Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman
Ahead of the national convention of the All Progressive Congress (APC), a deep division has emerged among members of the National Working Committee (NWC) over the mode of selecting the party’s presidential flagbearer.
This came to the fore after a member of the NWC and former Director General of the Progressive Governor’s Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, accused the party’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, of plotting to impose the presidential flagbearer under the guise of consulting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter.
In a leaked letter dated May 27 addressed to Senator Adamu, Lukman faulted s decision Adamu to consult with Buhari before arriving at the decision to pick the party’s presidential flagbearer.
Lukman, who faulted the secrecy surrounding the screening of presidential aspirant, described the move as not only antithetical to democratic norms but alien to the party’s constitution.
Lukman claimed that the current NWC is gradually snowballing into what used to be the case under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Mai Mala Buni era where decisions taken are allowed to lay bare and, in some instances, changed without necessarily taking needed steps to carry members along.
He noted: “For instance, although the National Convention to elect the party’s presidential candidate is scheduled for May 29 and 30, less than 48 hours, we are yet to have a Convention Committee in place.
“In fact, the presidential aspirants are yet to be screened. The official explanation is that you are awaiting for final consultation with President Buhari. At the risk of sounding agitated, this is unfair to Buhari, because to the best of my understanding, it is an attempt to use the president’s name to give excuses for failure, if it happens, which should not be the case.
“As NWC and as our leader being the National Chairman, I want to appeal to you on the need for new initiatives in managing the party. At the rate we are going, we are walking back to the old spot of over centralised implementation of party decisions”
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