We wish to advert the attention of members and supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) world-wide on what has become a painful recurring development in the progressives’ rank led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. We are forced to make this known because of a bleak future that this portends for our political journey as future leaders and loyal party members.
We are deeply worried that honourable men and women of good conscience and goodwill who have made the progressives and the APC to be proud are being systematically denied the opportunity to rise to the pinnacle of their political career. This has persisted for a while and we can no longer take it as party members. We have become a laughing stock among our peers, who now question what APC offers us in terms of leadership.
Let it be known that we are deeply pained that Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa could be sacrificed on the altar of cheap politics and asked not to return to the House of Representatives for no concrete reasons. That she was coerced to issue a statement voluntarily withdrawing is a well known ploy that has become the lot of our leaders. Any sincere party will not think twice offering Abike a ticket to return to the House.
Abike has become the pride of Nigerian women in the legislative arm and her wisdom has become a guiding light for Federal Lawmakers. By our findings, Nigerians in the Diaspora and young women across the country have become totally disenchanted with the APC over this development.
We mince no word to say that our party has no regard for quality and has indeed offended the sensibilities of Nigerian women. What stops the APC from fielding Abike as a Senatorial candidate? Are those currently representing Lagos in the upper chamber better than her? Do our leaders know that the parliament of a nation survives on the wisdom of old members?
For how long shall our leaders continue to undermine our best because they don’t want others to rise to their level? We equally recall with nostalgia how Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, who was the best Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 2007 and 2011, was prevented from returning for no good reasons.
In the governorship race of Lagos State, Senator Ganiyu Solomon was the best and most experienced person to secure the ticket of the APC. This same scenario played out and truncated his vision. Of course, the leadership wanted Akinwumi Ambode who they perceived will be a poster boy and will not rock the political structure of Asiwaju. Shall we continue in political foolishness that the grace of winning election may abound?
It has become so obvious to us that there is no gain in allowing a godfather to dictate our political destiny. We recall that if not for the urgent intervention of the good people of Lagos State, even Gov. Babatunde Fashola would have been stopped from getting a second term. If the politics of godfatherism is all about preventing the best from rising to the top, then it is no longer worthy to concede to the decision of our leaders.
It is equally embarrassing that the man, Gov. Fashola, who delivered good governance that the APC has been using to launder its image in the Southwest and beyond is now left in the dark in the party affairs, isolated and not consulted on political decisions at the state and national level because Asiwaju determines all.
What is the future of Fashola? He was not allowed to determine his successor or have a say in it; he was neither offered a Senate ticket nor promised a major role as a ‘star’ governor. Also, the hope of securing a Vice-President ticket in ?the APC has vanished because the political permutation did not favour a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
It is sad to note that Fashola is the only governor in the 36 states of the Federation that has no say in the political affairs of his ?state and at the national level of our party because of a leader that no longer serves our interest. There are many more cases we cite but we want to limit it at these few cases to warn the party of the impending danger.
We are therefore urging all our party members to prevail on the leadership, to stop all these anti-progressive tendencies ?and forestall an impending explosion or revolution. As a party, we already have a bad case with the electorate, especially the voting women and youth. This must not be further compounded.
However, we must say that it is not totally an irredeemable situation, if we act quickly; return Abike to either of the two chambers of the National Assembly, ?give Gov. Fashola a senate ticket and apologize to the people of Lagos State. Certainly, this trend cannot continue.
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Written by Abimbola Alade and Seyi Adebayo.
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