President Muhammadu Buhari warns the
leaders (and membership) of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) to desist from
name-calling and backstabbing ahead of the
oncoming March 26 Convention, remain
steadfast and maintain its unity if the party is
to continue in the path of victory and its
dominance at all levels throughout the
country
The ruling party in Nigeria has been factionalized with Yobe State Governor, Mai Buni insisting he remains the National Chairman.
His Niger counterpart, Sani Bello now heads the APC, a development that has split governors, lawmakers, other chieftains and members.
Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, had also claimed that some of his colleagues were working against the convention, and described them as “Yahoo Yahoo” governors.
Buhari told the APC warring factions to remain steadfast and maintain unity if the party is to continue in the path of victory and dominance throughout the country.
The president’s warning was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman.
“President Buhari asks the members to look
at the once-powerful, ‘main opposition” Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now enfeebled and adrift and learn lessons in disunity, mismanagement and corruption. They failed in 16 years in power and a failure as opposition.
“Yes, we are entitled to our own share of
dissent and intra-party discord. These are
common in all parties, left and right all over
the world.
“But parties splintered by competing egos
destine themselves to the worst possible
fate.
“As the country prepares for the long run up
to the 2023 presidential election, we all
expect a robust debate on the issues that
matter and what is going in the APC should
be a reflection of this, not the infighting we
are seeing. There must be no more
distractions ahead of the convention to
choose new leaders.”
He recalled that the APC started out with a
confidence of victory and the party today
enjoys that confidence in nearly two-thirds
of our 36 states.
Yet, he noted, this is a party that has been in
existence barely for eight years, becoming
the dominant party because it has thrown
open its doors to defectors from other
parties, big and small.
This alone, addition to the fact “we didn’t
start on the note of arrogance of power, nor
see government as a vehicle for self-
aggrandizement, to be held at all costs, but a
vehicle to bring development to all without
discrimination-political, ethnic or regional to
our dear country made this success
possible.”
The party, he went on to note, is proud of the
fact that in its short period of existence, it
has won two general elections decisively and
despite losing a few states in 2019, it
steadfastly expanded its pan-Nigerian
outlook with significant defections of the
opposition Governors and parliamentarians
into its fold.
“Given all that is at a stake, we can expect
contests into offices as we are now faced
with to be heated athough candidates and
their promoters for party offices are not so
much debating policy differences but
differences of management, personality,
character, and suitability for the most
important leadership roles in our country and
therefore the continent”
“It is equally clear that over the last week or
so, the internal management affairs of the
APC have been afforded generous media
coverage – over and above its importance to
the voters of Nigeria.
“It is important to ask what benefits the poor
are getting during the period of intense
negative coverage.
“It is therefore important for the media to put
such matters into perspective. No one is
debating policy differences here. That is for
the general election. None of the declared
aspirants and any of those that may step
forward will change because of who may be
in the party in the chairman’s seat. It is
essentially the same party.
“Of course the media are welcome to
comment on the content of the character of
the potential APC candidates; discuss their
suitability for leadership; scrutinize their
offer to the membership. But to focus on the
routine internal divisions and magnify them
into what they have become today is a waste
of everyone’s time, amounting to no more
than a discussion over seating arrangements.
“This is not what Nigerians talk of in their
communities. They have an inclination only
for things that matter.”
