By Chesa Chesa
The ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) must not be sidelines in policy making taking place at the Aso Rock Villa, says former Governor of Ekiti State, and chieftain of the party, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
He therefore tasked the national chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje, to project the party’s manifesto on government polices and programmes while relaying the true state of affairs and feelers from among Nigerians across all communities and walks of life to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Fayemi, who is a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja during the public launch of a book titled, ‘APC and Transition Politics’ authored by a former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the APC, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, who had recently quit his position in protest against the emergence of Ganduje as chairman of the party.
According to Fayemi: “I am happy that our chairman is here. This is the party that should not be a spectator in policy making. This party should be the one to project the manifesto of the party.
“This party should be the one to tell Mr. President that this is the feedback from the communities and constituencies out there, not what he is hearing in the villa where he is locked up.
“All of us have occupied public office and we know how it can be. I am happy our chairman has confirmed he has read the book. It should be a compulsory read for all members of the NWC and executives at the state and ward levels so that we can begin the rebuilding process of our organic party to which I believe Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is committed.”
In his marks, Ganduje said the APC needs to be well-structured and repositioned to serve the interest of the masses.
He said, “It is important to document issues. APC as a political party is the ruling party. It is an institution which should be well-structured and repositioned whereby it serves a two-way traffic – first, as an institution that is in charge of recruitment of appointive and elective officials and also as an institution that is concerned about the implementation of the party’s manifesto from the ward level to the national level.
“And it is an institution that must answer to the demands of the people in order to be transmitted to the ruling government for implementation. At the same time, it is an institution that will explain and enlighten members of the public about the achievements of the ruling government.”
Among the guests on the occasion were Ganduje, former APC national chairmen, Adams Oshiomhole and Chief Bisi Akande, representatives of former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajuddeen Abbas, as well as many other chieftains of the APC.
