From Romanus Ugwu and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Governor Mai Mala Buni, has attributed the internal wranglings in the ruling party to the selfish interests of aspirants for the 2023 elections.
In his valedictory speech at the national convention of the APC in Abuja, he, however, announced that the Caretaker Committee recorded impressive achievements in the registration and revalidation of members, winning some persons from the opposition party and purchase of the national secretariat of the party.
“It is pertinent to point out that we are conscious of the anxiety among our members for the conduct of the convention to elect substantive national leaders. We are also aware of the rising interests among individuals and groups. especially those with the ambition to aspire in the 2023 general election.
“This anxiety has however translated into some internal wrangling and squabbles recently recorded in the party. Such internal disputes are both normal and common, especially in a growing democracy like ours. The beauty of such disagreements is the ability and resilience to resolve them and emerge out of them stronger,” he said.
Enumerating the achievements of his Committee in the last two years, he said: “APC under the Caretaker Committee, made history with an unparalleled record of high-powered defections into the party. Three serving governors of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, Cross River State, Dr. Ben Ayade, and Zamfara State, Bello Mutawalle, defected along with millions of their supporters from PDP into the APC.
“I am glad to add that the fortunes of the party were further enriched with the defection of former Speakers of the House of Representatives, former PDP national chairman, member PDP Board of Trustees, several distinguished senators and honourable members of the House of Representatives and state assemblies, and several other heavyweights cutting across all the geo-political zones of the country.
“Let me reassure those of you whose defections are being challenged in the courts that you have nothing to fear because your defections did not contravene any law. You will by the grace of God emerge successful and victorious in the superior courts at the end of these litigations. Your wise decision to join APC along with millions of your supporters shall never be in vain.
“I am gratified to inform this gathering that the Caretaker Committee under my watch has finally and fully settled the balance of payment for the National Headquarters. We have taken full ownership of the property. It is named after His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari. The National Secretariat will henceforth be known and addressed as ‘BUHARI HOUSE’.
“I am pleased to say that the CECPC conducted peaceful and successful congresses at the ward, local, and state levels and reviewed the party’s constitution to clear ambiguities and to provide for the missing lines. The reviewed constitution is ready to be presented to you for ratification.
“To promote party governance, teamwork, and inclusiveness, the caretaker committee introduced wide-scale consultations and engaged many stakeholders outside the committee as chairmen and members of various subcommittees on reconciliation, membership registration, congresses, and appeal committees among others,” he said.
While describing the CECPC as “a child of circumstance constituted by the National Executive Committee (NEC), to restructure and reposition the party,” he added: “With your generous support, we collectively rescued the party and enriched its fortunes.
“l want to seize this unique opportunity to specially and gratefully appreciate our able and great leader, President Buhari, for his uncommon commitment and leadership style that guided the committee to record some modest achievements for the party,” he noted.
“Upon assumption of office, the committee embarked on a genuine and all-inclusive reconciliation process to give everyone a true sense of belonging, confidence, and reassurance in the collective ownership of the party. We, first of all, visited some critical stakeholders to engage them in resolving the disputes and other hanging disagreements in the party.
“While some of these visits were made public, others were done out of the public glare and without media publicity. Similarly, we visited some aggrieved chieftains who sincerely shared their ill feelings with the committee. We spoke to each other frankly, placing party interests above personal interests.
“I am glad to state that those frank discussions built a new hope in the hearts of the aggrieved persons such that, those who earlier left the party returned back, while those contemplating to forsake the party, never left. However, when we commenced the assignment, we realized that the problems on the ground had far outweighed our estimation of the time required to resolve the huge problems bedeviling the party.
“This made the initial six months dateline grossly inadequate, unrealistic, and not practicable and therefore, the need for extension of more time. Happily, for every extension, we brought in additional values with positive developments into the party.
Having reconciled substantial stakeholders, members and groups, the committee commenced membership registration and revalidation exercise, being one of the mandates of the CECPC, to establish the party’s numerical strength for proper planning and mobilization.
“The exercise provided our new members the opportunity to register as legitimate members of APC with equal rights, privileges, and opportunities, as well as, to give back the ownership of the party to the members, using the bottom-top approach.
“I am glad to state with all sense of fulfilment that the membership registration and revalidation exercise, recorded over 41 million members who registered with the details of their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) and passport size photographs. This unprecedented increase in membership from the previous 11 million registered members to over 41 million registered members, provides the party with an added advantage of winning elections in Nigeria with landslide victories,” he assured.