Do not give APC presidential ticket to an outsider …….PGF-DG warns party leaders

By Doyin Olawale

The Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Dr. Salihu Lukman, has warned the leadership of the All Peoples Congress (APC) against handing over the presidential ticket of the party to anyone outside the party structure.

The call is coming on the heel of alleged move by some APC bigwigs to lure former President, Goodluck Jonathan to the party with the intention of handing over the presidential ticket of the party to him

However, Lukman in a statement on Sunday noted that the speculations that party leaders are pushing this agenda is already doing a lot of damage to the unity among party members.

In the statement titled, “APC and Struggle for New Nigeria’, and obtained by Standard Times Nigeria in Abuja, on Sunday, the DG of the APC Governors forum identified excessive politicization of the country as the major reason behind the move to give the party’s presidential ticket to “an outsider”

He said, “Part of the challenge of excessive politicisation is that it also threatens internal unity of APC members and leaders. For instance, excessive politicisation in the country is influencing the decision of some APC leaders to push negotiation for the emergence of the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 elections outside the structures of the APC.

 “This is now threatening the unity of leaders of APC. Around the whole question of power shift, some leaders of the APC have gone outside the structures of the party to mobilise support for the party to zone its presidential candidate for 2023 to the southern part of the country. In a worrisome way, the loose partnership is being contracted with a section of leaders from other opposition political parties, notably the PDP.”

He further said, “It is important that all APC leaders are reminded that the campaign for power shift is about writing or respecting the rules of our party. This should be handled within the structures of the APC.

“It is belittling for APC leaders who are statutory members of all the relevant structures of the party that are competent to take the final decision on the matter to go outside the structures of the party and forge a partnership with PDP leaders to compel a decision, one way or the other, on the matter. It simply means a loss of confidence in the structures of the party, which in this matter couldn’t have been the case.

“It is therefore important that a strong appeal is made to all APC leaders to develop more confidence to negotiate every matter, including the issue of power shift, within the structures of APC.“