Governor of Katsina State and Chairman, Steering Committee of All Progressives Congress, APC, on Legislative Matters, Aminu Bello Masari, Monday, warned the leadership of the party against lack of coordination, saying this could destroy the party, if not urgently addressed.
Speaking when governors on the platform of the APC visited the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives at room 301, Senate Wing, in Abuja, Masari called on APC leaders to make amends in the management of political relations and engage in serious consultation with stakeholders and other members of the party at all levels.
Masari, who led the APC governors to the meeting, said: “The Progressive Governors Forum has a standing subcommittee on legislative matters that started in the last Assembly. But unfortunately, no success came out for obvious reasons.
”So, we thought that we should contact you early enough so that we put a machinery in motion to ensure that this time around, we are on the same page – the Progressive Governors Forum and the National Assembly.
”In doing so, we want to use this opportunity to address some fundamental issues that do not only affect APC as a political party but also the whole nation.
“We can recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently reminded us of both our responsibilities in providing leadership to ensure that all of us, as elected representatives, prioritize building strong relationships among all elected representatives both in the executive and legislative arms of government as well as our party leaders.
“The absence of coordination has produced crisis of trust which if care is not taken, can destroy our party and the political process. So as leaders, we need to make amends, especially in the area of management of political relations among all the party stakeholders,”
The governor, who drew attention to the crisis that made the APC lose some of the states it hitherto controlled, said further: “We need not remind ourselves of what happened between 2015 and 2019.
”We unfortunately allowed avoidable circumstances to give new life to our political opponents, especially parties in opposition to APC, like PDP.”
In a direct indictment of the APC leadership over the party’s political misfortunes, Masari said:
“We have not managed our personal aspiration to contest elections through the inability of our party leadership to painstakingly ensure broad consultations leading to collective decision that were recorded on most of these avoidable circumstances.
“We know what happened in the build up to 2019, the crisis we have in so many states within our own political party. I am referring to those crisis that could have been avoided, recognizing that conflicting demands from all stakeholders would not be easy to manage, in compliance with the provisions of our party constitution, and the relevant laws of Nigeria.”
When the Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, realized that Masari was exposing the party before journalists, he immediately drew the attention of the Master of Ceremony to it and journalists were later asked to leave the hall.
In his remarks before the journalists were asked to leave, Senator Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate, who thanked the governors for playing a vital role in the installation of the leadership of the National Assembly, said the onus was now on the lawmakers to pay back.
He added that they would remain very committed and loyal to ensure achievements in the area of security and safety.
Lawan hailed the working relationship in the Senate with the opposition, adding that all levels of government must work in synergy.
