A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Malik Illiasu Abdul, has promised to take the party back to the grassroots as well as eliminate money-bag politics if given the opportunity to lead the party as national chairman.
The national convention of the ruling party is scheduled for sometime in June when the new National Working Committee (NWC) members of the party will be elected and Abdul is hoping that the exercise would be an opportunity for the emergence of a credible leadership.
Abdul, while addressing a press conference on Sunday in Abuja, said the APC-led federal government has performed well since it came into power in 2015, noting that the federal government has spent up to N3 trillion through the various social investment programmes.
He said, “In terms of monetary value through social development and intervention programmes, the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has spent up to 3 trillion. It has never been done before in the history of this country.
“It is a deliberate policy of the APC government that brought all this. You can see that the N-power, survival funds among other interventions. Everyone knows what COVID-19 caused. The whole world was shut down but because of the interventions of the APC administration, people are doing very well.”
Abdul emphasised that, with the federal government doing its own best to keep the country going, it is now left for party members to build on the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that it would be an indictment on the youth of this country if the APC goes into extinction after the expiration of the Buhari tenure.
The party chieftain also believed that positions would be zoned during the convention, based on the existence of an unwritten agreement in the party, which will reduce tension and internal heat.
According to him, “Definitely, the party will zone its offices because as you are aware, there is an unwritten rule though not in the constitution. The South does eight years and the North does eight years. So, you cannot discard that. If the presidency goes to the South, certainly the party chairmanship goes to the North.”
On the ongoing party registration, revalidation and the statement credited to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola that the APC was admitting a killer into the party, Abdul said a political party consists of all sorts of people, adding that armed robbers could be there because they are human beings.
