President Muhammadu Buhari says
he is seeking re-election because of the “clamour by Nigerians”.
His media office, in a statement,
said while addressing a closed-door meeting of the national executive council
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, Buhari gave the reason behind
his decision.
“The President said he was
responding to the clamour by Nigerians to re-contest in 2019, adding that he
wanted to give NEC the honour of notifying them first,” Garba Shehu, his media
assistant, said in the terse statement.
Shortly before making the
declaration, the president presented a speech on the report submitted by the
APC national executive technical committee.
Below are Buhari’s remarks to the
committee.
I am delighted to welcome you all
to this very important meeting in the affairs of our party and our country. I
want to specifically thank members of the Technical Committee for a job well
done within the limited time frame.
It shows a great sense of
commitment to the ideals of our party with a view to consolidating and
positioning the party to continue delivering good governance in the overall
interest of Nigerians.
With the present state of the
party and based on the report submitted by the Technical Committee, It is
important to focus on how to move the party forward by avoiding actions
detrimental to the interest of the party. Considering that politics is a game
of numbers, we must not be a house divided against itself and must try to note,
appreciate and accommodate our differences as far as the law permits.
Upon my review of the Report, my
position is to ensure that the party tows the path of unity, legality and
cohesion and not that of division.
Therefore, I am stressing that we
should strengthen our internal democracy by organising the Party’s Congresses
and Convention where election of National Executive Committee members would be
held. This will automatically end the cases filed by members seeking orders of
Court compelling the party to hold its Congresses.
I also believe that the current
executives should be free to vie for elective positions in the party if they so
wish as permitted by our Party constitution.
However, considering the
provision of Article 31(1)(iii) of the APC Constitution which requires any
serving officer desirous of seeking re-election to resign from office 30 days
before election, I am not sure of the practicality of present serving officers’
ability to meet this condition.
Accordingly, the party may
consider granting waivers to party executives at all levels so that they are
not disenfranchised from participating in the elections should they wish to do
so, provided this does not violate our rules.
Necessary waiver(s) should also
be extended to executives at the Ward level whose tenures may have elapsed, and
indeed to anyone knocking at our doors from other political parties. This is in
the spirit of the Right to Freedom of Association guaranteed by the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
In this circumstance, the party
should officially issue a statement on the above Waivers so that our house may
be full. We all must not be ignorant of the times, and the journey that is
ahead of us.
Just like our party symbol, “the
Broom,” which typifies strength in unity, let us strive to remain united in our
purpose. Victory is sure by the Grace of God, and together we must continue to
sanitize Nigeria’s political environment.
Once again, I welcome you all to
this meeting with the hope that we will, in our deliberations today, conduct
ourselves without rancour and promote the highest interest of the party and the
nation.
Thank you.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Buhari is giddy with self ill- conceived conviction that he is able to rule Nigeria again. Give it a while before he flags off his own macabre dance.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's a macabrely dance, success is coming by the grace of God Almighty
ReplyDeleteI beg let him go home and rest his government is disturbing Nigerians lives
ReplyDelete