Senate President says APC targets 100 million members
By Tunde Opalana and Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja
President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, has said that the ongoing membership registration and revalidation exercise of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was targeted at making 100 million Nigerians members of the ruling party.
According to Lawan, the registration exercise was conceived to further democratise the party ahead of the 2023 general elections and reposition it to dominate the political space by winning more elective seats at the state and Federal levels of government.
A statement by one of his media aides, Mr. Ezrel Tabiowo, indicated that the Senate President aired these views immediately after revalidating his party membership at his home constituency, Katuzu Ward in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe North Senatorial District on Saturday.
While speaking to journalists, Lawan said the exercise would afford the youth a critical role in governance, and provide Nigerians at the grassroots the opportunity of being major stakeholders in the nation’s decision-making process.
He added that the exercise became imperative in view of the need to weed out members of APC who had decamped to other political parties and were still recorded in the party’s register.
Additionally, it would afford new or intending members the opportunity to get registered.
“The youth, who will be the majority of those that would register, will now have a very critical role to play in the politics of APC and the democratic process of Nigeria,” he said, adding, “I also want to say that this exercise is essential because we have names of people who have decamped to other political parties and yet their names are in the register of APC.
We cannot continue to carry the names of people who have shifted ground. And, essentially, democracy is about the people to take and make decisions on behalf of themselves.”
Lawan said the ongoing exercise would grant depth to the party.
His words: “This is about taking the party to the grassroots. As Mr. President said in Daura, the party should be built from bottom up.
The people at the grassroots should have the party, so that when it is time for them to make decisions on whom they should vote for in congresses, they should take that decision.
When it is time for them to decide who should run for any political office, it should be their decision. So, this is further democratising the APC.”
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He urged the party to realise the sensitivity of the unfolding process.
“I believe that this exercise is one that the APC should approach very positively. We should not register nothing less than a hundred million Nigerians.
And we have every chance and every reason to register more than one hundred million Nigerians in this exercise,” Lawan said.
He further disclosed that the exercise would continue after the March deadline to enable young Nigerians attaining the franchise age of 18 the opportunity to become registered members of the ruling party.
Lawan said, “This exercise of registration and revalidation does not terminate at the end of this month or in the first week of March. This period is only given to provide for a symbolic environment for registration and revalidation.
The process will continue even after then, because we would have to register many more who will become eighteen years of age after this exercise is over.”
The Senate President, while appealing to party faithful across the country to shun infighting, called on leaders of the party at the state levels to embrace reconciliation and desist from thwarting the efforts of intending members willing to join the party.
As he put it: “I want to also appeal to my party men all across the country. We should not in any way try to stop registration of any Nigerian who wants to be a member of our party.
This party has enough space and room to accommodate everyone. And, the broom is there to ensure that we don’t leave any dirt around.
So, please, there should be no fighting, and where we have issues in any of our chapters, we should do our best to ensure that we reconcile our people.”
Lawan, who commended the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Committee for its feat in reconciling aggrieved members of the ruling party, lauded the most recent effort that restored unity among APC factions in Zamfara state.
The Senate President said: “Talking about reconciliation, let me commend the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, my Governor, Mai Mala Buni, who has done a tremendous work of reconciling people who have fallen apart in our party.
He has done so much, and I believe that Nigerians can bear witness. Only a week or so ago, the case of Zamfara was addressed before everybody. But today, we have been able to reconcile APC in Zamfara, credit to the Caretaker Chairman of this party.
“In Yobe, APC is one, and more than 98 percent are members. I want to see a situation where over 98 percent get their registration or revalidation.”
According to him, the exercise held the promise that the party at the national, state and local government levels would ensure that APC continued to dominate the political space of Nigeria.
He said: “We have elections this year in Anambra, and by the grace of God, APC will win that election. We have gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun –these are states that are APC– and we will continue to keep them.
“But in 2023, by the grace of God, APC should win more National Assembly and gubernatorial seats. APC should continue to dominate the Presidency, and we are not asking for 16 years.
“We want to do things that will make Nigerians to continue to trust the APC; to continue identifying with our government and presidency because we mean well and will continue to do well for Nigeria.”
Earlier, the Senate President attended the turbanning ceremony of the Yeriman Bade, Alhaji Musa Yerima, inspected the Gasamu/Gogaram road project, and carried out the foundation laying-ceremony of the Government Secondary School, Gashua.
