From Segun Amure, (The New Diplomat’s Abuja Bureau)
President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, on Saturday stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is targeting 100 million Nigerians to become members of the party.
Speaking at his ward Katuzu, Bade Local government Area of Yobe North Senatorial District after revalidating his membership of the party, Lawan lauded the exercise, noting it will move the party forward.
His word reads, “The registration exercise will see the party at the national, state, zonal and local government levels moving forward to ensure that APC continues to dominate the political space of Nigeria. We have elections this year in Anambra, and by the grace of God, APC will win that election. We have gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun – these are states that are APC – and we will continue to keep them.”
“But in 2023, by the Grace of God, APC should win more National Assembly, gubernatorial seats. APC should continue to dominate the Presidency, and we are not asking for 16 years. We want to do things that will make Nigerians to continue to trust the APC; to continue to identify with our government and presidency because we mean well and will continue to do well for Nigeria”. Lawan said.
Lawan added that the exercise became imperative in view of the need to weed out members of the APC who had defected to other political parties and are still recorded in the party’s register and also to afford new or intending members the opportunity to get registered.
Speaking on youth involvement at the ongoing APC revalidation, Lawan said, “The youth, who will be the majority of those that would register, will now have a veryhave very critical role to play in the politics of APC and the democratic process of Nigeria. I also want to say that this exercise is essential because we have names of people who have decamped to other political parties and yet their names are in the register of APC. We cannot continue to carry the names of people who have shifted ground. And, essentially, democracy is about the people to take and make decisions on behalf of themselves.
“When it is time for them to decide who should run for any political office, it should be their decision. So, this is further democratizing the APC. And, I believe that this exercise is one that the APC should approach very positively. We should not register nothing less than a hundred million Nigerians. And we have every chance and every reason to register more than one hundred million Nigerians in this exercise”.
Lawan added further that, “I want to also appeal to my party men all across the country. We should not in any way try to stop registration of any Nigerian who wants to be a member of our party. This party has enough space and room to accommodate everyone. And, the broom is there to ensure that we don’t leave any dirt around. So, please, there should be no fighting, and where we have issues in any of our chapters, we should do our best to ensure that we reconcile our people,” he said.
Sen. Lawan lauded the leadership of the Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Committee over its effort to bring lasting peace among APC factions in Zamfara state.
He also appreciated the party’s leadership for visiting aggrieved members ahead of 2023 election with the aim of restoring peace within the party.
“Talking about reconciliation, let me commend the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, my Governor, Mai Mala Buni, who has done tremendous work of reconciling people who have fallen apart in our party. He has done so much, and I believe that Nigerians can bear witness. Only a week or so ago, the case of Zamfara was addressed before everybody. But today, we have been able to reconcile APC in Zamfara, credit to the Caretaker Chairman of this party”. Lawan said
