By Abba Dukawa:
In spite the party appears to be most darling party among Nigerians in history but due to the absence of internal democracy in the party and fragile harmony being experienced among its NWC since 2015. Since post election party NWC APC did not stability leadership. Apart from former Interim National NWC of the party, led by Chief Bisi Akande the successions party national leadership is full of tension, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was accused of being too weak to provide firm leadership while Oshiomhole left office abruptly and unceremoniously for being too arrogant and not carried other members of the APC NWC.
This lack of cohesion and internal party discipline among APC leaders and all the ranks of the party in the country manifested after Short while wining emporia.
A power struggle within the APC has been going on quietly Oshiomhole-Obaseki rift was just a small part of it until it became the epicenter in March this year when Federal High Court in Abuja suspended the party chairman Oshiomhole. While those on other side saw Oshiomhole removal the national chairman as the obstacle to their 2023 political ambition.
All Progressive Congress Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Committee members should move quickly to put its house in order, get its acts together and ensure party discipline, party loyalty, and party cohesion are made sacrosanct and which must imbibed by members by high and low. You and your led committee can restore the lost fortune of the governing party that plunged into a leadership crisis. Caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention Committee can charting a new course with renewed commitment and dedication for the Party to be more strong party with emblem of internal democracy and mutual understanding among leaders and other stakeholders achieving these tasks will be a dire need because finding lasting solutions to the party lingering crisis before the mini convention will write your committee in the anal of history.
Mala Buni’s led APC caretaker committee will face a enormous tasks in the days ahead and turns out of the reconciliation, Consultation will be of interest to many political observers, as pioneer party secretary the reconciliation moves is achievable. Because caretaker Committee members need to use diplomatic approach in handling these issues to wooing the confidence of aggrieved members to take full advantage of the reconciliation with all aggrieved members in a honest reconciliation.
All members of APC believe that the party will benefit from Buni’s vast experience to mediate and negotiate between the different interest and ambitious groups within the party. Like you know politics is a game that moves together with interest and ambitions. As you can’t separate blood from the tissue so, also, you can’t separate politics from interest and ambitions.
You have a task of charting a new course with renewed commitment and dedication for the Party to be more strong party with emblem of internal democracy and mutual understanding among leaders and other stakeholders achieving these tasks will be a dire need because finding lasting solutions to the party lingering crisis before the mini convention will write your committee in the anal of history.
On part of aggrieved members that dragged the party to courts need to withdraw all court cases with a view in resolving any outstanding disputes. Buni’s led caretaker committee should understand that as a progressive party that needs to operate on the principle of change, the committee should keep to the rules of change in discharging its assignment. Article 20, Subsection 10 of the party’s Constitution, offences against it included the following: Filing an action in a Court of Law against the party or any of its officers on any matter relating to the discharge of the duties of the party without first exhausting all avenues for redress provided for in its Constitution.
You and your led committee knows that from 2015 to 2019 the strength of the party in controlling states government is weakening as the party lost more states than adding state in it fold of APC’s governors. It is obvious that the fortunes of the Party are currently in jeopardy as the party lost controls of Sokoto, Benue, Adamawa, Bauchi, Zamfara and now Edo states to PDP. There are other critical issues before the caretaker NWC committee. Edo and Ondo governorship polls are critical. The onus is on the committee to mobilise the party, not only to retrieve Edo from the opposition, but to also retain Ondo. Apart from restoring confidence at the national level, the interim leadership should muster efforts to broker peace in crisis-ridden chapters. These include Edo, Ondo, Rivers, Delta, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Niger and Ekiti.
Already your led committee starts working on good note by visiting former Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande and Ahmad Tinubu a national leaders of the party which both of them said the caretaker committee mission to them is not reconciliation but consultation. APC National Leader said he has trust and respect for the person of the caretaker Chairman and reiterated his commitment to building the Party and Nigeria and sincerely, we have trust and respect for the character of the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee and willing to support him to succeed for the party to continue it’s crusade of progressive governance in the Country.
HMB led committee must guarantee party Unity during and after and organize transparent convention which can be acceptable to all and importantly the caretaker members should avoid impunity and arrogance that brought APC to its present quagmire. Excellency, henceforth your led committee knows that internal party discipline it’s vital in any democratic party which any party constitution emphasized.
Dukawa ,public commentator wrote in from Kano and can be reach at abbahydukawa@gmail.com
