APC Govs Vow Not to Interfere in 10th N’Assembly Leadership Poll

*Lukman: Contestants bribing NWC members with sugar, rice

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of the governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, have declared that they would not interfere in the election of the principal officers of the 10th National Assembly.

This is as the National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the party, Dr. Salihu Lukman, has alleged that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling party were already being bribed with sugar and bags of rice by aspirants contesting for leadership positions of the tenth National Assembly.
However, Chairman of the governors’ forum and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, stated this while fielding questions from journalists after at the end of meeting held in Abuja, which ended in the early hours of yesterday.

He said their decision to stay out of the National Assembly leadership election was based on the assumption that the new and old members were intelligent enough to understand the expectations of Nigerians from the ruling party.

Bagudu said, “We believe that our members in the 10th National Assembly are people with wealth of experience that will bring it to bear in choosing the new leadership. Many of them, including the freshers will be mindful of the party, its manifesto and the expectations of Nigeria from our party.
“They know the importance of working with other stakeholders within and outside the party. So, they will exercise their rights of choosing leaders in a way that will make Nigeria a better country and make our polity more stable.”

Bearing his mind on the zoning arrangements in the election of the National Assembly leadership, Bagudu said the forum believed that members of the party in the two Chambers have the wisdom to make choices of the leaders that would be reflective of consultations within the party and outside the party for the benefit of Nigeria.

“We also reviewed developments in the polity, particularly the incidents of few days ago, which we have issued statement condemning the treasonable call for Interim government.

“We made it clear that Nigeria democracy has prospered and despite all challenges we are still beckon of light of many countries. We have seen elections that have been contested even in the so-called advanced democracy in US with differences.
“Bush and Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and Trump with one disagreement and acrimonies but the system says those who otherwise feel disenchanted should pursue the judicial option.

“It is the same thing with Nigeria. All the elections since the emergence of Shehu Shagari has been disputed by one participant or the other. So, we felt that Nigerians are wiser and expect the political actors to be considerate of the wider interest. And since democracy has won, we must move on.”

Meanwhile, Lukman, during a media interaction, lamented  that those aspiring for positions in the National Assembly were  reaching out to members of the NWC unethically and was of the opinion that those who were engaged in unethical practices should be disqualified to serve as a deterrent to others.
The party chieftain noted that the leadership of the party has not  taken any decision on the zoning of leadership positions in the 10th Assembly, but confirmed that internal discussions were ongoing in that regard.