Oredola Adeola
The on-going peace efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari, to promote and improve cohesion within the All Progressives Congress (APC), through the establishment of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu's APC reconciliation committee, has suffered a set back , as a splinter group has emerged out of the Lagos State chapter of the party.
The group with the name: “Broom United Movement (BUM) emerged with the aim of challenging the party’s leadership in the state. The group accused the state leaders of engaging in “illegalities, manipulation and marginalisation” against party members.
According to Hon. Fouad Oki, APC State Vice chairman of the Lagos Central Senatorial District Chapter, who is also the leader of the group, APC as a ruling party in Nigeria is heading towards a deep crisis ahead of 2019 general election, except if genuine reconciliation is allowed to take place.
“Our party suffers from low organisational capacity and lack of internal democracy. The resultant effect of this has been its incapacity to support our democracy as expected," the BUM leader said.
Hon. Oki further revealed that there are no templates established to promote inclusiveness and equity in the party.
He said, “Today, our party in Lagos State is fading into insignificance. Massive membership exclusion is becoming the order of the day with members withdrawing from the political space and constituting themselves into internal opposition.
“It is in the light of all these, that the BUM will involve committed party members who will bring moral authority, character and wisdom in handling the delicate issue of reconciliation, unity and accord," Hon.Oki said.
The APC state leader however vowed to ensure that votes of party members count, adding that members must be allowed to independently choose their leaders in a healthy competitive atmosphere. He observed that the party has never been divided and disunited before.
He said, “ The current graveyard silence that permeates our political landscape with a ‘siddon look’ syndrome is very dangerous,” adding that political parties are vital organisations in a democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of political parties.
“Unfortunately, the democratic culture in our state is characterised by factors such as illegalities, rigging, oppression, manipulation, marginalisation and violence. Democracy and political participation are related to good governance.
"This relationship is complementary but appear to be antithetical in our political system.
" Democracy exists where the foremost leaders of a political system are selected by competitive elections in which the bulk of the Party membership has the opportunity to participate," he revealed.
Hon. Oki however cautioned that whenever democracy is abused, good governance becomes elusive and evasive.
Comments
Post a Comment