Buhari’s bid for second term shaken by party feud

Infighting flares in APC ahead of its national convention to elect party executives

Widening splits in Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are jeopardising his bid for re-election next year.

As the APC holds its national convention to elect party executives tomorrow, it’s threatened by defections as well as infighting between the presidency and its top lawmakers: Senate president Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives speaker Yakubu Dogara. They joined a coalition that helped Buhari, 75, become the first opposition leader in Nigeria’s history to win executive power through the ballot box.

Forged from a combination of two opposition parties and a faction of the then ruling People’s Democratic Party to help Buhari defeat Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, the APC has since struggled to unite its various personalities. Bitter party rivalries produced parallel APC elective congresses last month in several key states, such as Lagos, Kaduna and Kano.

Risk of defections

Party primaries between August and October will mark the start of serious campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections in February. At that point, the APC could face an increased chance of defections by candidates who fail to win nomination. So far the main opposition party, the PDP, hasn’t shown it can capitalise on the APC’s troubles — it has no frontrunner and is itself facing divisions across Africa’s most populous nation.