 The new national leadership of the All Progressive Congress, APC Senator Bubakar Kiari, the Deputy National Chairman North of the All Progressive Congress, has taken over the National Working Committee of the party following the purported resignation of Senator Abdelahi Adamu, the party's national chairman. The development confirmed the widely purported resignation of Adamu at the weekend, who was set to have tended his resignation to the Senator Iola Omishare, the party's national secretary. Kiari came in with the Deputy National Chairman South, Ima Enuku, the National Vice Chairman Northwest, Saliu Lukman, and the National Vice Chairman North East, Saliu Mustafa, and National Vice Chairman North Central, Moazu Bauer. We're joining us to discuss the resignation and, of course, the new acting chairman of the APC. We have Vincent Ecien, he's a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressive Congress Professional Forum, and also a member of the Dissolved Presidential Campaign Committee. So good to have you join us in the studio. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm wearing many hats. Let's start by looking at some of the accusations and some of the drama within the party that led to Adamu's resignation. Now, let's even start from the picking of an anointed candidate for the senatorial leadership and that of the speakership. We remember that when the first list of names or when the party had spoken about some of these officials that were supposed to be picked, Adamu had come out to say the list had not come from the party. These were rumors. And also, those who were previous members of the party had accused him of redrawing three billion from the party's coffers, and there have been several other issues that have been cooking before Adamu's exit. What exactly could have changed from the party's national convention and now? Well, Senator Adamu has served in the office for about a year, Bruce. And he came in really as a kind of stop-gap because we had a process before. We had a caretaker committee. He was actually chairman of the Constellation Committee that was set up to men fancies amongst the various contending groups in the party. And then they felt that he could handle that office. He handled it. He did his best and we had the convention. Now, clearly, there seem to be have been a few issues with the way he ran the party. And right away, the president has just... We had a new president, President Ballatidu. And the issue you talked about, which was the picking of the leadership of the National Assembly, he kind of gave the impression that he wasn't in tune with what happened. Perhaps politically, that was something that was a bit touchy because as the president of the chairman of the party, you're supposed to superintend all processes within the party. So that gave an inkling that maybe something wasn't right. But perhaps the way he also came out wasn't right, too. Because, I mean, at the leadership of the party, you're supposed to convey a feeling that the parties together are united at all times. And I thought there were ways, the other ways could have handled that. That issue of that, because clearly, the outcome of the leadership of the National Assembly was something that the party was very concerned about, was very determined to achieve a specific result. And I think we achieved that result. So it wasn't really right for anybody to kind of give an impression that there was something that wasn't together in all that process. That's what I'm saying. Let's go back to before the National Convention. There was also a situation where Adam had announced the Senate president as the somewhat preferred candidate. This also at some point ruffled feathers. Could it have been that he only played along for, I mean, because why would the party chairman not be in line with the party's agreement, the party, the party chairman is supposed to be the representative of the party? Is it about the man who emerged as president? Or is it just an Adamo situation? No, well, at the time he made the pronouncement of the then Senate president, who is now still a member of the Senate, he said that that was a choice of the party, of the party as it is. There was, we were going, we're heading to the convention. That's the convention to pick the candidate. So everybody was a candidate at that point. So perhaps he threw his lot with that candidate. Or he tried to come, but the problem was he tried to convey the position that that was an anointed candidate of the party. Clearly that didn't play out because we went to the convention and we had a candidate that came out with a unanimous victory. And that candidate is now the president of the country, President Balachinibu. So again, that shows that perhaps he played a wrong card at that time. Could that have played out now? I think the president is not somebody who, everybody who knows the president isn't somebody that tends to- Be vindictive? No, not obnoxiously. If you look at his history, no, that's not something. But I just think that it has to be his capacity to work with- Because right now we have a good- So you're saying to me- And we have a new cabinet. That Adamu is not a people's person, that most of his actions were done solely by himself and not in the party's interest. Is this what you're telling me? I must, I can't say that, but again, I mean, there have been a few members of the National- You're saying that there are not so many words. There are a few members of the National Working Committee who have made these positions that they weren't working as well as they should. But I still think that he's a party man. He's a very experienced politician. I mean, from PDP, from a governor. I mean, I'm not going to disparage him. And he's a well, his CV in politics is uncontestable. So I just think that maybe- And he's decided to step down. If, I think that's, I have to really give it a step down. I give you a lot of credit because that's a sacrifice to make, you know, because if doing that shows that he has the interests of the party as well. If you think that the party will do better with you getting out of the way and you decide to make that sacrifice, it's something to be commendable. It means that you actually have a lot of interest for the party and you want the future of the party to continue to be strengthened. So again, he's stepping aside is not a dent on his character. It's actually a plus for his character. Because if people think that you're the problem and that's my view, it should show. So I think that he's done a very good thing if it was felt that he had to step aside, I think. Let's talk about the new acting chairman who is Mr. Kiari, who apparently he announced the resignation of Adamo on Monday after a meeting with the National Working Committee. Let's examine him now because you are talking about the future of the APC now under this new president, even though many would say that the president has a lot of work ahead of him in front of him and should not be involved in party politics, but he's also a party man. But let's look at Kiari and his antecedents and if he will be able to deliver. Because I mean, Adamo had just a year, his tenure was pretty short. Let's give some background to Mr. Kiari. Senator Abu Bakr Kiari is a very experienced politician, chairman, deputy national chairman North. And the little I know about him, I don't know him very well, but the little I know about him, he has a very good network of relationships because I know the people that I am very well connected with him. And again, he seems to, for me, as a politician, my generation, he seems younger. You know, I'm not saying that that's necessarily a problem. Could this also be an injection of a new... Again, again, again, yeah, that's what I'm saying. So again, the job of a national chairman is actually very, very... It's very, very wide and vast, you know, to pre-intending national working committee, NEC, 36 national chairman, and there's so much to do to unite the party. So, but again, Senator Kiari is really an acting chairman. So we don't know how long that position, that situation will last. But for now, he's the acting chairman, and he has, to me, I think he brings a lot of energy to the party, and it's a big plus, that's what I say. Looking at the history of political parties, whether it be the APC or the PDP, and national chairman, and the age range of these chairman, do you think he has a lifespan? I mean, he might be acting, but he could be conversant, but do you think he stands a chance knowing the big weeks and the ones who would supposedly say they carried the party on their backs? Does he stand a chance? From your perspective? From my perspective, ordinarily, we were actually supposed to have a national caucus meeting and a NEC meeting, and there's actually, I think in the calendar of the party, the next major is a convention, and which is an elective convention for the party. So my thinking is, and I'm a lawyer, I'm thinking that he's gonna run that process to take the party to that point. How he plays out in the whole, again, like I said, the little I know about him is he seems to have a good following, a good network within the party. So did Adamo, and so did several other chairman, and so did Oshomole, so did... Oshomole is different, yeah. I'm just saying, looking at the history of all of these chairman, they all obviously start out having great networking, and maybe a very semi-good pedigree of sorts coming up within the party, but then the job of the national chairman is almost as big as the job of a president. Yeah, it's big, and the thing right now is that we have a president who, like you said, is a party man. He's somebody who's built his politics from the party, so unlike what we had before, he's not somebody that's gonna really turn a look away from the party. That's my view, and so my advice for anybody who's working within the party is to make sure that the party walks in sync with the government, because this government has a lot ahead of it, and one of the platforms that you can use to achieve is through the party. So I think, Boba Kakeha, my advice is that I'm for the National Working Committee, and the entire model of the APC is that the party should be behind this president, because the president needs that support, and that's what I expect the party to do. Quickly, before we go, because we're almost out of time, we saw a former president, Mohamed Abouhari, mostly stay aloof. We also saw a former president, Goodlock Jonathan, sometimes stay away from party matters and allowed the national chairman and the working committee to do their work, but then you have suggested that Tiddable might be all in. How does he do this without becoming overbearing? I didn't say all in. I said he's a party man, he's a party man. He's a party man, he's a party man, he's a consummate politician, so. What does he draw the line? He's a president right now, he has a big. He has a big agenda for the country, but like I said, the party needs to be behind him. He won the election on the platform of the party, so he needs the party to back him, and he's a party man, and I think he's going to governize the party, so I think the job of the national chairman, the national working committee, and the national executive committees is to ensure that the party's behind the president to achieve his agenda. And I'm thinking about Senator O'Chiari can do that, and you're right, President Bola Tiddable will be somebody who's hands on with respect to the party, maybe unlike President Buhari. You know, he has more network within the party, one on one throughout, and he knows, I mean, there are a number of people he knows within the party, down to the states, and even local levels says that he's not going to totally be out of touch with what's happening with the party. Well, what happens in the next few days before your postponed convention, or your, yes, of course, you're supposed to have the National... So that has already been postponed, the NECA and caucus has been postponed? The NECA and caucus has been postponed, so what happens after now remains to be seen, so we'll keep our fingers crossed and keep watching. Well, Vincent Issin is a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressive Congress Professional Forum, and also a member of the Dissolved Presidential Campaign Committee. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much. All right. Well, that's the show tonight. I want to thank you all for watching. Don't forget, if you want to play catch-up on all our previous episodes on Plus Politics, just go to Plus TV Africa on YouTube, like, subscribe, and of course, you can never miss any show. I'm Mary-Anna Cull, and we will see you again tomorrow. Have a good evening.