Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The immediate-past National Youth Leader of the dissolved All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC), Sadiq Abubakar, has urged youth members of the party to support the newly constituted Caretaker/Extra-ordinary National Convention Planning Committee.
Sadiq, who made the appeal in a statement he issued in Abuja, expressed confidence in the ability of the committee chairman, Mai Mala Buni, to carry out the reform to turn around the party.
Writing under the title ‘APC: A call to rebuild, Sadiq noted: “Last week, our father and leader of our great party, President Muhammadu Buhari participated in an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the governing APC.
“While the outcome of that meeting is now very well known, especially with to the dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC), there has never been a more auspicious time for all stakeholdersto join hands to rebuild the party.
“As the National Youth Leader in the dissolved NWC, I call on my immediate constituency, the youth, my colleagues of the dissolved NWC as well as other party members, to accept the decision of NEC and support the Caretaker/Extra-ordinary National Convention Planning Committee headed by Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State.
“Having been a two-time National Secretary of the APC, Governor Mai Mala Buni sure knows the intricacies of running a ruling party and also understands the nuances of the varied interests in the party. In fact, having served under two National Chairmen, he represents a bridge between the distant past, the recent past and the present.
“If our party must move forward, we must support the fatherly admonition by President Buhari to the effect that all those who instituted various lawsuits against the party and its leadership drop same forthwith.
“For, if we tear the party apart, we would have played into the hands of the opposition whose sole agenda is to “capture” power at the centre and again return the country to the years of the locusts.
“It is neither in our interest nor in the interest of electoral democracy to seek to destroy our party and the legacies of Mr. President by instituting lawsuits in the aftermath of a troubleshooting NEC meeting which outcome turned out a win-win for all sides.
“Now is the time to reposition the party by supporting the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Committee to conduct a National Convention that would throw up a new leadership reflective of all stakeholders in the party.
“If we truly love Mr. President, we must demonstrate the spirit of progressive politics whose cardinal objective is “all before self”. The time to subsume our personal interests within the larger and collective interests of the party and the nation is now.
“Our party, the APC, remains a progressive and veritable platform for the realization$$ of our political ambitions as youths,” the statement read.