Follow Us on Google
Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has identified crude political interests as a major threat to the conduct of the February 25 and March 11 elections.
He traced the genesis to the build-up to the 2022 presidential primaries, which were influenced by “the various power centres rather than what is best for the country.”
In a statement released by his Media Effie in Abuja, yesterday, Olawepo-Hashim noted that Nigeria is “in a mess right now because the leadership, particularly of the two major parties, approached 2023 issues on account of narrow self interests rather than national interest.”
He said it was more the case in the ruling party, the APC, where a group of super governors shoved the party aside and even the powerful “Villa” apparatchiks watched helplessly as those governors imposed their will rudely on everyone.
“The way the primaries of the parties were conducted and the way the issues or non-issues were framed is the background to where we are. That is why the parties are not acting cohesively in their campaigns.”
He posited that as it is today, “each presidential candidate is leading a faction of his party, while a sizable group in the same party is opposed to the flag bearer. In the PDP, it is Atiku vs G-5; in APC, it is Tinubu vs Villa group. There is currently no distinct ideological differentiation in the polity, leaving the country in a real mess.”
He insisted that there must be elections to choose new leaders and that the “likelihood is that voters who are driven by the public good will be looking for candidates that fit their definition of something good not parties.”
Such people he added, “are likely to vote party A for National Assembly seats, B for president, and C for governors if they are enlightened voters, and that is if the election holds at all.”
