From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Director-General, All Progressives Congress (APC) Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Moh. Lukman, has claimed that the ruling party is radically different from the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in internal operation mechanism.

In a statement he titled ‘Seductiveness of conventional politics and the challenges facing APC’, dedicated to Sam Nda-Isaiah, a founding member of the APC and a presidential aspirant in 2014, Lukman however charged the Goverror Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee to concentrate on rebuilding the party rather than resorting to issuing dry press statements against a fumbling PDP.

He blamed most of the electoral defeats APC suffered since 2015 on account of its inability to develop and strengthen processes of consensus-building within the party, including issues of candidates’ selection.
“It is clear that the return to the conventional approach to politics in APC commenced during the merger negotiations of 2013 and got consolidated with the electoral victory of 2015. Unlike what happened in PDP between 1999 and 2007, however, the dynamic in APC didn’t allow any power bloc to monopolise the control of the party.
“It is very easy to dismiss the APC as being the same as the PDP. In truth, however, the APC is radically different from the PDP. For instance, while the PDP leadership is still in denial that there are challenges facing the party requiring internal reforms, the APC leadership since 2018 in fact recognised the need for reforms. It was the recognition for reforms that led to the decision to change the John Odigie-Oyegun-led leadership, which brought in Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s leadership. Unlike in the PDP, there was internal debate about whether to change Chief Oyegun’s leadership or not.
“Insteadof the conventional approach of forcing Oyegun to resign, which is the practice in PDP, Oyegun’s leadership was democratically changed at a National Convention,” Lukman nited in the statement.
He however pointed out that there is the need to take every step necessary to ensure that the reforms going on in APC strengthen internal democracy within the party.
“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 reforms process.
“Poor consultations, coordination, and communication make party members be contemptuous of every decision taken, which strengthens the confidence of those opposed to internal party reforms.
“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.
“Therefore instead of some of the dry press releases throwing banters at PDP leaders who are struggling to bounce back to pollical reckoning, the messages from the Caretaker Committee and the party should be about rebuilding the party,” Lukman counseled.

On the decision of the party leadership to commence membership registration and revalidation by next month, the PGF boss noted that the postponement has become necessary to allow for the recruitment of new members and at the same time revalidate old members “so as to resolve any possible contention about who has left the party or not from the old register.”