Senate President, 10 APC Governors Accompany Buhari To Validate Party Membership
…It’s ‘a jamboree’- Afenifere, PDP, CUPP, ADP, others insist
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, ten governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other key party faithful accompanied President Muhammadu Buhari to revalidate his membership of the party in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State on Saturday.
This was as the Peoples Democratic Party; the Yoruba Socio-political group – Afenifere; and some stakeholders have expressed concerns that the governors and Senate President could abandoned their official schedules for a jamboree.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, announced in a statement, the number of governors and other party officials, that accompanied the President.
Shehu, in a statement titled; “We have nothing to hide, our books will always be open – President Buhari,” said the President’s registration exercise in Daura was attended by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, 10 governors, including the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, who is the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, and other party stalwarts.
Other governors that were in Daura for President Buhari revalidation of his membership of the APC include, the host governor, Aminu Masari (Katsina), Simon Lalong (Plateau); Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Hope Uzodinma (Imo); Gboyega Oyetola (Osun); Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano); Muhammad Badaru (Jigawa); Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe) and Adulrahman Abdulrasaq (Kwara).
But reacting to the gathering of the governors in Daura, Afenifere said they merely displayed what it described as “their idleness” by embarking on the trip, adding that it is clear that the governors are not busy in their respective states.
The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odunmakin, who spoke on behalf of the group said; “The governors just displayed their idleness. If they are gainfully engaged, they would not be available for such frivolity.”
In its own reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the decision of the APC governors to accompany President Buhari is the height of crass irresponsibility, stressing that the trip was a jamboree.
Spokesman of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, further said; “It is the height of irresponsibility. It beats the imagination that governors would abandon governance at a time of great insecurity and economic turmoil to embark on a jamboree.
“If they devote the kind of energy, they are devoting to chasing shadows in providing actual governance in their states, we will not be having the cases of banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities which have become the norm rather than the exception today.
“Why would 10 governors abandon their states just to witness the president signing a register? When was the last time, any of these governors inaugurated a project beneficial to their people?
“In case they are unaware, both the APC and the Buhari brand have been demystified by the woeful performance of this regime.”
Speaking in the same vein, a political commentator, Dr Junaidu Mohammed, described the action of the governors as irresponsible, stressing that the APC has failed to show how a truly democratic party should be run.
According to Mohammed; “For him to go in the company of governors, leaving their states, is clearly irresponsible. It is not proper as they would use our resources, my tax and your tax for the needless trip”.
Similarly, the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, said the governors’ action was not only wasteful but portrayed the government as a wasteful one.
In his words; “It could have been a quiet exercise that he could have done quietly without any fanfare. Why the needless trip by 10 governors, who left their states and functions to join such a charade?
“It is a waste of time and resources. Anyway, this is a government of waste, and there are those who benefit from such episodic activities”.
In his own comment, the National Secretary of the Coalition for United Political Parties, Peter Ameh, said that it is sad that at this period ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, APC governors find it expedient to embark on such a wasteful trip.
Ameh also said this was one of the reasons why the country must be restructured, adding that; “This is the joblessness among governors that we are talking about. There is nowhere in the world that this kind of thing happens.
In his own comment, the National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, Mr. Yabagi Sani said; “It is clear that the APC is a damaged brand which is out of tune with the realities of what it takes to govern a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation like Nigeria.
