In Naija politics, the most dangerous enemy a ruling party ever faces is not the opposition.

It is itself.

And today, on the very day that the All Progressives Congress is holding its 8th National Convention at Eagle Square in Abuja, celebrating its dominance, parading its thirty-one governors, and presenting the image of a party without rivals, something else is happening behind the curtains.

Members are screaming. Forms are being hoarded. Phones are on DND. And a man who delivered over 800,000 votes for APC in Kano in 2023 is reportedly somewhere in a North African country on a private vacation, ignoring every call from Aso Rock.

This is Naija politics. The party of power is powerful and messy at the same time.

The Convention That Was Supposed to Be a Celebration

Today's convention was supposed to be simple. Routine. A demonstration of APC's muscle.

Produce a new National Working Committee. Show the world the party is united. Give Tinubu the machinery he needs to cruise into 2027 unopposed.

Instead, in the days leading up to Eagle Square, the party handed the opposition a gift it didn't even need to unwrap.

The Director-General of the APC States Assembly Forum, Dagogo Fubara, accused the party of denying aspirants nomination forms despite meeting all requirements, including full payment. "After paying for the forms and fulfilling all the necessary requirements, we were denied the opportunity to get the aspirant nomination forms. We were asked to go to the organizing department for the forms to be issued. We got there, they told me that they've exhausted forms."

He paid. He was cleared. He was told the forms were finished.

But finished for whom?

APC youth advocate Umar Jijiwa answered that question on live television: "APC National Working Committee nomination forms were not issued to us after payment because they are being kept for those already in power. They are not sharing these forms with anyone outside the team. They're for the same team members who want to remain in power."

The current officeholders printed the forms. For themselves. Then told everyone else the forms were exhausted.

Sources at the APC National Secretariat confirmed that the party printed only one nomination form for each of the positions, clearly intended for incumbents. When some interested governors protested loudly, the party was forced to print additional forms.

One form per position. Pre-assigned. Pre-decided. Pre-cooked.

And they had the courage to call it a convention.

APC's National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka responded to the outrage by telling aggrieved aspirants to read the guidelines before making payments. He said "every individual who remits funds does so voluntarily and by making such a payment is presumed to be fully cognizant of all applicable regulations."

You paid your money. You were denied the form. And the party's official response is: you should have read the guidelines.

In Naija politics, that is not party management. That is an insult wearing a press statement.

The Fault Lines Nobody Wants to Discuss.

The forms saga is the visible crack. But the structural fracture runs much deeper.

Tensions have crystallised in states such as Delta, Enugu, Zamfara, and Adamawa, which have become flashpoints in the struggle for influence over National Working Committee representation. Foundational APC members argue they are being sidelined in favour of political newcomers who defected from PDP and other parties carrying the full support of state governors.

Think about what that means.

The people who built APC from scratch, who campaigned in 2013, who bled for the party in 2015, who sacrificed governorship ambitions to unite for Buhari, are now watching PDP defectors walk in yesterday and collect leadership positions today.

Their push for inclusion has triggered deep resentment among long-standing party members who argue that foundational figures in the APC are being sidelined in favour of political newcomers wielding executive authority.

In Enugu, Governor Mbah is pushing his own preferred candidate against the man who has served as Deputy National Chairman South. In Adamawa, foundational APC figures including former Governor Jibrilla Bindow are fighting back against the governor's new loyalists. In Zamfara, three political blocs are tearing each other apart over one NWC slot.

This is not a united party. This is thirty-one governors who all want something different, held together by one man's power and one man's patronage.

The day that power wavers, even slightly, the whole structure shakes.

The Man With His Phone on DND

Now to the story that should terrify APC more than any of the above.

Former Kano State Deputy Governor and 2023 APC governorship candidate Nasir Yusuf Gawuna has become the most sought-after politician in Kano as President Tinubu has directed top party leaders to stop his planned defection to the Kwankwasiyya movement and ultimately to the ADC.

This is not a minor figure. This is the man who ran as APC's governorship candidate in Kano in 2023.

Gawuna polled over 800,000 votes in the 2023 governorship election. Pundits believe he is currently the most formidable governorship aspirant who can neutralise the incumbency factor and further divide Kano APC during governorship and presidential elections.

Eight hundred thousand votes. From one man. In one state.

And what did APC give him in return? A board chairmanship. While someone who reportedly worked against the party in 2023 got a ministerial appointment.

Sources confirmed that Gawuna travelled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah during Ramadan and instead of returning to Nigeria, embarked on a private vacation in a North African country. According to insiders, he has deliberately kept his phone on "Do Not Disturb" to avoid mounting pressure from party leaders trying to stop his defection. Several APC politicians who spoke to reporters said they have been unable to reach him for days.

The president of Nigeria is trying to call a man. The man sees the call. And presses DND.

Let that image sit with you for a moment.

Governor Abba Yusuf has reportedly sought presidential support to persuade Gawuna not to leave. APC is considering offering him an automatic ticket for the Kano Central Senatorial District in 2027 if he agrees to remain. "The president is concerned about Gawuna's defection plan. He is made to understand that not only Governor Yusuf's second term ambition is at stake but the president's support base in Kano," said a source familiar with the presidential directive.

Now they want to offer him a Senate ticket.

Where was that Senate ticket in May 2023? In December 2023? In all of 2024 when Gawuna's supporters were grumbling publicly about his marginalisation?

Gawuna commands huge support among youths, clerics, and the business community. Combining that with Kwankwaso's massive grassroots base could produce a landslide victory in Kano," one analyst argued.

If Gawuna defects to ADC and joins the Kwankwasiyya-Obi coalition, Kano becomes a genuine battlefield. Not just for the governorship. For the presidential election itself.

Kano is Nigeria's second largest voting state. It turns out more votes per election than almost anywhere else in the country. Losing Kano is not just losing Kano. It is losing the North's psychological anchor.

And APC created this problem themselves. With a board chairmanship and a sense of entitlement.

Can APC Avoid the Implosion?

Not if it keeps operating the way it operated this week.

A party that prints one convention form per position for incumbents and tells aggrieved aspirants to read the guidelines is a party that has stopped pretending to be democratic.

A party that rewards PDP defectors with ministerial appointments while its own loyal governorship candidates who delivered 800,000 votes get boards is a party eating its own foundation.

A party where the president has to personally assign a Zamfara senator and a presidential adviser to beg a man who won't pick up the phone is a party whose loyalty infrastructure is corroding from the inside.

A reliable source within APC hinted that the incoming NWC members may not last long before they are shown the exit door. "After the election next year, any false step from them will be the end. Remember that the President will not be looking for anything else from them."

That sentence is the most honest thing anyone in APC has said this week.

The party is being managed as a personal tool. The NWC is being assembled to serve one purpose: deliver 2027. After that, they can all be shown the door.

When your own party members know they are disposable, they behave like people who have nothing to lose.

And people with nothing to lose press DND on presidential calls.

This is Naija politics at its most ironic. The most powerful party in the country. Thirty-one governors. Federal resources. Incumbency advantage. And it cannot stop one man from taking a vacation with his phone on silent.

The implosion is not coming. It is already here. It is just wearing a convention suit and smiling for the cameras at Eagle Square.

What do you think? Can APC hold itself together long enough to deliver 2027, or will the cracks become craters before election day? And if Gawuna joins Kwankwaso in ADC, is Kano truly gone for Tinubu? Drop your thoughts in the comments section. This Naija politics self-destruction story is writing itself, and nobody in APC seems interested in reading it!