The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila has said for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the progressive movement to survive in Nigeria, there must be a deliberate and effective system of leadership recruitment to identify and prepare people, especially the youth, to occupy the important offices of party and government.

Speaking at the 2021 Progressives Youth Conference of the APC in Abuja on Monday, Gbajabiamila said the party needed to identify competent people both at home and in the Diaspora and bring them on board to be “effective champions of progressivism in the country and in government.”

He said this was the practice all over the world, especially in countries where democracy had developed over the years.

The Speaker also said translating good manifestos into policies by political parties remained the foundation for achievements.

“Political party manifestos are a statement of vision and vision is the foundation of all achievements. For a nation such as ours to succeed, we must first define a common vision that will inspire us, bring us together, and provide the focus that allows us to persevere through the inevitable difficult times,” Gbajabiamila.

He noted further: “Political parties exist to mobilise public support to form a government and to superintend over the affairs of the state. To be successful in this regard, political parties must reflect in their membership, the broad spectrum of the society it seeks to govern.

As is the case with all other contractual documents, the commitments contained in the party manifesto are the basis upon which the party’s record in government will be measured and its leaders will be assessed both in real-time and in the judgment of history. As it has been throughout history, so also will it be for us in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as we too will answer for what we have done with our time in government.”

Gbajabiamila also said the most important factor that determined whether a political party in government would succeed in implementing its manifesto would be the process by which the party arrived at the manifesto in the first instance.

Some aggrieved members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun on Tuesday staged a protest to express their displeasure over alleged imposition of candidate ahead of the July 24 council polls in the state.

The APC members from Abeokuta-North Local Government Area staged the protest at the premises of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at Oke-Ilewo in Abeokuta.

The protesters said though they still hold their loyalty to Governor Dapo Abiodun, they were opposed to “the choice of a wrong candidate in our area.”

The members frowned at and rejected the alleged imposition of Abdusalam Ayorinde by the APC leadership as the party’s flagbearer for Abeokuta-North council area at the forthcoming polls.

The leader of the group, Babatunde Olajumoke, who addressed journalists, said that the people’s choice was Tajudeen Ishola, whom he said, had been identifying with the people over the years.

Saidat Akinlade, another APC chieftain in the area, explained that the chances of winning the polls in the area is brighter with the candidature of Ishola.

Mrs Akinlade, who restated the loyalty of the members for Gov. Dapo Abiodun, noted that some “selfish” party leaders might have misguided the governor on the choice.

She called on Mr Abiodun to invite Mr Ishola and other party leaders from the local government area and the state for a dialogue on the matter.

“We want the governor to call us for dialogue and hear our own agitations so that the party would continue to record landslide victories in the polls in the area,” she said.

(NAN)

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) may face challenges after the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

Lawan gave the warning on Monday night in a speech delivered to close the First Progressives Youth Conference 2021 which held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

He said the party must begin to plan ahead to sustain the goodwill and legacies of the present administration.