7 years after formation, APC still struggling to unite — Ganduje

Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has said seven years after the coming together of different political parties to form the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), it is yet to be a unified party.

He described the APC as a “mixture” of political parties, which still struggle to see themselves as one.

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Ganduje spoke on Monday at a town hall meeting in Kano, organised by the APC Constitution Review Committee, northwest zone.

The APC was formed in 2013, following a merger of some parties namely; CPC, ANPP, nPDP, APGA and ACN, which collapsed their structures in a bid to seize power at the centre.

In 2015, the party won the presidential election and many states as well as National Assembly seats.  It retained power at the centre in the 2019 general elections but was later enmeshed in intense crisis, which led to the dissolution of the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) in June 2020, over alleged abuse of office.

The Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee was inaugurated on June 25, 2020, to administer the affairs of the party and organise a national convention where a new crop of NWC members would emerge.

But with several agitations going on in the party regarding zoning of offices ahead of 2023, issues surrounding the party’s national convention, alleged planned possible extension of the Caretaker Committee’s timeline beyond June, issues of reward system among the “legacy parties”, anxiety over the ward, local government and state congresses among others, there is crisis in the party.

Ganduje said, “APC as a party started as a mixture of ACN, ANPP, APGA, nPDP, CPC. You see that is a mixture of various elements trying to make a compound.”

“But unfortunately, up till now, APC is still a mixture and has not graduated to the next level to become a compound.

“Those who read chemistry know the difference between a mixture and a compound. A mixture is something that you can easily separate its particles if you use ions, while in a compound, any part you remove it will still be the same,” the governor added.

He, however, expressed optimism that the review of the party’s constitution would address the issues so as to have a solid APC.

Chairman of the review committee, northwest zone, Dr Tahir Mamman observed that for any system that lasts up to 7-8 years, there is likelihood of having gaps in it, describing the meeting as timely.

Mamman said the meeting, which brought together delegates from all the seven states in the North West would help reconcile aggrieved party members so that the APC would remain in power for 32 years and even beyond.