Governor of Nasarawa state and Chairman of the Publicity Sub-committee for the national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Abdullahi Sule, has said the best way for the ruling party to prepare ahead of 2023 general elections is to have a consensus arrangement at the forthcoming national convention slated for Saturday (Tomorrow).
The governor also cited the need for unity and a peaceful national convention as reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari and governors on the platform of the party opted for consensus.
President Buhari had met with APC governors at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday where they agreed on consensus.
Addressing newsmen at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Thursday in Abuja, governor Sule said the APC governors are now more united and would go into the convention as one united family.
The governor said: “As I mentioned earlier, we have been driven towards a consensus arrangement so that we can have a very peaceful convention after which most of the political activities will begin which will lead to the success of the party at most of the elections that we are going to have next year by the grace of God.
“We also want to inform you that the major caucuses of this party, we have been meeting in order to discuss most of the grey areas and resolve them and so far again so good all the governors had been inspired yesterday (Wednesday).
“We actually had a meeting with Mr. President where some grey areas were resolved and the governors are now united more than you can ever think. We are going as a united front into this convention.
“We also look forward actually to a convention that is going to signify our unity and our strength as we come together to face the election next year.”
Meanwhile, a policy conference tagged “Consolidating Democracy: Scorecard, impact and the road ahead” is slated for Friday (today).
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Secretary of the Pre-Convention Committee and the Director General of the Nigeria Orientation Agency, Dr. Garba Abari, said te overall objective of the conference is to position thought leaders of the party and sector experts deliberate on the current and future policy direction of the party and provide a reform agenda which the party will drive over the next phase of the party’s administration building on the current achievements, including the outcomes for state and local governments.
According to Abari, the conference will seek to address various segments around governance, economy and social environment with the aim to re-enkindle investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy.
The specific objectives include; review the performance of APC-controlled national and subnational governments, analyse introspective pathways towards mapping the future to bridge the gaps and unlock the productive potential of the country, discuss the approaches required towards achieving an inclusive and coherent policy trajectory for the party in government and harmonise a sustainable implementation agenda with the implementation framework as a follow-up to existing plans, policies, programmes and projects.
“The APC Policy Conference will be structured into different panel discussions that will focus on core thematic areas as follows: economy, governance, and human development. This will enable resource persons and participants to create a central spine that holds the party’s development agenda since 2015.”
Among the expected participants include; President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chairman and Members of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), State Governors, among others.
