Bola Tinubu, national leader of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the party must not derail in its
all-inclusive policy of internal democracy.
Tinubu said this while reacting
to comments credited to Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, who criticised
his opposition to an automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
The APC leader had said if Buhari
decides to re-contest, there would be no automatic ticket for him but Okorocha
accused Tinubu of “crying more than the bereaved.”
However, the APC leader said he
never underrated the importance of governors in the party’s nomination process.
He said contrary to Okorocha’s
claims, he only said the APC should not mimic the Peoples Democratic Party’s
(PDP) “penchant for short-circuiting internal democracy” by promoting the idea
of an automatic ticket.
“Asiwaju (Tinubu) never said
anything that could be interpreted as meaning or even implying the governors
are irrelevant or insignificant to the party’s nomination process,” read a
statement which Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s spokesman, issued on his behalf.
“As a former governor and a
leading statesman within the party, such words would never come from him.
“Moreover, Asiwaju is a democrat
who believes that the open and democratic processes of the APC, which led to
the nomination of President Buhari in the first instance, have served the party
well and has helped distinguish APC from PDP and other parties where fairness
and internal democracy are rare commodities.
“Every individual has a right to
endorse or support a candidate of his choosing. What Asiwaju said at that
encounter and still canvasses is that the APC should not mimic the PDP’s
penchant for short-circuiting internal democracy by promoting the idea of an
automatic ticket.
“The exercise of internal
democracy and honouring the letter and spirit of party rules can only
strengthen the party and enthuse its members.
“APC’s all-inclusive philosophy
was not devised today. It had been with the party since its creation. It was
this spirit, which we believe, attracted fellow progressives and those who
genuinely believe in democracy in all of its aspects to the party. Asiwaju
includes Governor Okorocha in this group.”
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