The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday took a step towards arriving at a consensus candidate in the forthcoming general election after President Muhammadu Buhari told governors of the party that he wanted to pick the party’s flagbearer.
The president, who made this demand during a meeting at the State House, Abuja, told the 22 governors of the party and the APC national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, that most successful political parties globally have always relied on their internal cohesion and a strong leadership brand to achieve bigger electoral fortunes.
He said, “In keeping with the established internal policies of the Party and as we approach the Convention in a few days, therefore, I wish to solicit the reciprocity and support of the Governors and other stakeholders in picking my successor, who would fly the flag of our party for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023.
In a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, Buhari urged governors of the APC to ensure that the forthcoming convention to pick a presidential candidate reflects all the values and virtues of the party.
“Our party, the APC, shall not be any different, more so as we are still implementing the blueprint for a more prosperous nation,” he said, adding that as he begins the last year of his second term as president, he knew the importance of providing stronger leadership to the party in the transition process and to ensure that it happens in an orderly manner.
According to him, “Such leadership is required so that the party remains strong and united. It is also needed to improve our electoral fortunes by ensuring that it retains power at the centre, holds the great majority in various legislative chambers and also gains additional number of states.”
He told them that as the party holds its convention in a few days during which primaries would take place to pick the presidential flag bearer for the 2023 general elections, it would be a very significant process whose outcome should prove to the world the positive quality of the APC regarding democratic principles, culture as well as leadership.
The president appealed to all the governors “to allow our interests to converge, our focus to remain on the changing dynamics of our environment, the expectations of our citizens and the global community.
“Our objective must be the victory of our party and our choice of candidate must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections.”
Buhari gave the assurance that the consultation process will continue in order to ensure that all aspirants and stakeholders would be brought on board right through to the convention, stressing that it would also ensure that any anxiety occasioned by different factors are effectively brought under control, “and that our party emerges stronger.”
Speaking on behalf of the state governors, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, and chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum said the party must build on successes of its recent elective convention, and the primaries conducted so far, “and come up with a candidate who will walk in the footsteps of patriotism and love for the country, which Mr President has shown.
“We will support Mr President to have a very successful convention,” he pledged.
LEADERSHIP reports that the party’s 23 presidential aspirants were screened by a seven-man panel headed by former national chairman, John Oyegun on Monday and yesterday.
APC Crisis Deepens Ahead Of Presidential Primary
Meanwhile, it became clear yesterday that the APC is plunging into deeper crisis few days to the party’s national convention, with members of the national working committee (NWC) at loggerheads two months after the emergence of a new leadership of the party.
Two national vice chairmen of the party, Salihu Lukman (North West) and his South West counterpart, Isaac Kekemeke, yesterday accused the party’s national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, of rendering members of the NWC redundant.
The new NWC of the party was installed during the March 26, 2022 national convention of the party.
Last Saturday, Lukman, a former director-general of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), had also issued a statement entitled, ‘Rebuilding APC: Need for New Initiative’ and addressed to the APC national chairman, Adamu, in which he accused Adamu of not attending to the circumstances of party leaders, including the NWC members, adding that the official excuse given by the national chairman was that he was waiting for a budget he requested.
In another statement they jointly issued yesterday, Lukman and Kekeme lost their cool and descended verbally on Adamu who they said takes unilateral decisions when it suits him.
The two vice national chairmen stated that to perfect his autocratic tendencies, Adamu usually invokes President Muhammadu Buhari’s name to blackmail the NWC members to accept his unilateral decisions.
They stated: “We are compelled to make this statement following the serial postponement of the scheduled National Working Committee (NWC) meetings, twice within 48 hours. We are convinced beyond doubt that this is a deliberate attempt to foist a fait accompli on the NWC on fundamental issues that affect our great party.
“Within just two months in the lifespan of the new leadership of our great party, APC, led by His Excellency, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the NWC, organ of the party vested with the power of managing the day-to-day affairs, including implementing decisions of the National Executive Committee (NEC), as provided in Article 13.4 of the APC Constitution, has been rendered redundant.
“The national chairman takes decisions unilaterally. When it suits him, he invokes the name of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari to blackmail NWC members into accepting his decisions.”
They added that every effort to get the chairman to respect the authority of the NWC, is proving very difficult, if not impossible, even a they pointed out that NEC’s donation of its powers was to the NWC and not to the national chairman or any individual.
The NWC members noted that they were left with no other option than to appeal publicly to critical party stakeholders to intervene by calling Adamu to order.
They continued: “The national chairman must be properly reminded to recognise that the business of managing the day-to-day affairs of the party is the responsibility of the NWC as provided in provisions of the APC Constitution.
“He is free to consult any party leader(s). Such consultations will not represent decisions of the NWC or any organ of the party unless and until they are adopted by a properly constituted meeting of the NWC or organ in question, according to the letters and spirit of the APC constitution.”
They asserted that the party had suffered enough judicial embarrassments arising from clearly avoidable leadership breaches of our party’s constitution and spelt-out rules.
The two national vice chairmen told Abdullahi Adamu, and through him to all APC leaders, that henceforth any decision taken by the national chairman or any other party functionary, which requires the approval of the NWC as enshrined in the APC constitution, will be considered as illegitimate and an infringement on the jurisdictional scope of the NWC, unless otherwise confirmed as validly approved decisions of the NWC or any other legitimate organ of the party.
They averred that no NWC member was elected at the March 26, 2022 national convention to be idle in the national secretariat.
“We, therefore, call on all our colleagues in the NWC to rise to these challenging situations by joining hands with us to save our great party and return it to its founding mission of moving Nigeria forward based on honest, fair, just and selfless commitment to party building. God bless our party,” they wrote.
Osinbajo, Lawan, Bello, Fayemi, Ayade, Onu, Jack-Rich, Okorocha, 2 others screened
The ongoing screening of presidential aspirants by the All Progressive Congress (APC) continued yesterday, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmed Lawn undergoing the scrutiny by the screening panel.
Others already screened at the time of filing this report were Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Ben Ayade of Cross River; former minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnanya Onu; businessman, Tien Jack-Rich; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and former minister of Niger-Delta Development, Godswill Akpabio; and former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, who was granted bail by an Abuja High Court yesterday.
He also urged them to ensure that the process reflected all the values and virtues of the party.
The APC had fixed its special presidential convention to determine its flagbearer for June 6 to 9.
Speaking with journalists after his screening yesterday, former minister of Niger-Delta Development, Godswill Akpabio, said the party will have the final say.