Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the party will emerge stronger, fighting forces ahead of the 2019 general elections as against insinuations that the coming congresses and national convention will wane the popularity of the party when perceived aggrieved petty members begin to leave in droves.
Abdullahi, who dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the party’s forthcoming convention might tear it apart, said that, he does not see the two competitive political processes generating any ‘rancour’.
The APC had scheduled May 2nd to 9th for its ward, local government and state congresses after President Muhammadu Buhari had given directive to its National Working Committee to reconsider its earlier decision on ‘‘tenure elongation’’ for national officers of the party.
Abdullahi had, while speaking with journalists in Ilorin, declared that the situation that led to the continued stay of officers of the party in office was not ‘‘tenure elongation’’ as described by some people.
Rather he said their continued stay in office was the ‘‘wisdom’’ of National Working Committee (NWC) members of the party to avert acrimony that might arise from such elective process which he said could weaken the party ahead of 2019.
He however assured that in spite of the president’s advised that the party should reconsider NEC’S position, it would come out stronger after the congresses and convention.
‘‘As you know is a long road that we have walked before we arrived at this processes of congresses and convention. The idea of many members of the national executive committee of the party was that they should not go into such competitive processes at this time few months to elections, naturally congresses and conventions tends to generate acrimony is even more difficult at the ward level than at the state and national level, it tends to generate all kind of acrimony.
Now the fear was that and already we have issues in a couple of sate if you now throw congresses into the new, you have the potentially destructive situation that may weaken the party ahead of 2019.
‘‘So the wisdom of majority of NEC members is that we should not have congress at the national convention rather current officers of the party should be allowed to complete their tenure, this what some people called tenure elongation, it wasn’t tenure elongation by any means’’.
On whether kwara would still retain its position of the national publicity secretary, Abdullahi responded thus ‘‘The NEC’s decision was that the zoning arrangements should be sustained as much as possible .
“So if NEC directed that the zoning arrangement should be maintained, it means that the position of the national publicity secretary will remain in north -central and specifically in kwara state.
‘‘So I don’t envisage any situation that is going to generate any rancour in the party as far as election into the national offices is concerned. I think the position that will be most contested is the national chairmanship of the party, which is of course is zoned to the south-south zone of the party.
“I don’t know who else is going to contesting, I know chief Oyegun will re-contest for the second time ,as the chairman of the APC ,the whole arrangement will go smoothly and we believe the post congresses election, convention, APC will remain as a stronger party and as a strong fighting force to face election’’.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
