. Add to it now the
Corona crisis and its resultant social as well as economic impact. Politicians
express loyalty to him but the words of too many of our politicians are like
butter under a burning sun; they melt quickly away. Better to be loyal in deed.
Instead of trying to manipulate party and other mechanisms solely to their
political gain, it is time to shelve political intrigue for the time being. It
is time for all party members to truly see what is at stake and work with Mr.
President for the collective good of the nation.
This means we must rally around President Buhari. Instead of
everyone saying they are working for the party and nation but going their
separate ways based on their selfish designs, we must help him build a stronger
national consensus on policies that will ensure safety and bring greater
prosperity. If need be and when called upon, we must offer ideas and
suggestions that move policy and progress forward. This is the time for
governance. It is not the moment to bring the politics of 2023 into 2020. In
due course, 2023 shall come. Nothing can prevent it. However, that time is not
today. If we are earnest, the present
offers sufficient work and challenges for us without trying to add to it by
rushing the future. Let us dedicate our energies to helping President Buhari
win the present. In this way, you better secure the future for the nation, the
party and even for whatever personal ambitions you may nurture.
I have said what is on my mind in hopes that some people may
leave the 2023 frenzy and commit themselves to the harder yet more rewarding
task of improving progressive governance, whether within the party or at the
local, state or federal levels. Yet, I am
not so naïve to think all will heed this counsel. The stubborn, those obsessed with the
obsession of their ambitions, will ignore all advice.
They will constantly pull 2023 into all that occurs in 2020.
Their vision is blurred and judgment made faulty by their ailment. We are
democrats so we cannot physically quarantine them. However, we can quarantine
their ideas and antics by not falling prey to them. This is the best way we help President Buhari
fulfil his mandate and inoculate our party and the nation from grave folly.”
