Defend APC integrity, party chieftain tasks Buhari, Oshiomhole
A chieftain of The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Jigawa State, Alhaji Muritala Abubakar has tasked President, Muhammadu Buhari, and the newly elected National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as well as the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to rise up to the ugly trends working against internal mechanism of democratic norms and principles within the party by defending the integrity of the vision and mission of the founding fathers of the progressive ideological movement.
Abubakar who is the state chairman of APC Internal Democracy Advocate (APC – IDA), in a statement on Sunday, advised leaders at the highest echelon in the party to completely whittle down the negative effects of moneybag politicians in the selection and election of candidates during the electoral process of the APC which he said has over time resulted to nomination of unpopular candidate and eventual failure at the polls.
“We are at the brinks where principled internal democracy is consistently sacrificed for money, by inducing the delegates so as to become the flagbearer of our party must be curtailed now, this is a sad development which will kill good aspirants from realising their potential, our leaders must stand up for what is progressively right,” he said.
APC – ICA further urged the party chairman, to fathom more credible alternative procedures to adopt in nominating candidates for election, adding that “our party`s constitution is flexible, it provides different option like direct primary, where all card-carrying and registered members of the party in a particular ward, local government or state will be involved in electing the most popular person.
“Our group is not oblivious of the fact that the direct means of election might be cumbersome but it will bring sanity, integrity and ensure transparency for the right and popular aspirant to emerge as the candidate,” he emphasised.
Abubakar cited an instance where delegates for a governorship primary election was negotiating as high as N500,000 to trade away their votes, adding that its public knowledge. “To say the least, this is disgraceful and an eyesore which is tantamount to corruption. For a political party as audible as APC whose change mantra is hinged on anti-corruption, we must arrest this situation by choosing to proceed with the direct primary election, starting with Osun state.
“It is our firm belief that democracy will thrive better when the simple majority have their say, and their say become the decision of all. We equally want to commend the President in the ongoing infrastructural revolution, agriculture transformational initiatives and his decisive fight against corruption in the country, but we admonish the president to step his game in the area of security of lives and properties,” he concluded.
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