As the All Progressives Congress (APC) clocks nine in 2022 and prepares for its national convention, DAVID LAWANI takes a cursory look at the array of personalities angling to lead the party in the build-up to the 2023 general elections
Different parties have come together in a merger form of arrangement. The party won the 2015 general elections to remain in power through President Muhammadu Buhari. It again did it in the 2019 general election and it is still holding sway although the merger is yet to crystalise. It is believed that the national chairmanship of the party has been zoned to the North-Central states, including Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara, Niger, Kogi, and Plateau.
At the last count, more than 10 party chieftains are in the contest for the plum job. They include; former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Saliu Mustapha, former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Almakura, former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator representing Niger East District, Mohammed Sani-Musa.
Others are former governors of Zamfara State, Abdul-Aziz Yari, Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, Borno State, Kashim Shettima, Gombe State, Danjuma Goje,
Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, George Akume, Sunny Moniedafe, and Mohammed Saidu-Etsu.
Ali Modu Sheriff
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, born in 1957, but known in the political annals of Borno State to have been the first governor to serve two consecutive terms, from 2003 to 2011. He is an aspirant for the national chairmanship of the party come February 2022 when the convention will hold. Also, as a founding chieftain of the APC, he has contributed immensely to its development. It is on record that many modern-day politicians in the state originated from his political school of thought. Senator Sheriff was elected to represent Borno Central on the platform of the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) during General Sani Abacha’s military regime. Immediately the ban on democracy was lifted and restored, in April 1999, he has re-elected the senator for Borno-Central on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP). In 2017, when he was the National Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), he clashed with some chieftains of the party like Ahmed Markafi and other party leaders and the issues dragged on to the Supreme Court where he was removed after a series of back-and-forth motions.
Mohammed Musa
Senator Mohammed Sani Musa is an aspirant for the chairmanship position of the APC. He represents the good people of Niger East in the Senate.
He was born in 1965 and has been in politics for the better part of his adult years, having also originated from a family of politicians. As Chairman of Activate Technologies Limited between 2011 and 2017, he coordinated the design, planning, production, and delivery of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) and Smart Card Readers (SCR) which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deployed for the 2015 and 2019 general election. He is also the Chairman of the all-important Senate Services Committee and also a member of eight other committees in the Upper Chamber. He has sponsored at least 12 bills, including the National Rural Employment Guarantee (Est, etc) Bill, 2021; FCT Borderline Community Development Commission Bill, 2021 and the Critical Infrastructure Protection (Est.) Bill, 2021 (SB 610).
Tanko Makura
Senator Umar Tanko Almakura, another aspirant, born in 1952, is a Nigerian businessman and politician. A two-term governor of Nasarawa State, he was elected senator in 2019. He was the only Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate that President Muhammadu Buhari had in his kitty during negotiations with other parties for the APC merger in 2014. In 1980, Almakura became the youth leader of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Plateau State. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of 1988–89, representing the Lafia–Obi Federal Constituency of what is now Nasarawa State. He was State Secretary of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in Plateau State from 1990 to 1992.
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Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe
Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe was born in September 1956, in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The Jagaban Jimeta is known for his love for sports, politics, and media advocacy. He was Deputy Chairman, Advanced Congress of Democrats (AMAC) Chapter between February 2006 and January 2006; Treasurer/Secretary, (Action Congress) FCT, 2006 – 2007. FCT Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria (AC) 2007 – 2010. Moniedafe was a member, National Convention Congress Committee of ACN in Benin (December 2010), Member, Niger State Party Registration Committee, February 2014; Secretary, Taraba State Congress Committee April/May 2014, Member, Sub-Committee on Security 2014; National Convention of the APC June 12, 2014. He became the Chairman, Plateau State Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly Primaries Committee, December 2014. Member, Delta State National Assembly Screening Committee, November 2014; also a member, APC FCT Executive Committee 2014 to date. The aspirant is a member of the Contact and Mobilisation of Directorate, President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Directorate 2015 elections; Member, Venue Committee for “President Muhammadu Buhari” Inauguration, May 2015.
Saliu Mustapha
Saliu Mustapha, the Turaki of Ilorin, was born in 1972. Mustapha was the first National Publicity Secretary of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), a defunct political party that contested Nigeria’s 2003 presidential election. He became a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and was devoted to the presidential ambition of Muhammadu Buhari. In 2009, when a breakaway faction of the ANPP led by Buhari formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mustapha became the Deputy National Chairman of the party. He held this position until the party merged with others to form the APC.
Mohammed Etsu
Alhaji Mohammed Saidu Etsu, popularly known as ‘Mr. Power-for-his-struggle to see to the actualisation of 20 hours of power supply per day in Niger State since 2018, he was born in March 1985. From 2006 to 2010, he was the ANPP Youth Leader of Edati Local Government Area of Niger State and a pioneer member of Youth Vanguard of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). He was also a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, both in 2015 and 2019. An alumnus of the University of Abuja, Etsu joined the Leadership Newspaper Group as Manager, Special Projects, a position he has held to date.
Isa Yuguda
Malam Isa Yuguda is also an aspirant to the national chairman of the party. He was born on 15th June 1956. He started work at the Federal Mortgage Bank, Bauchi Area Office, as a mortgage manager (1981–1984) and became Acting General Manager, Inland Bank, between (1991–1992) and then managing director/chief executive (1992–1999). He was Managing Director/Chief Executive of NAL Merchant Bank (1999 – June 2000). In June 2000, Yuguda was appointed Minister of State for Transport under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was moved to the Ministry of Aviation (May 2003 – June 2005). He was first elected in April 2007 as governor of Bauchi State on the ANPP platform and was re-elected governor on 28 April 2011.
George Akume
Senator George Akume is the current Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs. He was born in 1953. In 1999, he became governor of Benue State and served two terms of four years each. He later won elections to represent the people of Benue as a senator for Benue North-West in Nigeria’s senate. Akume was re-elected senator for Benue North-West in the April 2011 elections, running on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He was also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Army and a ranking member of the senate.
