Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Constitution Review Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for meaningful inputs from party faithful that will enable the party have a working documents which are beneficial to members across the country.
The Chairman of the Committee, Professor Mammam Tahir, made the call on Friday while addressing party chieftains and members during the APC Southwest Stakeholders’ meeting, held in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
Mammam explained that the national leadership of the APC had deemed it proper to review the party’s constitution to capture the dynamism and needs of all generations and all periods without the inputs of the people of the grassroots.
He expressed confidence that the party constitution will be reviewed in such a way that will make it a model, even for other political parties in the country.
According to him, several gaps had been imported into the party constitution since year 2013/2014 when it was written, hence the need to update the constitution and make it reflect the wishes of every APC member.
“Since year 2013/2014 when the present party onstitution came into being, lots of issues, some gaps have emerged, and also some practices have come onboard since the inauguration of the Caretaker Committee which the constitution will want to incorporate into the document.
“We all know that the constitution is a working document, but we cannot make a constitution that will cover all generations and all periods. We also know the other side that however beautiful a constitution can be, if the operator does not live within the spirit of the constitution, there will be serious problems and this is a serious gap in lawmaking and law implementation in Nigeria.
“This committee thought it wise that there is no way we can craft a political document in Abuja without seeking the input of the grassroots. Therefore, if APC is a progressive party, it has to focus on the people in such a way that will make them have a way of making inputs; saying something about their party.
“New provisions need to be added and some has to be taken out. If you look at the APC Constitution, there are things that needed not to be there at the moment. This is an extremely important exercise and we are happy that this zone has taken it with a level of seriousness”. Mammam stated.
Earlier in his opening address, the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, said the Constitution Review exercise presented members of the party with another opportunity of converging together for self examination and evaluate the journey so far, particularly since year 2015 when the party assumed government.
Abiodun specifically declared that the constitution of the party is a vital instrument that must be continuously re-evaluated, if APC would prove to others that it is a party of true democrats.
“We must be seen as practising and ensuring internal democracy even within the party. As a matter of fact, we are happy that this is coming just as registration of new members and revalidation of old ones into the largest party in Africa is continuing”. The governor said.
Noting that APC had witnessed an explosion in number of membership, particularly with the entry of political stalwarts from the rival political parties, Abiodun said that the stakeholders’ meeting would allow party leadership assess the journey so far and also introspect on the way forward.