The Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, has maintained that the entrenchment of internal democracy is required to ensure victory of the party in the 2023 general election.
The PGF boss said there is the need to take every step necessary to ensure the success of the ongoing reform in the APC to strengthen internal democracy within the party.
Lukman in a statement titled “Seductiveness of Conventional Politics and the Challenges facing APC” dedicated to the publisher of the Leadership newspapers, he argued that this would avert the problem associated with the imposition of candidates that had dogged party politics in the country over the years.
“Ultimately, the reform should be able to guarantee that all negotiations for appointments by governments produced by the party should be mainstreamed as part of the operational activities of the party,” Lukman said.
“The goal of reform therefore is to ensure that the party is fortified as the bearer of democratic values and progressive politics. This is the critical success factor for enduring reform that should come with commitment to democratic values and rule of law, which is not limited to preservation of power.
“This will require that all activities of membership registration/revalidation, congresses and national convention are carefully planned. To achieve this will require that members of His Excellency Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Committee are taking the necessary steps to strengthen the capacity of the APC National Secretariat to implement all decisions.
“This is largely about taking responsibility and communicating decisions to party members and the public. Although, considerable progress has been achieved, it is important to appeal for more consultations, coordination and better communications of initiatives and all the internal reform process.
“Poor consultations, coordination and communication makes party members to be contemptuous of every decision taken, which strengthens the confidence of those opposed to internal party reform. The solution to all these lies in the ability of the 13-member Caretaker Committee to work harmoniously with the required professional competence. The Secretary of the Caretaker Committee should be able to facilitate the process of planning and one of the 13 members should be able to lead the process of members’ and public mobilisation.
“Our leaders, especially the Caretaker Committee should bear in mind constantly the message of Obama in his Memoir, that “It was the nature of democracies to swing between periods of progressive changes and conservative retrenchment. The swing to conservativism may be produced from within the party.”