This is a personal plea with the members, leadership and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to please close ranks and unite to sustain the nine-year-old political party that has been wholeheartedly trusted by Nigerians to manage their affairs. Unity is essential for the party to remain strong, relevant and successful.
The APC has had a serious internal crisis that caused a change of guards in its leadership at the national and other levels. This led to the establishment of the Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) chaired by the unassuming but politically sagacious Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni.
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The caretaker committee worked assiduously with all sincerity and re-energised the party. It now occupies its rightful place and is poised to achieve its destiny of positively changing Nigeria and making the country economically strong and secure for self-actualisation by every citizen.
Somehow, drawing from the second republic’s political experience, the renewal of Nigeria by APC administrations implies that there will be intra-party and nationwide politics without bitterness, in one country with a common destiny shared by its citizens; and a nation where the redemption of citizens from ignorance, poverty and diseases would be achieved by implementing “free education at all levels, free medical care for all, integrated rural development (through agriculture) and full employment.” These lofty objectives have been upgraded by the APC in its manifesto and are being implemented by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The Buni-led committee soothed the minds of aggrieved members and stakeholders. It reduced internal squabbles and many litigations against the party were withdrawn. The CECPC paid off its debts, procured the building housing its national headquarters and raised its membership base to more than 41 million members, all of them fully registered. The Buni-led CECPC won over some serving state governors to its fold, along with federal and state lawmakers.
The work done by the Caretaker Committee enhanced the resilience and bolstered the confidence of the party, which has been transformed into the most awesome political machine that is capable of easily winning future general elections in Nigeria.
The feats of 2015 and 2019 in winning general elections should not breed complacency. It should be a challenge for the party in the sense of meeting the necessity of uniting and working together to sustain the trajectory of victory so that the citizens can continue to benefit from the provision of massive public goods.
The leadership, stakeholders, members and supporters of the APC owe the country the duty to amicably end any internal disputes. No one wants failed reconciliation. Failure can cause unpleasant consequences in future elections. The fluke win by the opposition in the Federal Capital Territory represents a freak, and definitely, a temporary loss of the three area councils by the APC. The temporary setback should serve as a strong warning that a divided house is a weakened house.
APC should avoid becoming a weakened house. It should unite into a solid broom that can sweep away all opponents in any future electoral contests. The party was successful in its electoral outings in 2015 and 2019 because it joined the race as a united entity. It now has an unassailable majority in the National Assembly and controls at least 23 state Houses of Assembly. The evidence of its electoral prowess runs thus: it has produced a President for Nigeria for two terms of office; it has 22 state governors out of 36, and 70 Senators out of 109. And 234 members of the House of Representatives out of 360 are of the APC; as are 591 members of State Houses of Assembly out of 991, plus hundreds of councillors and a majority of chairmen of LGCs. This feat can be achieved again and again by a united, solid, APC.
Salisu Na’inna Dambatta resides in Abuja
