As Nigerians react to the current reality and the political developments ahead of the 2027 general elections, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger state, Hon. Jonathan Vatsa has cautioned that all indices now point to a possible anarchy in the country.
Vatsa, who spoke to journalists in Minna on Sunday shortly after a thanksgiving service to mark his 64th birthday, also pointed out that the crisis that is brewing in the ruling APC will soon burst into flame.
The former Publicity Secretary of the APC in Niger state particularly expressed worries about the roles of the judiciary and the body language of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which he said is capable of throwing the country into anarchy thereby truncating the country’s hard earned democracy in 2027.
According to him, “what is about to befall the APC will be a child’s play compared to the ‘sponsored crisis’ in all the opposition parties put together.”
The former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism said for the party not to have announced the results of its primary elections almost two months after they were conducted shows that the party is in a deep mess.
“APC is in a dip mess. The day APC will announce the results, that will be the beginning of “mother of all crisis” in the party.
“The crisis in the opposition parties to me is a sponsored one. For the records, the judiciary and INEC should be held responsible if the country is plunged into political crisis ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The crisis that is brewing in my party is worse than the crises in all the opposition parties put together and it will soon explode.
“What transpired during the just concluded primaries in the party shows a clear case of lack of equity, fairness, justice and a clear lack of internal democracy.”
Vatsa cited the case of Niger state where 80 percent of the expected candidates emerged through what he called “government house-arranged consensus” saying that “it was the biggest political deceit since the return of democracy in 1999”.
He maintained that the so-called consensus arrangement in the state was more or less an autocratic way of handpicking candidates against the will of the people which will surely boomerang at the end.
He questioned the justification and fairness in allowing a person who is seeking a sixth term in office and disallowing someone who is seeking a second term, arguing that “that does not in any way show justice, equity and fairness. This high level of injustice will trigger anti-party activities during the general elections.
“Someone who is contesting elections for the same office for the sixth time is qualified but someone going for the second time is being forced to step down under a government house-arranged consensus.
“This kind of injustice is enough to trigger anti-party activities even though people are keeping quiet because they want food on their table. People like us who are pioneer members of this great party must speak out no matter the consequences.
“I can assure you that the crisis that will befall APC after the release of the primary elections results will be enough to consume the party before the general election.
“So, as it stands right now, none of the political parties is free from crisis even though the APC crisis is self made; crisis waiting to explode, the other political parties’ crises are sponsored”.
Speaking further, the outspoken chieftain of the party believed that if a political party is not being fair to its members, how can it be fair to the larger society, adding that “the annoying thing is that everybody is keeping quiet over this impunity and grave injustices that will soon tear the party away because some people are eating with their two fingers and even have extra to take away.
“Like I told you, we will continue to speak the truth whether it pleases them or not. After all, people like us who helped to push the broken down or the assembled vehicles called APC to get in motion in 2015 are not the main passengers in the vehicle today, but I am not complaining.
“The truth is that I am among the landlords in the party and I cannot leave the house for tenants. As the pioneer Publicity Secretary of the party, I know what I went through in the hands of the then ruling government in the state but today, this house is largely occupied by tenants.
“These are the same tenants that we accused of corruption and looting and Nigerians believed in us and gave us the mandate”.
