APC urges Tinubu to catalyse development of Nigerian democracy

…Reward party members

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

All Progressives Congress (APC) has charged President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to catalyse development of Nigerian democracy and reward the party members.
North West Zonal Chairman and member APC National Working Committee (NWC), Salihu Moh Lukman, insisted that coming from the trenches, Nigerians and as well as APC members will hold Tinubu accountable on the scores.

He equally pleaded with the former Lagos State governor to reward the party members for their loyalty and produce the rebirth of the struggle for democracy in the country.

“Another point that must be highlighted at this point of victory is the need to be faithful to our electoral promises. One of the shortcomings of parties managing governments since 1999 is that everything is left to the discretion of elected representatives.

“Requirements to give life to provisions of party manifesto is absent. In fact, many elected representatives are ignorant of provisions of the party manifesto. This needs to change. All party leaders aspiring to be appointed into government must familiarise themselves with provisions of the party manifesto as well as envision how to produce desired outcomes.

“Related with that is that leaders of the party must have the humility to subordinate themselves to party decisions. A situation where the party will invest time and resources to produce recommendations such as the one produced by the Mal. Nasir El-Rufai Committee on True Federalism and ignored by government is not only unacceptable but should be regarded as anti-party activity.

“The commitment of leaders to democracy must be reflected in their willingness to implement decisions of party organs. The next era of APC government under Tinubu must produce the rebirth of the struggle for democracy in Nigeria. It must signal the era of renewed hope for the development of democracy in Nigeria. It should above all be the era for the institutional development of APC as a political party.

“Coming from the trenches, Tinubu has no excuse but to catalyse the development of Nigerian democracy to meet the expectations of Nigerians. Both as Nigerians and as APC members, we will hold Tinubu accountable on these scores,” Lukman said.
Speaking further, the former Director General APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) said that; “poor management of negotiations into the federal government in 2015 produced the reality of weak influence by the party and its leadership on governments it produced, especially federal government led by President Buhari.

“Consequently, loyal party members who worked hard to produce the victory of the party in 2015 and 2019 had to live with the trauma of producing a government that doesn’t reward the efforts of party members. Strangers and in some instances antagonists to APC became the main players. This must change if our party is to develop democratically,” he noted.