By; SANI ISA RORO
The recent development in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over their back and forth on the drama which their primary(ies) to elect their gubernatorial candidates has come up with, leaves much to be desired.
While the Electoral Act prescribes the emergence of one gubernatorial candidate per party (and which other parties are working on), typical of the APC, under Dr. Umar Gabduje, the party produced three gubernatorial candidates (someone even said four candidates) for one slot. Without doing critical thinking, APC endorsed one of the candidates and even went ahead to congratulate him.
Meanwhile, the ugliest of the comedy, the party has made a u-turn, by unreasonably declaring the exercise of Saturday, February 17, 2024, inconclusive.
This should not come as a surprise, considering the person at the helm of affairs at the national level of the party. Someone gave to creating confusion.
The question to ask is, what is the big deal in conducting a primary that a particular party would endorse three governorship primaries for one position in the same state? A Chinese proverb says, “A fish starts to get rotten from the head”.
It would be recalled that the massive shame that the APC suffered during the pendency of the Kano State governorship tussle in the judiciary was due to the unwholesome conduct of their national Chairman in his desperation to get the Kano State Governorship seat by any means.
However, thanks to the patriotic disposition of Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who resisted every pressure to interfere in the judicial process and save our democracy and the country from anarchy.
For APC to make any progress in governance, as the party in government especially at the national level, it has become expedient to get a new National Chairman, to save itself from unnecessary distraction and shame which its current leader is subjecting the party to.
Without doubt, the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu seems to be at the receiving end of some harsh criticisms by many Nigerians as a result of the unpleasant conditions under which they live. This shouldn’t be so, precisely.
The President is a man of massive experience to solve the problems of this country. Perhaps, the distractions being put in his way by the conduct of his National Chairman could be the reason why we are where we are today.
We members of the NNPP want Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to succeed for the sake of his legacy and Nigerians in general. But he has to remove all obstacles blocking his focus.
In clear terms, he needs a new party national chairman who will efficiently and effectively complement his efforts.
Hon. Sani Isa Roro
Chairman, Internal Democracy Alliance, writes from Abuja
