Political bandits opposing registration of members, says APC govs’ forum DG

The director-general of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Salihu Lukman has stated that political bandits within the ruling party are opposing the registration of members ahead of the national convention.

Recall that the former elected local government chairmen association (FELGOCAS) faulted the decision of the caretaker committee of the ruling party to commence fresh registration of party members despite the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lukman in a statement released on Thursday said some of these “so-called leaders” in the party calling for a convention without membership registration are seeking to impose their surrogates as leaders of the party.

He said without credible membership, “there is practically no party organ.”

“These so-called leaders advocating for APC to have the National Convention without going through the process of membership registration/verification simply want to plant their surrogates as the new leaders of the party,” he said.

“To achieve that, false arguments are being presented that the National Convention of the party doesn’t require membership registration.

“When was the last time anybody was registered as an APC member in any part of the country? When was the last time any Ward in the country transmitted to any Local Government Secretariat and/or Local Government transmitted any copy to the.. national secretariat?

“Yet, our party’s constitution provides that membership records should be updated every six months. How can any leader even attempt to raise questions about why we should have membership registration/verification?

“In this age of banditry, it will appear that some of our so-called leaders are as skillful in politics as the criminal bandits ravaging our communities – towns and villages. We must appeal to these so-called leaders to come back to their senses.

“For anybody to claim our party’s membership, not even emerge as a leader, the legal standing of such a person must be beyond suspect.”

The chairman of the caretaker committee, Mai Mala Buni on Tuesday said the national convention of the ruling party would hold soon.

Buni added that consultations are ongoing on membership registration.

The caretaker committee was set up by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) in June following a leadership crisis.