The North West Zonal Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Inuwa Abdulkadir has caution members of the party to be care...
The North West
Zonal Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Inuwa
Abdulkadir has caution members of the party to be careful of their
public utterances And not hide under the guise of freedom of speech to
undermine the party or bring the party and the leadership to disrepute.
Abdulkadir who
was reacting to the statement credited to former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar that he has been sidelined by both the President and the party
describe the statement as an “unguided statement” which should not be
coming from a statement of his repute.
Abdulkadir who
spoke with selected newsmen at the APC national secretariat on Friday
also said that the Minister of Women Affairs was practically
blackmailing the President with her statement which has attracted public
comments in recent times, pointing out that while she was entitled to
her own opinion, she was morally bound to either keep quiet or resign
from the government, rather than creating the impression that things
were not working well within the government.
He said the
former Vice President gave the impression of failure on the side of both
the party and the government formed by the party, pointing out that as a
statesman who contributed to building the party, statements of fact
were expected from him.
He said: “Atiku
Abubakar is a very important member of this party. He is one of the
leaders of this party and I have no doubt about his contribution to
building this party. He has also added value by his personality during
the last election
“People of such
statue and reckoning in this country, particularly being a former Vice
President, of this great nation, he has attained the position of a
statesman and what we expect from him is nothing less than that. By
virtue of former his office and his age, he is qualified to be a
statesman.
“But when you
reach that statue and age there are certain things you have to come to
terms with, most important of which is to exhibit a high sense of
decorum in your conduct. What I mean is that you have to guard what you
say, how you say it and when you say it because what is expected of you
as a statesman is nothing but factual.
“Secondly, the
majority of the people look up to you to provide leadership in the sense
that from what you say people can learn a lot.
“Of recent
Atiku has made some statements to the effect that or create an
impression of the failure of the party and the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led government. At that level, good party members, especially of
his status should not be seen to be making such public statements even
if those criticisms are factual, whereas in this case some of these
statements were misleading and incorrect.
“These
statements give an impression as if there is a crack in the house and in
the party or that the party is not doing all that which it ought to.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have been
here to responded to certain statements because as leaders, we
shouldn’t be seen as joining issues in the public domain. But since he
has made a public statement, the public is entitled to get the other
side or be told the truth.
“Yes, Atiku
like many others made certain contributions in the 2015 elections and in
building the party. But the bigger picture which he gave is not
correct. I know that in the north west zone which I represent, we had
eight presidential campaign rallies and Atiku did not attend any.
“Yes, he added
value by his personality, but there are so many other members of the
party, who made financial contribution and added electoral value. North
West is the most populous zone in terms of the APC membership and in
terms of electoral victory, not only to the president, but we have seven
state governors and 20 out of the 21 senators in the zone are from the
APC.
“I think we are critical and major
stakeholders in this party. So one of the reasons why I am making this
statement is to calm our members in these states and not to be
distracted and that APC is well on ground as all efforts are being made
to solidify those gains and we shouldn’t be distanced by such
unfortunate statements which are suggesting that the party is neglecting
a particular person or group persons.
“Some of these
things are processes and you don’t expect everything to happen at the
sametime. More importantly, there should some decorum in what we do.
People who have attained those high privileged positions should know
that they have attained certain status in the society and so, they
cannot afford to talk any how.
“On the issue
of consultation by the Mr. President, though I don’t work in the Villa,
it is an open secret that whoever visited the president is no longer a
secret. Whoever is meeting the president of Nigeria more than 20 people
will know and the information will be shared.
“As a matter of
fact, several times, Atiku Abubakar has visited Mr. President and what
they discussed, we don’t know but we know that he has visited. I am sure
he is not just there to greet him. Those two leaders will meet without
discussing one thing or the other.
“On party
meetings, I know that immediately after convention where Buhari was
nominated as the party flag bearer, there were a number of leadership
meetings which he participated. Also, there were formal party meetings,
some of which were held in the Villa and he was present.
“There were
some meetings here at the National secretariat including two NEC
meetings which he attended and other functions of the party. So the
claim that the party only met once is not correct.
“On his
criticism of the President in the area of security and the fight against
corruption, I want to say that if you critically listen to what he
said, you will discover that it is not correct because we know where we
were in 2015 and where we are now especially in terms of security and
what the situation is now.
“This is just a
sign of caution. As a party, we caution our members from making
unguarded statements that are capable of ridiculing the leadership of
the party and the leadership of the government formed by this party. I
think that we as a party, we will not relent in our effort in installing
discipline and ensuring decorum among our members.
“We should
always remember that this party is an institution and it is not a
personal enterprise belong to one person, a group of persons or a class
of people. It has its own rules and regulations. People should not hide
under the freedom of speech to undermine the party or bring the party
and the leadership to disrepute. We all appreciate the efforts of
members of this party in producing the president.
“So, the party
has a duty to ensure that party members e committed to the party and its
principles. APC respects the right of all its members and the citizens
from this country to make constructive criticism and we embrace such.
“At the same
time, we have a responsibility to ensure that those privileges, those
rights being exercise by the members does not encroach into the
reputation of the party or the party as an institution.”
Speaking on the
statement credited to the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Jummai
Alhassan, Abdulkadir said the action of the Minister could be
interpreted to mean that she was either blackmailing the President or
boxing him into a corner.
He said while
she was entitled to her opinion, she is morally bound to resign her
appointment if she is not satisfied with events in the cabinet, pointing
out that her statement were suggestive of things not working well
within the cabinet.
He said:
“People have rights to express their opinions and express their views.
But those rights are morally suspended if you found yourself in a
situation where you find yourself as a member of the cabinet or as a
member of the party.
“There are
certain things that are expected from you because it sends wrong signals
of your commitment to the party as well as the person you are serving.
However, some of these things are within the discretion of the Principal
of that Minister who is the President.
“The situation
is that her statement is capable of creating an impression that even at
the cabinet level, things are not well. As far as the party is
concerned, everything is well in terms of the cabinet. But there is
personal responsibility on that minister to do the right thing.
“As a leader
and somebody who has accepted to serve in a government formed by the
party, the right thing to do if you think otherwise is to honourably
quit. What we have right now is a situation of blackmailing the
President or boxing him which will not be accepted by the party.
“These two
issues have come to the public domain and it is part of our
responsibility as leaders of this party to ensure that the current
things are known and to correct whatever wrong impression that would
have been created.
“You are making
such suggestuon in respect of your principal in public, this is
something that she can discuss with her principal to express to him so
that he (President) will know her position. And if you feel like it
should be public then you are saying that I’m no longer comfortable with
this situation, if this situation should continue I’m not comfortable
with it.
“Whether Buahri
has said that he will recontest or not is immaterial, what is material
as serving Minister should not be seen to be making public statement
that suggest that they are not on the same page with the team because
she is a more mber of a team.
“In order
places the right thing is for her to resign, that she can no longer
continue to be in this thing because my spirit ir my thought is not in
conformity with this team, so we can no more work together. She is
entitle to that. So, you can not you eat your cake and have it, that is
the situation.
“As high as
that office is people resign and leave on principle that if not that I’m
a member of APC I would not have accepted to serve but I’m not convince
still, so I think giving an opportunity to somebody else I will support
him not you”.
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