- Your views not representative of leadership’s stance, says spokesman
- NWC ‘timid onlooker, distant observer’, Lukman insists
ALL Progressives Congress (APC) has said a statement credited to the party’s national vice chairman (North West), Dr. Salihu Lukman, as regards the chairmanship position, was his personal view and did not represent the stance of the APC.
The party said all sections of its college of leadership stand united in their quest for a more progressive party.
Recall that Lukman had, in a statement, described as insensitive, speculations that the immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, could emerge as the next national chairman of the party.
National publicity secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement at the weekend, maintained that the ruling party was not in a crisis.
He said trending reports in sections of the media suggesting disharmony among members of the National Working Committee (NWC) or between the NWC and other critical sections of the party’s leadership, on possible successor to the office of national chairman, were purely speculative.
The spokesman was of the opinion that rapid and seamless succession, in acting capacities, to both offices exemplifies the cogency of constitutional processes.
Morka said: “While individual party leaders and members retain their right to express their personal thoughts and opinions, they do not represent the official position of the NWC or the party.
“Official position of the NWC on the subject of succession to any vacant offices of the NWC or any other subject will be communicated via the official channels of the NWC. Change in the life of any individual or institution is constant and inevitable.”
Meanwhile, Lukman has decried marginalisation of NWC members on the choice of Ganduje as national chairman.
In a statement, titled: ‘APC and question of party building’, he described the development as a clear breach of the party’s constitution.
He said it behooves President Bola Tinubu to restore constitutional order within the APC, so that the debate about replacing the national chairman and all existing vacancies, including that of national secretary, would be done within the structures of the party.
He stressed the need to abide by the zoning arrangement of the party on the decision to replace national chairman and national secretary, Abdullahi Adamu and Iyiola Omisore, who resigned from their positions, recently.
He said: “As things are, the NWC is not only an onlooker but a far distant observer. The power blocs that are being credited with the speculated emergence of Ganduje as the next national chairman, including the Presidency, are not even considering any meeting with the NWC or even the acting national chairman.
“Yet, the NWC has the convening authority for any meeting that can produce the next national chairman. Sadly, many members of the NWC, for whatever reasons, seem to be timid and take everything that comes their way as given and therefore right.
“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 the 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 representative to come calling, and recognising our powers to provide leadership to the party, only suggests a gap in competence.”
Lukman added: “Part of what must be urgently addressed in the Nigerian context is the unfortunate reality whereby the party is a dumping ground for people whose role is not more than that of serving as surrogates to elected representatives. This has been the PDP model of party building, which has destroyed the PDP.
“Sadly, as APC, since 2013, we have been unable to produce a different model of party building. This takes us to the third issue, which we must address, given the opportunity to fill the vacant position of national chairman.
“So long as we uncritically respond to the debate around proposed candidates based on the desire to massage leaders of the party, including President Asiwaju Tinubu, it will simply mean abdicating our responsibility of guiding our leaders to take the right decisions in the best interest of the party and the country.
“As a party, envisioned to be progressive, we must encourage debates. When issues are raised, members and leaders of the party must not use their disagreement with the issues being raised to seek to gag everybody, especially when the issue being raised borders on objections to proposals from party leaders, including President Asiwaju Tinubu.”
The Guardian
