Congresses: APC Risks Collapse, Members Write Buhari [Full Letter]

The Concerned APC Stakeholders, a political group, has expressed worry that the ruling party has continuously toed the path that brought down the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015. 

The stakeholders, in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the party’s values of fairness and inclusiveness have been abused and violated by certain individuals using the president’s name as cover to legitimise their selfish agenda.

The letter, signed by Abubakar Sidiq Usman, said the party’s ward and local government congresses were held in clear violation of fairness and transparency, alleging that party leaders employed undemocratic method of imposing officials on other members.  

Usman told the president that the situation in the ruling APC greatly troubled majority of party members, who have merely kept quiet in deference to his leadership, trusting that he would take action to arrest the ugly situation.

He expressed fear that the party may collapse after Buhari leaves office in 2023 if there was no urgent intervention by the president. 

“It is not in doubt that in spite of all that has been going on in the party since we came into government in 2015, the party is still able to hold as one because everyone defers to you. The same may not be the case by the time you leave office in 2023,” he said. 

Read the full letter bellow

His Excellency,

President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

State House,

Abuja.

Your Excellency Sir,

POPULAR CONCERNS OF PARTY MEMBERS AND THE NEED TO URGENTLY RETURN THE APC TO ITS FOUNDING IDEALS

It is with absolute sense of duty that we write you at this moment in our journey for national rebirth and holistic change for our dear country, Nigeria. It is even a greater pleasure to know that Nigeria is blessed with someone who has deep love and passion for the country as yourself. Indeed, we are proud of your incredible performance in office, and we extend a most profound appreciation for your leadership thus far.

As stakeholders of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, we acknowledge and appreciate your constant stride to keep to the promises we made during the two campaigns prosecuted by the party. We believe that your honesty and commitment to the diligent implementation of our party’s manifesto has greatly endeared Nigerians to the ideals the APC represent; and more specifically to your person as a trustworthy and reliable leader. However, as we gradually move closer to the expiration of your impactful tenure, we believe it is time we turn attention to issues bothering on the sustenance of your leadership values and legacies.

We are inclined to write at this point because of our increasing worry over some nagging issues threatening the continued existence and cohesion of the APC. Having consulted with several members and stakeholders of the party across the country, we understand that quite a large number of party members share in our fears for the future of the APC. We therefore feel duty-bound to report the issues to you before they pose even greater existential dangers to the very party that we hope will continue to serve as platform to sustain your impressive work and legacy for the country.

Your Excellency Sir, as a founding father of this great party, we recalled that the APC was built around the very values – honesty, transparency, fairness and inclusiveness that you hold dear. For many years since coming into power, these values have been abused and violated by certain individuals in the party. While it is bad enough that they abuse these values, they do it under your name or use your name as cover just to legitimise their selfish agenda. This development greatly troubles majority of party members who have merely kept quiet in deference to your leadership; trusting that you will take action to arrest the ugly situation. As the father of the nation, the need for you to take urgent action to redirect our party to the path of genuine progressive politics and internal democracy has become even more expedient considering that the fate of Nigeria as a peaceful, united and prosperous country is inextricably linked to the fate of the APC, not just as the party in power, but also as a progressive and reform-minded party.

Our most amiable leader sir, our party recently held Ward and Local Government Congresses as part of preparations for the national convention. In clear violation of Your Excellency’s well-known personal fidelity to fairness and transparency, leaders of the party across board, in the name of consensus, employed the undemocratic method of imposing party officials on the other members of the party. While it is indeed true that consensus is one of our party’s Constitutional provisions, it is an irrefutable fact that the APC Constitution did not envisage a situation where certain individuals, whether as governors, former governors or party leaders would force anointed candidates on the party and coerce others into accepting a premeditated outcome as a mutually agreed option. What played out at the various congresses clearly goes contrary to the principles and spirit of consensus and this explains why there were parallel congresses in more than half of the 36 states in the country and now been followed by parallel inauguration of party officials. A forced outcome is never a consensus, because any procedure that does not uphold the freedom of choice of individuals cannot be said to embody the progressive politics that APC ought to represent under your leadership. We believe that actions of this nature cannot be an honor to either your legacy or the transparent honesty that Nigerians have come to associate with your name.

We wish to remind Your Excellency of how the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, that we displaced from power went down as a result of the overbearing display of naked power and force by some powerful individuals in the party, who embraced the habit of micromanaging almost every activities of the party, denying a large majority of their members the legitimate rights to full participation while ostracizing those not seen to be falling in line. The aforementioned issues contributed to the eventual implosion of the party and eventual defeat in 2015. We are worried that the APC has continuously toed the path of what brought down the PDP.

However, unlike the PDP, our situation can still be rectified. With your timely interventions, the APC can still be made to embrace the core ideals that Your Excellency joined others to put in place as the very foundation of the party. The APC can still be made to cater to the varying interests of its diverse membership. Indeed, the APC can return to its original form as a party that is truly for all members, that is run by all members as stakeholders, that is owned by all members, and one that derives its strength from the belief, trust and investment of the ordinary members who are its backbone. It is not in doubt that in spite of all that has been going on in the party since we came into government in 2015, the party is still able to hold as one because everyone defers to you. Same may not be the case by the time you leave office in 2023. This is our fear and this is why we want Your Excellency to return the party to its very ideals. As a platform that afforded Nigerians a reform-minded leadership and governance, citizens of this great country would look forward to see, as part of the legacies Your Excellency will bequeath to this country, a party that is not owned by powerful individuals or cabals, but rather one whose strength and very existence are predicated on its ability to command the loyalty and dedication of its teeming members through justice, fairness and transparency.

Your Excellency Sir, as passionate party members with absolute trust in your leadership, we seek to present the following recommendations for your consideration as we seek to collectively salvage this party.

1. We acknowledge that we may have missed the opportunity to right the aforementioned wrongs at the two levels where congresses already held (Ward and Local Government Areas), but the forthcoming national convention presents a perfect opportunity that we must take advantage of. Consequently, we recommend that Your Excellency insist on open contestation as the option for every position in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, rather than the imposition of anointed candidates in the name of consensus as was the case with the party’s recent Wards and Local Government congresses.

2. We recommend that the set of leaders that will emerge from the forthcoming national convention must be those who do not only have what it takes to give a new life to the APC in the interest of all members, they must be people with unquestionable characters and proven records of integrity and progressiveness. This will clearly be in accordance with Your Excellency’s incorruptible public profile. The party should set stringent conditions as criteria qualifying anyone to hold a national office in the All Progressives Congress.

3. We appeal that as a pointer to genuine preparations for the forthcoming convention, Your Excellency should prevail on the party’s Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) to make public the date, guidelines, and other arrangements for the national convention prior to the state Congress slated for October 16th, 2021. We believe this will not only dispel the widely held belief that the Buni-led committee is playing out a script with its continuous stay in office, it will also ensure proper and adequate planning for the convention.

Mr President Sir, we have made the above observations and recommendations in the belief that we owe you a duty to safeguard your carefully built reputation by preserving the true identity of the progressive ideals you envisioned for the APC, and to reignite the hope and aspirations of a vast membership of the party who became members in the first place only because they trusted your words and promise of fairness and justice. We appeal to you, dear President and leader, to intervene urgently in order to reignite the confidence of party members who believe and rely on your leadership by ensuring that we do not only get the forthcoming national convention right, but that we also enthrone genuine leaders the APC needs at this time, who are sufficiently capable of safeguarding your legacies from being eroded.

We thank Your Excellency, most sincerely, for making out time to read our letter of appeal and clarion call. More importantly, we thank you for the interest in, and passion for, Nigeria; a passion that led you to accept to serve in the first instance.

While praying that Your Excellency graciously accede to our clarion call of saving the party from possible extinction, we assure you of the support of our teeming members at all times.

Sincerely,

Abubakar Sidiq Usman

For: Concerned APC Stakeholders