The rambling, verbose and cantankerous outburst of Chief Tom Ikimi, on his decision to quit the All Progressive Congress (APC) party, including sundry issues of internal democracy and party discipline, is anything but righteous self-indignation that is disappointing to many Nigerians. It is disappointing that Ikimi’s action was below the level expected of an elder statesman. Whatever drove the man to make such spiteful, if not vicious, attacks on his erstwhile political allies needs to be unpacked carefully. The reasons for his ill-advised decision are self-serving as they are expedient. Ikimi has by his action, raised fundamental questions over his democratic credentials and is another perfect illustration of Nigerian politicians’ warped sense of duty and their disrespect for democracy. It is, therefore, crucial to raise critical questions, as many Nigerians are already doing, about Ikimi’s real motivations; amid reports linking him to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a letter to APC national chairman, dated August 26, 2014, Ikimi cited non-adherence to the party’s constitution for his decision to quit the APC, saying he could not remain in a party whose members were blinded with desperation to capture power at the national level. Reflecting on his days with the APC, Ikimi expressed bitter disappointment that the party has failed to live up to expectation, saying the APC leadership is “incapable of restoring any positive movement to the party.” He thereby described the APC as a party of power mongers, and, in very unglamorous terms, castigated the leader; former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, for reverting to tragic levels of self-deification and personality cult, political kleptocracy, abusive patronage and clientelism; fueling polarization, ethnic resentment, alienation, and an increasingly suffocating environment that has forced him to dump the APC.
“The constitution of APC clearly defines the party organs and the party leadership. There is no provision for anyone to be named as the Party Leader. Tinubu, having paraded himself both at home and abroad as the leader of opposition and of the APC, had great difficulty in descending from the fictitious throne… I would rather trust the informed whispers in the inner circles of the APC which have it that having positioned himself as perceived leader in the most lucrative income sources of the party; he is recipient and dispenser of bags and bags of party funds. I am also aware that he is, too, a beneficiary of most of the lucrative contracts in all the states controlled by the defunct CAN, without exception. To further bolster his image, it was also frequently said that Tinubu has control of all the votes from South Western Nigeria which, as has been currently touted, when added to the votes of North Western Nigeria would guarantee victory for the APC in the upcoming presidential election,” the letter read in part.
Ikimi said “apart from the Tinubu Group and The Governors Group, there is a third group of known presidential aspirants comprising in the main Gen. Muhamadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who are both northerners. The inclination of the party had always been to zone the Presidency to the North. Some governors are now thinking otherwise and given the decisive role that they seek to play in the affairs of the party as well as the tendency to ignore the principle of internal party democracy, a monumental disaster looms large in the selection of the APC’s presidential and vice presidential flag bearers later in the year.”
What Ikimi is saying is convenient and understandable; but smacks of the whimsical, and detracts from credibility. What else would he have said? Assuming for a while that these allegations are true, isn’t there a better way of resolving these sundry issues without having to resort to brigandage and cheap blackmail that embarrasses Ikimi himself as he takes his pound of flesh on the APC?. His epistle may be a forthright critique of the APC, but what does Ikimi want Nigerians to do about it? By not offering a solution, and instead chicken out, Ikimi came across as a walking contradiction and sounded as if he was merely giving excuses. This is certainly not the kind of thing expected from an elder statesman from whom Nigerians expect so much.
The real reasons for Ikimi quitting the APC are already in the public square and need no retelling, if for the mere fact that they are self-aggrandizing. In fairness to Ikimi, he was one of the arrowheads of efforts that midwifed the coalition of opposition parties that merged to form the APC. Even when many had dismissed the idea as impossible, Ikimi deployed his tenacity, assiduity and determination to make the impossible possible and the nation applauded his efforts. As the APC began to put its structures together, the former foreign affairs minister, who chaired the National Republican Convention over 20 years ago wanted to come back as Chairman of APC. The effort failed as Ikimi lost to Chief John Odigie Oyegun; former vice presidential candidate and ex-Governor of Edo State. Instead of taking his defeat with grace, Ikimi took it personal and succumbed to reactionary politics by abandoning the struggle and vilifying his erstwhile colleagues in language unbecoming of a genuine statesman. This is most unfortunate.
As a founding father, Ikimi should neither weep for the APC nor pontificate on the issue of internal democracy and party discipline, for he contributed to the foundation of that indiscipline. Being, therefore, a major architect of the current indiscipline in the APC, he lacks the moral high ground to complain. Allegations about Tinubu hijacking the APC for his selfish personal interests are neither comforting nor satisfactory. For a fact, it is hard to fathom how Tinubu alone can wield so much power in the APC; and if indeed he does, then Ikimi can blame no one but himself for his naivety and timidity. For all his weaknesses, Tinubu is amongst the few Nigerians who have made enormous sacrifices for the democracy we all enjoy today. If, in the process, he wields power and influence in the APC; then so be it – no pain, no gain! Taking out Tinubu from the APC equation is like trying to build a roof without first building the house; it is like preaching resurrection without crucifixion.
Before contesting the APC chairmanship, Ikimi ought to have known that there can only be one winner in an election. Surely, he would have saved himself the current embarrassment had he been more circumspect to understand that in Nigerian politics, everything or everybody has an exchange value. What Nigerians expect from the APC is a change from elite-driven, top-down politics, characterized by systemic corruption and imposition of candidates, as has been the case under the PDP, to one where the people are treated as the real owners and primary stakeholders of the political process.
Meeting such a challenge requires that the APC should articulate, in an unambiguous manner, its alternative conception of power and politics that accommodate those higher ideals and values of democracy and governance. Contemporary history of Nigerian politics shows that coalition building is not tea party, which explains why it has instead been counterproductive. Vexatious issues such as power sharing, zoning, as well as clash of personalities and interests have always been the bane of sustainable coalition building in Nigeria. And few expected the APC to be different.
But Nigerians expected men like Ikimi to stay the course and make sure the APC is genuinely about the promotion of the public good not just a desire to oust the PDP from power. If the immediate price they pay for this is loss of power and position or pecuniary benefits, so be it. The country surely will be the better for it. It is not enough for Ikimi to throw up his hands in befuddlement, and resign. Ikimi should have put the interest of the country above personal ambition and work with the APC leadership to rebuild Nigeria. He had an historic duty and responsibility to the Nigerian people and to surrender in the face of vanities, intrigues and reactionary politics was the ultimate betrayal of the Nigerian dream.
