..Akande, Ganduje, Osinbajo, Amaechi grace book launch on APC
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, has urged the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to live up to the expectation of telling President Bola Tinubu the feedback from Nigerians not what he is hearing in the Villa where he is locked out.
He spoke at a book launch, APC and Transition Politics, authored by former party’s Vice Chairman North-West, Salihu Moh Lukman, on Tuesday in Abuja.
Delivering his goodwill messages, Fayemi said that: “every progressive party always have people like Lukman and the only way to give credit to such people is to continue to regard them as the conscience of our party.
“If there is anybody who can be described as the conscience of the APC and progressive politics in Nigeria today, more than any of us is Salihu Lukman. So our being present here is a token, is paying homage to the voice of the voiceless and that individual committed and insisted to be the voice in the wilderness that our party must be progressive.
“This party leader should be the one that tells our President that this is the feedback from the communities and constituency out there not what he is hearing in the villa where he is locked out. All of us who hold public offices we know how it can be.
“The book should be a compulsory read for members of the National Working Committee at the national level, state level, local government, ward level so that we can begin the rebuilding process of this organic party, Dr Umar Ganduje is highly committed,” he said.
In attendance during the launch include former governor of Osun State who doubles as the chairman of the event, Bisi Akande, national chairman of APC, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, representatives Vice President Kashim Shettima, former Vice president Yemi Osinbajo, former minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former APC spokespersons, Bolaji Abdullahi and Lanre Issa-Onilu, former VON DG, Osita Okechukwu among many others.
Speaking during the launch, Lukman said: “One of the driving forces for me was basically to stimulate discussion within the party and hopefully get the party leaders to own it and maybe mainstream it into the structures of the party.
“One of the things we were afraid of when planning the event, was a situation where we end up talking to ourselves. This indeed reflected a lot in the presentations here, keeping the kind of image I know I have acquired for myself, it will be difficult to have the confidence that leaders will be here.
“Umar Ganduje is now the National Chairman, after all, and including all that Comrade Adams Oshiomole has reflected on, even after all I have canvassed publicly, it is a clear demonstration of the fact that this party (APC) had a clear future.
“What is required is to try and give critical support to all our leaders so that they can revive all the structures of the party.
Part of the issues we keep debating is the future of our children. Looking back to where we are coming from, we (parents) had it better than what our children are having now.
The whole concept of progressive governance or progressive politics is about making a better life.
“We will continue to write and we will take all the advice given. We will remain who we are and we will try to serve the party to the best of our knowledge,” he noted.