Why CPC needs more Buharis

General Muhammadu Buhari, as the leader and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change in 2011, is expected by many of his party members to be the presidential flag bearer of the CPC once more in 2015. However, if Buhari decides to stand by a statement he made in 2011 in which he said he would not run for president again if he loses that election, what would be the fate of the CPC? Gabriel Ewepu writes on the future of the party.

General Muhammadu Buhari is the pillar of hope for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) who doubles as the leader and presidential candidate for the party in 2011.

The party revolves around the former Head of State as he is seen as the only qualified democrat among the other chieftains of the party with the capacity and capability of changing the misfortune and rot in the bloodstream of the country by becoming president someday.

General Buhari, Nigeria’s seventh Head of State, became a believer in democracy in 1989 after he was released from prison following the dismantling of his military junta in 1985.

Since then, he has become active in partisan politics and entered into the political limelight in 2003 as the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) who lost the election to the then incumbent president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

The ANPP was still confident of the General’s integrity and discipline to contest the presidential election of 2007 against the presidential candidate of the PDP, the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua. However, his victory was not to be as he lost the presidential seat to the PDP.

After the disappointing defeat he faced in 2007, the General had a falling out with his party members which led him to leave ANPP to form his own party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). In 2011, he contested as the presidential candidate of the CPC where he lost the election to the candidate of the PDP, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

Carefully examining the CPC as a political party, there seems to be no plan B for who will be the party’s presidential candidate in 2015 because even the views of principal officers of the party do not have any other qualified personality whom they know to be capable of being the party’s presidential candidate.

The lack of a plan B is glaring in view of the several visits made by the party stalwarts to persuade and convince General Buhari to rescind his earlier decision and declaration he made after the presidential election of 2011 when he stated that he was not going to contest again if he lost the election.

Presently, the party does not have a chieftain as popular and as well liked as Buhari who can convincingly gain the unilateral support of the entire party and also convincingly bear the presidential flag for 2015 because most of its activities revolve around Buhari who seems to be the hope and survival of the CPC in the nation’s political arena.

The party, which is gradually becoming a one man show, has one essential weakness: it lacks a variety of candidates who hold the same persuasiveness, charisma and popularity as Buhari and who can give the PDP a run for their money if allowed and supported by their party.

Both the party members and its chieftains believe in Buhari as the leader of the party and pointedly call his name and make statements such as “I am in CPC today because of General Buhari”, “I did not see anybody in CPC before I joined the party except General Buhari”, “General Buhari is the only person who can clean the rubbish in Nigeria”, “Nobody is as qualified as General Buhari”.

The question is if General Buhari decides not to contest in 2015 what alternative does the CPC have for a presidential candidate? Has the CPC considered which of its members can serve as a shock absorber for a situation where Buhari decides to stand by his declaration made in 2011 and chooses not to contest in 2015?

Another issue of consideration for the CPC is, if the party members are unable to convince Buhari to rescind not to contest in 2015, it might test the loyalty of the party members themselves as there is a possibility that some of them might decamp to other parties since their mentor and hero is no longer contesting or the party might split into factions divided according to different presidential candidates within the party (as seen in the PDP during the 2011 PDP presidential primaries).

There is certainly a need for the CPC to develop a plan B; an alternative strategy for winning the presidential election in the eventuality that Buhari decides not to contest.

The cherished hope by many CPC members and others that General Buhari will one day ascend to the presidency is understandable considering the dire situation the country is in. General Buhari stood out from the previous Heads of State during the military era for being disciplined, fighting against corruption, ensuring that government officials abide by and uphold the laws of the country and having a low tolerance for people who break these laws or act against the government.

With the insecurity that currently plagues the north, the continued attacks perpetrated by the faceless Boko Haram group, and the consistent corruption scandals in the government, there has not been a time in Nigeria’s history that a strict and disciplined leader such as Buhari is not longed for more than today.

But if Buhari does not step up to the plate in 2015, will the CPC be empty handed in presenting a presidential candidate that could cure Nigeria of its ills? The leadership of the CPC must not make the mistake of putting all of its eggs in one basket as far as 2015 is concerned because it could turn out to be the equivalent of shooting oneself in the foot.

As a young political party that is still growing, it has ample time to groom some prospective candidates who can exhibit the same qualities that Buhari is praised for such as integrity, incorruptibility and being principled, disciplined and focused on extracting the rot of corruption that is buried deep within the bureaucratic structure of our government.

As the CPC is currently involved in an alliance/merger talks with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and plans to conclude it before the party’s convention, the party should revisit or reconsider which of its present (or future) members can fill the mighty shoes of Buhari in the instance that he decides not to run in 2015.

The party must also consider whom it shall nominate to be the president of the alliance with ACN or any other political party as a united front is the only strategy in which the opposition can finally dethrone the PDP from the presidential villa.

In essence, if the CPC does not think on its feet by considering what its plan B might be if Buhari decides to stand by the statement he made in 2011 and choose not to run as the presidential flag bearer of the CPC, the party will not only lose the presidential race but also find that some of its members will decamp to other political parties.

If the party does not have the foresight for a dynamic and vibrant candidate, it will affect the party’s performance the 2015 general election general election.

Most importantly, if the party does decide to consider some alternatives to Buhari, it should not make the mistake of imposing any “elected” candidate on the members of the party as it will only cause an internal crisis within the party. But since 2015 is still three years away, the party has ample time to plan and prepare for colossal battle for the presidential seat.

Culled: Leadership