Why APC is in serious crisis –PGF DG
John Alechenu, Abuja
The Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Lukeman, has said the inability of the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress to amicably resolve disputes, as well as its penchant for constitutional breaches, were largely responsible for the crisis in the party.
Lukeman, gave this perspective in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
The PGF, which Lukeman functions as the administrative head of the secretariat, is the forum of all governors elected on the platform of the APC.
He noted that while there was no question about Oshiomhole’s knowledge and competence to administer the party, his departure from the tenets of democracy remained a growing concern.
Lukeman said, “The party’s NEC, which should have met every three months was unable to meet for about 15 months between August 2018 and November 2019. In between, the positions of Deputy National Chairman (South) and National Secretary, among others, became vacant. To fill those vacancies, a minimum of zonal consensus was required, which should be ratified by NEC.
“Instead, it was only in March 2020 when the court granted an injunction against Comrade Oshiomhole that the National Working Committee announced appointments into these vacant positions. This led to more disagreements based on the question of whether the NWC has powers to make those appointments or not.
“Inability to manage disagreements and resolve conflicts bordering on leadership disputes is at the centre of the crisis in APC.”
The PGF DG equally identified the recruitment of sycophants, who were always willing to massage the ego of leaders at the expense of constructive criticisms as the bane of leadership in Nigeria.
Lukeman noted that subsequently, details of disagreements were being left out instead of being thrashed out.
The party, he said, might succeed to come to agreement about who should occupy positions, but wondered if proper processes and procedure for filling such positions would be ignored.
He maintained that those who supported Oshiomhole’s leadership style were spreading jaundiced narrative that his critics were either nursing or supporting ambitions for 2023.
He said, “They should be able to ask, since Comrade Oshiomhole is a threat to the ambition of those opposed to him, it means that there is someone he supports. Who is that person and what does that person represent? Is Comrade Oshiomhole’s leadership attributes representative of the orientation of the person Comrade Oshiomhole is supporting?”
Lukeman reiterated that what was at stake was the very essence of democracy because allowing the “conquer and subjugate” strategy might succeed, but that if the strategy was to promote a particular person to emerge as President Buhari’s successor in 2023, the chances of Nigeria producing a worse version of “(President Olusegun) Obasanjo’s model of garrison leadership” were high.
