National Vice Chairman, Northwest, of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Salihu Moh. Lukman on Sunday said the level of impunity under the leadership of the erstwhile National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, reached its height when the former Nasarawa state governor sought to unilaterally impose a presidential candidate on the party.
He said apart from freezing statutory organs of the party, Adamu wanted foisting the then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan on the party but was swiftly cut to size by state governors and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who was then an aspirant.
Lukman in a statement said it was however regrettable that the APC has continued to move from one leadership crisis to another, lamenting that today, the National Working Committee NWC has become a distant observer in the process of recruiting a new National Chairman.
He said; “After winning the campaign to get the Caretaker Committee organize a National Convention, which produced the current NWC led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in no time the party was returned to the old mode of business as usual whereby statutory organs of the party were frozen. No meetings of party organs were taking place and the NWC became practically an observer whereby the National Chairman and National Secretary basically usurped the powers of all organs of the party.
“The height of it was when the National Chairman attempted to impose Senator Ahmad Lawan as the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the party. Progressive Governors and many members of the NWC had to rise to the occasion and check the excesses of the National Chairman, which produced President Bola Tinubu as the candidate of the party for 2023 elections. The rest, as is often said, is now history.
“However, we continue to move from one unhealthy situation to another during both the 2023 electioneering campaigns and the process of negotiations to produce leaders of the National Assembly after the elections. It was as if the party under the leadership of Senator Adamu was either contesting the authority of President Tinubu or at the least working at cross purposes”.
Agreed zoning formula favours North Central
Lukman also reminded President Tinubu and the Progressives Governors Forum PGF that the agreed zoning formula in the party ceded the position of National Chairman to North Central.
According to Lukman, restoring constitutional order to APC would require some demonstration of commitment to give life to the statutory organs of the party so that the debate about replacing the National Chairman and all existing vacancies, including that of the National Secretary will be done within the structures of the party.
Lukman was again reacting to reports that former Kano state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has been tipped to replace Senator Adamu as the next national chairman.
According the him, the inability to revive statutory organs of the party will suggest that the process of replacing existing vacancies will be manipulated to suite some narrow interests within the party even if it means violating provisions of the APC constitution.
“As NWC members, we must be seen to be active in the debate of the way forward. A situation whereby President Tinubu and Progressive Governors are being alleged to have decided on Dr Ganduje as the next National Chairman of APC without consulting other power blocs in the party and without meeting any of the organs of the party, including the NWC, is very risky and potentially damaging to President Tinubu and the party.
“If this was associated with a President who comes from a military background, it would be understandable. But to be associated with President Tinubu whose background is outrightly civilian having led the struggle for democracy in Nigeria for almost four decades, it will be highly unimaginable.
“We must therefore appeal to all those sponsoring this campaign to nominate Dr Ganduje for the position of APC National Chairman, especially His Excellency, Hope Uzodinma, Chairman, Progressive Governors Forum to come to order and allow due process within the party to take its rightful course in the selection process of who becomes the next APC National Chairman.
“Nobody, including the PGF, should be allowed to seek to entrench arbitrariness and injustice in the determination of who emerges as the next National Chairman of APC. We must remind everyone, including President Tinubu that so far, the agreed zoning formula in APC cedes the position of National Chairman of the party to North Central.
“Therefore, the relevant sections of APC constitution with respect to filling vacancies should be respected. Anything short of that will amount to illegality and will constitute an act of injustice against members of the party from North Central. A party envisioned to be progressive must not be associated with that especially if one of our objectives now is to return the APC to its founding vision of emerging as a progressive party.”
While calling on other NWC members to speak up, the APC chieftain said: “The vision of producing a progressive party cannot be produced with a reticent leadership. As NWC members, we need to appreciate that part of our responsibility is to ensure that all our elected representatives are guided to produce outcomes based on provisions of our manifesto and all our campaign promises. This is a function of the knowledge and skills of individual members.
“We must challenge ourselves to rise to the occasion by demonstrating the required capacity and competence. A situation whereby we sit in our ‘comfort zones’ and expect our elected representatives to come calling and recognizing our powers to provide leadership to the party only suggests gaps in competence”, he added.