The All Progressives Congress (APC) is a political party in Nigeria, formed on 6 February 2013 in anticipation of the 2015 elections.[4][5][6] APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by almost 2.6 million votes.[7] Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat on 31 March.[8] This was the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an opposition political party unseated a governing party in a general election and one in which power transferred peacefully from one political party to another.[9] In addition, the APC won the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 2015 elections, though it fell shy of winning a super-majority to override the ability of the opposition People’s Democratic Party to block legislation.
Wikipedia
Presently, the APC is plagued with constant stream of outflow of members and chieftains to opposition parties; causing “sleepless nights” for the leaders of the Political Party and even the FG. While this may be a big issue (whether accepted or not) to the ruling political party; Nigerians must be excited with the current competitive political atmosphere that makes imposition of candidates very difficult for party leaders.
A couple of years ago, while the PDP was at the helm of affairs, it was PDP and others – without any serious opposition, especially at the Federal level. However, with the continuous mergers, alliances and re-groupings; it is clear that there is a serious battle ahead for the hearts of Nigerians at the polls.
Before now, the ruling party can choose an incumbent even in the face of apparent rejection from the party members as the party’s flag-bearer; however, with this current competition in our political space, I think the fear of the 2019 polls (elections) is the beginning of wisdom for any party to do the needful, whether they love it or not. The question I then ask is, “Is the APC saying that only President Buhari can fight corruption, revive the economy and provide true security?” and lastly, “Are they willing to risk the choice of President Buhari’s re-election in 2019 even when the man is not any younger?”
If APC says yes to those questions, then, I must wish them goodluck!
