Lagos APC For Direct Primary

Candidates for next year’s election will be picked through
direct primary, the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) has decided.

Leaders of the party adopted the model at a “stakeholders
consultative meeting” at the party secretariat yesterday.

Giving the advantage of the system, which was adopted to pick
the candidate of the party for the September 22 Osun State
goverborship election, APC stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said it was
a way of rekindling internal democracy within the fold, “because
with this the party has gone back to its owners: the people”.

Direct primary is a system in which all card carrying members of
the party will participate in voting to pick candidates rather than
leave the process for delegates.

Tinubu who spoke at the consultative meeting, said the chapter
would embark on a fresh membership drive with the registration of
new members and that it would also ensure that all existing members
were issued with identity cards to enable them participate in the
primaries.

Tinubu, who spoke most of the time in Yoruba, said intending
members could do their pre-registration online. He enjoined council
chairmen to ensure that the exercise is seamless; adding that those
that register more members and ensure that more Permanent Voter’s
Cards (PVCs) are collected within their domain would be rewarded
with a fresh tenure.

Alluding to the fact that officers shouldered with the
responsibility might want to collect bribe before doing their job,
he said: “If we don’t register more members, how can we elect the
governor, our lawmakers and the President in next year’s general
elections?”

The APC stalwart assured members that the Lagos State chapter
would have free and fair primaries ahead of 2019 and that there
would be no favouratism. He said: “It is APC members that will
decide who will represent them: you will do this with your
vote.”

He also indicated that all aspirants for elective positions and
members who intend to take part in the primaries must possess their
membership cards and their PVCs, adding that the registration drive
would enable defectors who joined the party from other platforms to
enlist in the APC in their constituencies.

Tinubu described the noise about defections in recent times as
unnecessary distraction, because the defections would not affect
the fortunes of the party in the general election. He described
those who defected as saboteurs.

The former Lagos State governor said the victory of party’s
candidates in by-elections in Bauchi, Kogi, Katsina and the Ekiti
governorship election are indications that the party was still
solid. He said the party would record another victory in Osun State
next month because he has confidence in Governor Rauf Aregbesola
who laid a solid foundation for the state. “We have seen the good
work he is doing in Osun,” he added.

Tinubu took a swipe at former President Olusegun Obasanjo for
saying Nigerians should not support President Muhammadu Buhari’s
re-election bid, saying the former president did not utilize the
eight years he spent in power to lay a solid foundation for
Nigeria.

He said foundation is crucial to any building and that it was
the foundation his team laid during his tenure that made it
possible for former Governor Babatunde Fashola and Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode to succeed.

He added that if Obasanjo had laid a good foundation in Abuja,
Nigeria would not be in such a deplorable state. “He did not lay a
good foundation and he is accussing President Buhari of performing
below par.”

The APC National Leader commended Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo’s decisiveness in dealing with the invasion of the
National Assembly by operatives of the DSS, adding that Osinbajo’s
action saved the party from embarrassment.

Tinubu said the APC is still steadfastly committed to President
Buhari’s ability to change Nigeria for the better. He said members
knew from the outset that fighting corruption would not be an easy
task, because it will fight. “But we were not deterred,” he
said.

Tinubu also dismissed the insinuation that the party is divided
in the State, saying there is nothing of such, and that the party
is intact.

He said: “We reiterate the fact that APC in Lagos State is
intact. There is no division. I’ve heard some people conspiring to
present a situation of division in the party in Lagos but let me
assure you that it is just the coming together of adversaries which
will have no effect on the party.”

Governor Ambode lauded Asiwaju Tinubu for his contributions
towards deepening of democracy in the country. He added: “What we
have just witnessed in the last 30 minutes is the upliftment of
democracy in Nigeria. This is a silent revolution and we thank
Asiwaju for his commitment in the quest to build a better Nigeria.
This means each member of the party will contribute his quota to
determine who will represent them.”

The chapter passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the
National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole with a voice vote, after Lagos
APC Chairman Mr. Tunde Balogun, tabled the motion.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says restructuring the
country will be better achieved under the government of President
Muhammadu Buhari.

Yekini Nabena, acting spokesman of the APC, said this while
reacting to the debate between Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and
former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

Nabena said the ruling party believes that good, sincere and
purposeful leadership at all levels “will propel the country to its
deserved heights”.

“Sincere efforts towards achieving true federalism are more
important than politically-exploited populist rhetoric which
achieve nothing,” he said in a statement.

“With emphasis on practicability, constitutionality and reality,
we are confident that true federalism or restructuring as some will
like to call it will be better achieved under the President
Buhari-led APC administration.”

Backing Osinbajo’s view, the spokesman said Nigeria does not
need geographic restructuring but good governance.

Nabena said Nigerians must not surrender to “ethnic champions
who promote campaigns to breakup the country into tiny bits or
other unrealistic and unpatriotic proposals in the name of
restructuring to solve our problems as a country.”

“Osinbajo in his well-articulated response to Atiku, submitted
that what Nigeria requires now is not geographic restructuring but
good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper
fiscal Federalism and a clear vision for development.

“The APC cannot agree more with Prof. Osinbajo. It must be said
that the calls for restructuring by many politicians is often time
a populist and opportunistic ploy to latch on and politically
exploit simplistic public narratives on the panacea to Nigeria’s
problems and not necessarily for its realism and
practicability.

“Past administrations have splashed billions of public funds to
convene several national conferences, subsequently left conference
reports to gather dust and achieved nothing. Bad governance,
corruption, bigotry and other ills remain the limiting factors that
continue to hold the country back.”

According to him, a well-articulated roadmap to ensure a “well
secured, better governed Nigeria with equitable distribution of
resources within the component federating units, is being given
serious attention.”

“Recall that the APC set up a committee on true federalism under
the chairmanship of the Kaduna state governor, mallam Nasir
El-Rufai. The Committee submitted its report to the immediate-past
National Working Committee, making its recommendations on twenty
four items that Nigerians expressed views to balance our
federation.

“These items are: creation of states; merger of states;
delegation principle; fiscal federalism; devolution of power and
resources between state, federal and local governments; federating
units; form of government; independent candidacy; land tenure
system; local government autonomy; power sharing and rotation;
resource control; types of legislature; demand for affirmation for
vulnerable groups — people with disabilities, women and youth;
ministerial appointment; citizenship; state constitution; community
participation; minimum wage; governance; judiciary; state
re-alignment and border adjustment; circular status of the
federation and referendum.

“A practical approach to implement the committees report is
being considered by the federal government.”