Overhaul Party’s Reward System, Group Tells Tinubu, APC

A group called Progressive Young Leaders Assembly, has called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to overhaul the ruling party’s reward system for members and prioritise the appointment of party stalwarts who fought tooth and nail in ensuring his victory and that of the party in the 2023 general elections.

The group, which advised the president to do the needful, in order to avoid his possible 2027 ambition being self-truncated, said they felt concerned that the ruling party seems to have derailed in the choice of appointment of prominent Nigerian politicians, particularly those who gave their time, physical energy and hard-earned resources to support its victory in the just-concluded 2023 elections.

They added that it would be a quite threat to the future electoral fortune of the APC to relent in rewarding hard-work and unalloyed loyalty of its party members, especially those who spent  fortune running for political offices in 2023 general elections across Northern and Southern parts of the country.

They said they have followed, very closely, developments that came with post-elections reward system of the APC and felt it was duty bound to address the avoidable gaps and flaws that punctuated the process of appointments, especially at ministerial and other Federal Government level.

Making its position known at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the group’s Chairman, Abubakar Kurawa, and Secretary, Barr. Sadiq Abubakar,  registered the group’s displeasure over the fact that the likes of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Senator Aishatu Binani, who both contested for governorship race in their states, but eventually lost out, were unable to get ministerial appointment Pnder president Tinubu administration.

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The group said, “We feel deeply concerned that the ruling party seems to have derailed in the choice of appointment of prominent Nigerian politicians, particularly those who gave their time, physical energy and hard-earned resources to support the victory of the just concluded 2023 elections. We are disturbed that a considerable number of the people that the APC rewarded with ministerial slots, for example, could not match the resilience, sacrifice of energy and resources of other members that are yet to get even a simple letter of commendation for their effort.

“We therefore wish to state, for the records, our final stance on this very thorny issue of reward system, as follows:

“We cannot fathom why there is still a silence on Senator Ovie Omo Agege, former Deputy Senate President who also contested on the platform of the APC but lost out in the 2023 polls. He has not yet been considered for any reward via an appointment by the Federal Government. Politicians like this respected Senator could not get ministerial or other appointments into the Federal Government of President Bola Tinubu. This is anything but democratic injustice.

“It is worrisome that Sen. Aishatu Binani who is widely believed to have won her immediate constituency of Adamawa quiet significantly but had her mandate somehow overturned. Imagine that she was the only female governorship candidate in the race but nothing for yet. This is despite the fact that an average Nigerian believe that Sen. Aishatu Binani has a lot value to add to the functions  of this Administration , based on her track records.

“We wonder why notable politician like Anambra’s Andy Uba, an astute politician of excellent pedigree and a renowned business tycoon, is still hanging in the balance of ongoing appointments by the Presidency. The man was known to have committed a large chunk of his   resources for the victory of the APC in the 2023 General Elections in the South East and the country at large,” they said.

Others missing on the list, according to them include; Anambra’s Andy Uba,  Abdulsalam AbdulKarim Zaura, Kayode Fayemi, Ben Ayade, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau, Aminu Bello Masari, Umaru Tanko Almakura, Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima, and Dr. Nasir Yusuf Gawuna.

The statement further reads in part: “Top on the list of politicians who gave the APC participation in  2023 polls their best shot was Abdussalam  Abdulkarim Zaura (popularly known as AA Zaura). We have read several newspaper reports of how the fortunes of APC were changed in Kano, the moment ZAURA joins the Party. Those that are familiar with the Political terrain of Kano will must certainly believe us if we say the coming of ZAURA gave The APC a new lease of life in Kano.  Thus, it’s very much correct to assert that APC was in comatose, but ZAURA with his large follower-ship revive and re-energized the party.

“AA Zaura, from our findings, has built a state of the art police station in his desire to compliment the efforts of Kano State Government to curtail security challenges in the State. ZAURA also provide the APC Kano with 50 operational/utility vehicles to ease the hassle of electioneering campaign. This can only be wished away to the detriment of the party. Imagine someone like AA Zaura, who hails from the largest Senatorial Zone in the country. Recall also that the Northwest gave President Bola Tinubu and the APC  the highest votes in the entire country. What more does The Presidency need, to consider this son of Kano and APC kingpin? ZAURA did  a lot in assisting the needy and vulnerable people in Kano before and during the electioneering campaigns, and this help in no small way for the people of Kano Central senatorial district to come out in their numbers and voted for President TINUBU as evidenced in the outcome of the election where  60% of PRESIDENT TINUBU’s Kano vote came from Kano Central.

“Yet neither the national leadership of the party nor the Government of The Federation seems to appreciate his sacrifices.  This is an issue that we also find quite worrisome.

“Here is an additional list of some and illustrious and  prominent Nigerians who gave their all, but ended up not being rewarded till date.

“We can go on and on, giving a long list of starlwarts of the APC who seem to be left out in the cold. But the bottom line is that the party’s reward system needs serious overhaul. It would be suicidal for that party to keep moving without remembering and rewarding these people for their efforts.

“Our group, therefore, insists that prominent Nigerians, especially members of the ruling party who demonstrated their love and loyalty for the party by committing hundreds of millions( if not billions), deserve priority attention.

“We have offered our voluntary advice, hoping the APC and President Bola Tinubu will avoid a mistake that would hunt the party down in 2027 and beyond. A word, as they say, is enough for the wise. Whoever has the President’s or party’s ear should forward our gentle warning/reminder,” the group advised.