A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) Osita Okechukwu, has said that the party as a matter of urgency must rejig it progressive credentials ahead the 2023 general elections.
The VON boss also called on the APC governors to stop opposing President Muhammadu Buhari’s reforms, especially on Local Government Autonomy.
Okechukwu’s task was coming even as the leading national chairmanship aspirants of the APC took time on Thursday to make public their programmes for the party if given opportunity in the forthcoming national convention.
Speaking in Abuja at the second annual lecture organised by the APC Press Corps which had the topic: “APC beyond 2023-the tasks ahead: The role of stakeholders, which was an intellectual ground for the aspirants for the position of the chairmanship of the party to unveil their plans and programmes.
Responding to Okechukwu’s submission on governors opposing to the Local Government Area’s autonomy, Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) Salihu Moh Lukman, denied the claimed.
According to Lukman it was only the PDP governors that were opposed to the reform.
Okechukwu said Nigeria cannot claim to be in democracy when democracy at the sub-national level is under lock and key.
“On the political spectrum Mr. President has embarked on incremental restructuring by alteration of our Constitution to oblige first line charge of funding to State legislatures and judiciary as captured in Section 121 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. When the governors aping Emperors in an unusual Bipartisanship ganged up to oppose the extension of frontiers of democracy to sub-national units, he signed the Executive Order 10.
“One humbly appeals to APC governors to urgently align with Mr. President to liberate democratic institutions at the state level. For Rubber-Stamp legislatures and non-independent State Judiciary are ill-wind which blow no good to our fledgling democracy. The Progressive Governors Forum should stand up to be counted by not only liberating state legislatures and Judiciary but Local Government Councils.”
On the need to reposition the ruling APC, the VON boss said: “To rejig our progressive credentials, consolidate and transform our dear party and by extension our dear country; we must take APC Manifesto as our Bible and our Koran. For the avoidance of doubt our manifesto is structured around the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.
“Methinks one of the challenges is the mistake of taking the conduct of party primaries as the core function of the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party.
“Capital No! The primary role of the National Working Committee of our great party is oversight functions of those elected and appointed to government – local, state and federal tier on our platform. NWC is the enforcer of the guardrails as per the religious execution of the Manifesto of our party by those elected and appointed on our platform.
“Had the NWC played their enforcer role diligently the federal government since 2015 could have saved over N2 trillion pumped into our privatised electricity chain without commensurate result.”
On the LGA autonomy, PGF boss said: “The PDP governors were opposed to it. APC governors elected to support the reform, that’s the matter, just to correct the impression out there,” Lukman said.
The APC chieftain also said that the performance of the APC led administration in terms of the infrastructural development like Railway sector, Procurement of weapon for security agencies and so on, remains unmatched by the entire twenty years of the PDP-led administration.
Speaking against imposition of leaders in APC, Okechukwu said one other important item which will make or mar the APC’s efforts is the issue of internal democracy with in the party.
He said: “The incoming NWC must as a matter of urgent national importance whether direct or indirect or consensus make sure that the best candidates prevail. This is more so when events have proven that imposition of candidates engender negative outcome and recession of democracy. The case of the recent Anambra State gubernatorial primary is a case study.
“Most importantly, a cursory analysis of recent elections gazettes that Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is Vaccine to Vote Rigging. With Vaccine to Vote Rigging in place is there any need to impose candidates? At any rate the political history of our democracy has shown that most governors, legislators and Councilors imposed ended up in arms with their godfathers.
“To be exact, if history has clearly recorded that most godfathers ended up coming to grieve what’s the point insisting on imposition?
“One will appeal that we candidly for the collective interest of our party to observe Article 20 of the Constitution of our great party, which states interalia.
“In sum, our great party, the APC without prejudice to challenges like palpable insecurity in the land is a comeback party and will surely prevail by winning 2023 presidential election given the solid infrastructural foundation consciously being laid for economic growth and prosperity.”
