By Ezeocha Nzeh
Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF, Salihu Moh. Lukman has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership to ensure that the party’s pmgpoing Registration and Revalidation exercise is not hijacked by individuals
Lukman in a statement he issued Sunday in Abuja warned against handing over the membership register of the party to any chieftain of the party, warning that doing so would not only be undemocratic but would have serious consequences that would hurt the ruling party in the future.
The AUTHORITY had earlier reported exclusively that serving APC governors have taken steps to hijack the registration exercise through ensuring that their aides and loyalist dominated the list of party workers for the exercise in the various states
Lukman noted in hisd statement that “The emphasis has been that it should be updated to delete names of members who have left the party and register new members. In addition, the register should be domiciled in the National Secretariat of the party and not with individual leaders of the party.
“Having the membership register in the custody of individual leaders especially when such leaders are being speculated to have ambitions for electoral contests is problematic. Keeping the party’s membership register in the custody of individual leaders simply supports the bad orientation of handing over structures of the party to would-be-aspirants, which has been the bane of Nigerian politics under the PDP between 1999 and 2015.
“ Being a party of change, the most important change APC can introduce in Nigerian politics is a shift in the foundational orientation of our politics to one owned and controlled by Nigerians”, he said.
Lukman, who also reacted to the position of former Osun stateGovernor, Bisi Akande on the exercise, called for regular consultations among party leaders in order to assuage the fears of some chieftains of the party regarding the ongoing exercise.
“What one can decipher from Chief (Bisi) Akande’s remarks is the desire to broaden internal consultations within the party based on which all the statutory requirements for meetings are respected. Chief Akande might be having this at the back of his mind when he said, ‘If not carefully controlled and expeditiously managed, most aberrant authorities end up in contempt and disgrace.’
“The best way to carefully control and expeditiously manage the Caretaker Committee is to ensure that more meetings of leaders are taking place and the Caretaker Committee is supported by ensuring all meetings of organs of the party are taking place.
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“With all leaders of the party, including Chief Akande and Asiwaju Tinubu accepting to revalidate their membership, the message is that every party member should revalidate his/her membership. There is no better evidence today that all APC leaders are united other than the ongoing membership registration/revalidation exercise”, he added.
