Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, one of the moving forces behind the merger of opposition political parties that led to the emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC), gives insider account of how the mega party was formed in his new book, From Opposition to Governing Party: Nigeria’s APC Merger Story. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, in this brief review, reports that Onu has, in this lucid book, answered most of the nagging questions on the secret behind the success of the merger exercise and that of the party
UNTIL Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, one of the pioneer leaders of All Progressives Congress and current Minister of Science and Technology, offered the book, From Opposition to Governing Party: Nigeria’s APC Merger Story, many students of Nigerian politics and active politicians had been asking questions on the secret behind the successful merger of the leading opposition parties that led to the emergence of the mega party, APC, and its historic rise from the main opposition party to the ruling party at the centre.
The curiosity over the success of the merger was primarily nurtured by the fact that it was the first time in Africa that political parties, controlling governments of some states in a country, would freely and successfully merge to form a brand new political party. Even mere alliances in most of the African countries had proved to be Herculean tasks, leading to conclusions that a merger in Nigeria would remain an illusion. This explains why, when the major actors made the initial moves to realise the vision of forming a mega party through merger of opposition parties, many dismissed it with a wave of the hand, arguing that such union will not succeed in the stormy Nigerian political theatre. So, when the vision was finally realised, observers, eager to know the inside stories of how the ‘political revolution’ was hatched and executed successfully, have been asking questions that only the real actors can answer.
Onu, one of the major actors in the momentous political movement, provided answers to most of these nagging questions in this well illustrated 452 paged-book. Adopting an easy-read style, rendered in simple diction, the narrative flows gently like a river from the very beginning, when the idea of unity amongst opposition political parties was first sown in the fertile minds of the few leaders to the stormy points of intriguing man-made blocks as they strived to realise the big dream, up to the exciting heights of victory at the presidential election. The colourful maps and photographs used as illustrations not only helped to beautify the pages but also to authenticate the reports.
The book opens with reports on how the three major opposition political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with groups from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), merged to form a mega party in July 31, 2013 and how the result of this bold initiative grew rapidly from the major opposition party to the ruling party of Africa’s biggest democracy, Nigeria.
In fact, from the time the party was born to the time the splinter group from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), called the New-PDP, joined the political movement, it became a subject of great interest to political scholars and practitioners alike, more especially because of the great success it achieved within a record time as it developed quickly from being the major opposition party in July 2013 to the ruling party, controlling the federal government, in May 2015.
The historic registration of the mega party and its successes at the polls since then, according to Onu, are not only sources of joy to participants, but proofs of tangible change in the political history of Nigeria. It was a change that came about with many intrigues as many political forces opposed to the merger tried everything possible to frustrate it. These intrigues, preceded by a brief political history of Nigeria and detailed account of various interventions, sacrifices and efforts made by members and leaders to ensure the resultant success account for the first four parts of the book.
On why it became necessary for the opposition parties to merge and form a formidable party, Onu said, “In the absence of effective competition in the political arena, the dominant ruling political party may feel secure. This may breed arrogance of power and promote impunity in the way government is run. The well-being and welfare of the people are given secondary consideration…
“It was against the above backdrop that a giant was born, in the formation of the All Progressives Congress. The giant became even stronger when on November 26, 2013, the new PDP joined the APC. By this singular action, an additional five states came under the control of the APC. This helped give the APC an advantage in the number of registered voters in states under its control.” (Introduction P. xxvii P. xxviii).
The first chapter (Democratic Choices and the multi-party system) opens with the need for opposition political. Here Onu posits that “in a democracy, there must be a choice of political parties which candidates could use to contest elections. This is so because there can be no democracy without opposition. (Pgs 3)
He went ahead to expound a theory of having two political parties in the system that can alternate with each other as the ruling political party and the main opposition party respectively. This, he considered an ideal situation in a healthy political system. As he puts it: “In order to have a strong opposition, therefore, we need at least two strong political parties in the system.” (P4).
Onu then proceeded to give a brief history of political development from 1966 when Nigeria had its seven first generation political parties, all through the many periods of military interventions and attempts at civilian transitions, culminating in the Fifth Republic.
Part five of the book takes a deep look at how the party managed, what the author described as the “internal dynamics to face the ruling party.” Kicking off with the intriguing story of the governorship elections in Ekiti, Anambra and Osun states, he also records efforts to impeach APC governors like the Nasarawa State case, the Edo State and the fierce battle to control Rivers State after Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s defection to APC. Here, he also delves into other challenges that the new party had to contend with, like the allegation of its being a Muslim party, the Boko Haram challenge and the party’s consolidation efforts through innovative membership registration and party congresses.
Part six, the concluding part, captures the preparations for the 2015 General Election, the challenges the party had to work with, like the postponement of the election and the eventual victory of the Presidential Election, as the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accepted defeat to APC’s candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
Commenting on the book’s depth, Buhari, in the forward, wrote: “The emergence of the APC, its modest beginning, failure to coalesce in 2011 and eventual success in 2015 are very painstakingly chronicled in this book. Dr Onu’s style is like the man himself: bland and pleasant, readable and fluent. The role played by Dr Onu in the beginning and especially at the critical stage of the merger cannot be underestimated.”
In From Opposition to Governing Party: Nigeria’s APC Merger Story, Onu has made a valid contribution to the political history of Nigeria. Being an insider, his report is fresh, intriguing and difficult to doubt. As a major player in the political movement, his decision to document the events of this very important political period, most of which took place behind the klieg light of the media, is to say the least, both courageous and patriotic. The insight he gave on how sensitive decisions were reached both at the formative stages of APC and when they needed to share office’s are also instructive and will serve as important leadership tips for students of power in Nigeria and beyond.
The curiosity over the success of the merger was primarily nurtured by the fact that it was the first time in Africa that political parties, controlling governments of some states in a country, would freely and successfully merge to form a brand new political party. Even mere alliances in most of the African countries had proved to be Herculean tasks, leading to conclusions that a merger in Nigeria would remain an illusion. This explains why, when the major actors made the initial moves to realise the vision of forming a mega party through merger of opposition parties, many dismissed it with a wave of the hand, arguing that such union will not succeed in the stormy Nigerian political theatre. So, when the vision was finally realised, observers, eager to know the inside stories of how the ‘political revolution’ was hatched and executed successfully, have been asking questions that only the real actors can answer.
Onu, one of the major actors in the momentous political movement, provided answers to most of these nagging questions in this well illustrated 452 paged-book. Adopting an easy-read style, rendered in simple diction, the narrative flows gently like a river from the very beginning, when the idea of unity amongst opposition political parties was first sown in the fertile minds of the few leaders to the stormy points of intriguing man-made blocks as they strived to realise the big dream, up to the exciting heights of victory at the presidential election. The colourful maps and photographs used as illustrations not only helped to beautify the pages but also to authenticate the reports.
The book opens with reports on how the three major opposition political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), with groups from All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), merged to form a mega party in July 31, 2013 and how the result of this bold initiative grew rapidly from the major opposition party to the ruling party of Africa’s biggest democracy, Nigeria.
In fact, from the time the party was born to the time the splinter group from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), called the New-PDP, joined the political movement, it became a subject of great interest to political scholars and practitioners alike, more especially because of the great success it achieved within a record time as it developed quickly from being the major opposition party in July 2013 to the ruling party, controlling the federal government, in May 2015.
The historic registration of the mega party and its successes at the polls since then, according to Onu, are not only sources of joy to participants, but proofs of tangible change in the political history of Nigeria. It was a change that came about with many intrigues as many political forces opposed to the merger tried everything possible to frustrate it. These intrigues, preceded by a brief political history of Nigeria and detailed account of various interventions, sacrifices and efforts made by members and leaders to ensure the resultant success account for the first four parts of the book.
On why it became necessary for the opposition parties to merge and form a formidable party, Onu said, “In the absence of effective competition in the political arena, the dominant ruling political party may feel secure. This may breed arrogance of power and promote impunity in the way government is run. The well-being and welfare of the people are given secondary consideration…
“It was against the above backdrop that a giant was born, in the formation of the All Progressives Congress. The giant became even stronger when on November 26, 2013, the new PDP joined the APC. By this singular action, an additional five states came under the control of the APC. This helped give the APC an advantage in the number of registered voters in states under its control.” (Introduction P. xxvii P. xxviii).
The first chapter (Democratic Choices and the multi-party system) opens with the need for opposition political. Here Onu posits that “in a democracy, there must be a choice of political parties which candidates could use to contest elections. This is so because there can be no democracy without opposition. (Pgs 3)
He went ahead to expound a theory of having two political parties in the system that can alternate with each other as the ruling political party and the main opposition party respectively. This, he considered an ideal situation in a healthy political system. As he puts it: “In order to have a strong opposition, therefore, we need at least two strong political parties in the system.” (P4).
Onu then proceeded to give a brief history of political development from 1966 when Nigeria had its seven first generation political parties, all through the many periods of military interventions and attempts at civilian transitions, culminating in the Fifth Republic.
Part five of the book takes a deep look at how the party managed, what the author described as the “internal dynamics to face the ruling party.” Kicking off with the intriguing story of the governorship elections in Ekiti, Anambra and Osun states, he also records efforts to impeach APC governors like the Nasarawa State case, the Edo State and the fierce battle to control Rivers State after Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s defection to APC. Here, he also delves into other challenges that the new party had to contend with, like the allegation of its being a Muslim party, the Boko Haram challenge and the party’s consolidation efforts through innovative membership registration and party congresses.
Part six, the concluding part, captures the preparations for the 2015 General Election, the challenges the party had to work with, like the postponement of the election and the eventual victory of the Presidential Election, as the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accepted defeat to APC’s candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
Commenting on the book’s depth, Buhari, in the forward, wrote: “The emergence of the APC, its modest beginning, failure to coalesce in 2011 and eventual success in 2015 are very painstakingly chronicled in this book. Dr Onu’s style is like the man himself: bland and pleasant, readable and fluent. The role played by Dr Onu in the beginning and especially at the critical stage of the merger cannot be underestimated.”
In From Opposition to Governing Party: Nigeria’s APC Merger Story, Onu has made a valid contribution to the political history of Nigeria. Being an insider, his report is fresh, intriguing and difficult to doubt. As a major player in the political movement, his decision to document the events of this very important political period, most of which took place behind the klieg light of the media, is to say the least, both courageous and patriotic. The insight he gave on how sensitive decisions were reached both at the formative stages of APC and when they needed to share office’s are also instructive and will serve as important leadership tips for students of power in Nigeria and beyond.
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