THE GREAT APC DECEPTION: How Okoi Obono-Obla Rewrote History to Hide a Hijack
By khaleed yazeed
Okoi Obono-Obla has written a polished piece titled “Formation of the APC Through Merger,” a title that sounds authoritative until you read between the lines. What he presents as a story of consensus and collective will is, in truth, a carefully edited narrative designed to bury the reality of political absorption, power asymmetry, and quiet hijack.
Nobody disputes that a merger happened. What Obono-Obla refuses to admit is that a merger and a hijack are not mutually exclusive. You can merge and still be swallowed. You can negotiate and still be outmaneuvered. And that, precisely, is the untold story of the APC.
The Fiction of “Nobody Teleguided Anyone”
Obono-Obla wants us to believe that every decision was taken by thorough deliberation, with no external influence. But his own colleague, in a comment on this very website, already exposed the lie.
Recall the story told by a CPC delegate who was there. General Buhari gave the CPC merger committee a clear marching order: negotiate with all progressive parties except the ANPP. But on the very first meeting with the ACN, the ACN delegates said bluntly: “ANPP must be part of this or nothing.”
What did the CPC do? They asked for a stand-down. They went outside. They panicked. And then they returned to accept the ACN’s demand — before even briefing their own leader, Buhari.
That is not deliberation among equals. That is a weaker party folding under pressure from a stronger one. And Obono-Obla, who was himself a Co-Secretary of that committee, knows this. Yet his article presents a sanitized version where everyone agreed happily ever after.
If the merger was so balanced, why did the CPC need to travel to Kaduna afterward, like repentant children, to explain why they disobeyed their leader’s order? And why did Buhari simply thank them instead of enforcing his original directive? Because the deal was already done. The ACN had set the terms.
Obono-Obla lists governors who agreed to the merger before talks began. He names Fashola, Aregbesola, Amosun, Oshiomhole, and others. Notice a pattern? Almost all were ACN governors. Where were the CPC governors? Where were the ANPP governors? They had few, if any.
So when Obono-Obla says “all opposition progressive governors agreed,” what he really means is “all ACN governors plus a handful of others agreed.” That is not consensus. That is a pre-negotiated position presented as a done deal.
He also now adds, conveniently, that Buhari and Tinubu had been discussing a merger since 2008. Interesting. So the two most powerful figures had already been talking for five years before the committee was even formed. And yet we are supposed to believe that the committee of nearly sixty members was making independent decisions? Please. The real decisions were made in backrooms long before Thames Street.
The Hijack They Don’t Want You to See
Here is the definition of a hijack that Obono-Obla pretends does not exist: when one party enters a merger with superior financial resources, established structures, and a pre-determined leadership blueprint, while the other parties bring only political followers and desperate hope.
The ACN had money. The ACN had governors. The ACN had a functioning party machinery across the South-West. The CPC had Buhari’s name and his northern followers, but no money, no governors (except one in Nasarawa), and no organizational depth. The ANPP had even less.
After the merger, what happened? The ACN’s structure became the APC’s structure. The ACN’s finance became the APC’s finance. The ACN’s operational template became the national template. Within two years, former CPC and ANPP leaders were either sidelined, humiliated, or driven back to the PDP.
Ask Senator Shekarau. Ask Senator Garba Gadi. Ask any ANPP or CPC founding member who is not currently dining in Aso Rock. They will tell you: they were not partners. They were passengers.
The Final Verdict: A Merger in Name, A Hijack in Practice
Okoi Obono-Obla ends his article by declaring that the APC’s legitimacy rests on “collective will.” But collective will cannot exist where one party enters with a loaded treasury and the others enter with empty pockets and high hopes.
The APC was formed through negotiation, yes. But negotiation is not automatically fair just because people sat in a room. The strong dictate terms. The weak accept them and call it consensus to save face. That is what happened in 2013. That is what Obono-Obla’s carefully worded article tries so hard to hide.
He was there. He was a Co-Secretary. He knows the truth. But his article reads less like a historical account and more like a legal defense brief for a client who has already been convicted by the evidence.
The hijack did not happen with guns or thugs. It happened with committees, with funding, with pre-agreed governor lists, and with a surrender dressed in the language of unity. That is the real story of the APC’s formation. And no amount of polished prose from Okoi Obono-Obla can rewrite that history.
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