Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said on Monday the All Progressive Congress (APC) should only admit people that share its ideology.
Speaking when he visited former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, at his Abuja office, Oshiomhole said the APC should be able to tell people whose belief run counter to its ideals to look elsewhere for membership of a political party.
The ex-governor, who expressed concern at the continued feud between the Executive and Legislative arms of government, said the party cannot afford to be an “onlooker” in the current rift between both arms of government.
Oshiomhole said if elected as APC chairman, he would ensure that all party organs function optimally.
“We are in a critical position in our country and over the next couple of months, the political environment will be heated up when all the aspirants and candidates would have emerged and our party is expected to, as the governing party to lead by example.
“I believe that after the historic amalgamation of the four and half parties that now form the APC, it is enough for us to have welded into a party and provide the kind of leadership that Nigerians expected from a political party that is based on the principle of social democracy which was why we carefully choose the name Progressives.
“It is not a secret that we have our own fair share of internal challenges. I believe that there is nothing wrong in parties having internal challenges, but what matters is a leadership that has the capacity to manage those challenges and encourage internal democracy and evolve a style of leadership that is based on inclusion rather than exclusion.
“We must strengthen the process of bottom approach to decision making so that when we talk about a party position, it will be one in which party leaders members will say, yes, we participated in the process that led to this decision. The organs of the party must be made to function. When organs of the party are not functioning, then we are just a collection of individuals.
“It is my hope that we move beyond creating a platform that is simply there for election purpose, just like a public taxi. It should also be a platform to continue to engage all those who are elected on the platform of the party and ensure that what they do and how they do it is in line with the manifesto and the core value that bind the party together.”
