Mr. Tijjani Musa Tumsah is the interim National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with BODE OLAGOKE, he speaks on the purpose of the just concluded membership registration of the party, its selling points to Nigerians and the process of selecting the party’s presidential candidate, among others
Reason for recent APC registration
The exercise, to me, is a successful one. As much as we anticipated, a lot of interest in APC actions indicated that APC is a very popular party in Nigeria and the citizens who have interest in sharing the platform came out en-mass to register for this new party. The activity itself is the formation of the basis for ownership of the party by people who profess to be progressive, who want to be members of this party, so that is the basis for this registration.
Allegation of people hijacking the process in some states
The allegation of hijack is not a possibility because the APC started this registration of a thing in the country and the first time any political party would be doing this in Nigeria. That is, to avoid the situation where any person or group will hijack the party. So, we have democratized the registration and it has become a success story, the allegations are just mere allegations.
Bafarawa, Shekarau’s defection
These two enlighten gentlemen were of course part of formation of APC. But like in any political set up, there were issues probably they could not fit into, and to their minds they decided to move to the opposing camp. However, APC remains the same, it remains strong, and it remains the idea and platform for Nigerians.
Is the party participating in the proposed confab?
We are arriving at a position. We have been invited to present a representation, so the party is still considering the pros and coins of such a conference and our participation. We hope to come out with our position very soon.
APC and 2015 challenge
APC is very prepared. You know in a country like Nigeria, where states like Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Borno and Sokoto are in the same party, the direction is critically clear. Now, we are presenting a case to Nigerians, to the average Nigerians to determine the future of this country. This country, we feel, has not been run well and it is going on the wrong track, we want a Nigeria that is respected in the comity of nations, a Nigeria that is employing the best practices all the time, this is the platform we are offering Nigerian youths, women, general public and those that love the country dearly that we like to see it moving forward.
Criticism of the interim committee exceeding six months
That is a wrong believe. Every party is being governed by the constitution and our constitution does not say that. So , I don’t know where they get or got the idea of how long an interim executive should be. We are not going to allow this party to be ridiculed.
In conclusion, we are going to start our congresses in March, and subsequently the National Convention, and that is why we had registration that we just concluded. We cannot put the cart before the horse, it is always the horse before the cart. So, we are doing things sequentially.
Presidential Adviser on political matters, Ahmed Gulak’s claim of APC as a dead party
I feel sorry for the president’s adviser because for any right thinking person to assume that a party that has this number of governors and this number of people in the National Assembly, does not have presence in 774 local governments in the country, he must be in another planet, he must be living in another planet. And that is why this nation needs to have proper direction and proper information.
Process of picking APC presidential candidate
The procedures are going to be agreed on by the entire party when the appropriate time comes because the constitution allows and explains how the selection process would be determined. You see, if all of us agreed to be governed by a certain set of laws, we should be allowed to be governed by such laws. But of course, sometime if it does not favour certain people, they may cry foul but all the conditions are going to be cleared before the process starts.
Message to APC members across the country?
Join the train, register APC, and vote the APC because we will provide the necessary changes into governance in Nigeria
