Forum of former members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives in the All Progressives Congress, APC has commended the party’s leadership for withdrawing a proposed amendment to the APC Constitution, which initially excluded former and serving lawmakers as statutory delegates to the party’s National Convention.
The forum reacted to a newspaper publication on Page 6 of The Nation Newspaper on February 16, 2022, where the APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee confirmed the withdrawal.
In a press statement signed by the Forum’s Protem Chairman, Hon Ibrahim Zailani, the group expressed displeasure over being excluded in consultations leading to the amendments of the Constitution.
The forum urged the party’s Caretaker Committee to conduct comprehensive consultations and ensure internal democracy before making sensitive decisions.
“Yes, we are glad the “party leadership did the needful by quickly rectifying an error that could have spelt unimaginable consequences to the stability of the APC. Such an inadvertent error that overheated the party’s space for the past few days could have been adequately scrutinised, avoided and due diligence applied by the officers concerned. We must avoid this sort of scenario in the future.
“As a body of principal stakeholders in our great party, the APC, we are watching with keen interest the events leading to the National Convention and the Presidential Primaries as they unfold!
“We reiterate our plea to the leadership of the party that as a progressive entity, the onus is on our party to lead the way in espousing progressive ideologies, chief of which is the institutionalisation of internal democracy. Anything short of this would mean no good for the unity and progress of our party,” the statement read.
The former legislators pledged their support and loyalty to the leadership of the APC.
Editor/Suzan O.
