Protesters ground APC HQ, demand extension of membership registration, revalidation

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

The headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was practically grounded yesterday by protesters demanding extension of ongoing party’s membership registration and revalidation exercise.

The protesters in their hundreds had stormed the party’s secretariat as early as 10.30am and for 30 minutes displayed placards  with various inscriptions which sought to appeal to the ruling party’s national leadership to extend the exercise.

Organisers of the protest,  Coalition of Political Action Group, said they were concerned stakeholders who were members of various state chapters of the party.

In the letter of appeal for extension of the registration handed over the National Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Senator John Akpanudoehede, signed by Habeeb Mutallib, the group said: “We are here in relation to the ongoing membership registration and revalidation exercise scheduled to end on March 31, 2021. It is our firm expectation and demand that the exercise should be extended indefinitely until such a time as it becomes incompatible with the electoral laws and timetable.

“The membership registration and revalidation exercise has proven to be an inspired idea by the National Caretaker Committee led by the able chairman. It has provided a reason for many of our waring leaders and factions to unite around a common objective in the higher interest of our party as they work together to make certain the exercise succeeds in their constituencies.

“Bearing in mind that our father and most valuable player, President Muhammadu Bunari, will not be on the ballot in 2023 which means we must devise sustainable means to retain power and continue his legacies, the exercise is the only political event within our party since 2015 which has rekindled our hopes that the grassroots energies which propelled us to victory and displaced the PDP from the presidency in 2015 still exists. Since nature abhors vacuum, we are aware that if the APC wraps up this exercise prematurely as planned, the PDP, the APC’s perennial opposition which has always fancied itself our would-be nemesis, will immediately exploit the breather to start her own raucous mobilisation exercise in a bid to distract the populace from her heinous crimes against the Republic while she held sway between 1999 and 2015.”