Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the governing All Progressives Congress ( APC), has praised President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on Tuesday
in which he called on the party to rescind its decision to extend the
tenure of its officials.
The APC National Executive Committee (NEC) had on February 27th
extended the tenure of all party executives across national and state
levels by one year.
That decision, which was supported by Mr. Buhari, was opposed by Mr. Tinubu.
Mr. Buhari on Tuesday, however, shocked members of NEC when he asked the meeting to revisit the issue.
The president said since the decision was adopted in the last NEC
meeting, he has taking time to review and seek advice on the resolution.
He said he found that the resolution contravenes both APC constitution and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While the APC Constitution, in Article 17(1) and 13.2(B), limits the
tenure of elected officers to four years, renewable once by another
election, the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), in section 223,
also prescribes periodic elections for party executives at regular
intervals, which must not exceed four years.
“Furthermore, Article 31 of our Party Constitution provides that any
principal officer wishing to re-contest or contest for another post,
must resign from his current post at least one month before the
election,” he said.
President Buhari said APC is, therefore, expected to conduct fresh
elections, once the tenure of the current executives approaches its end.
He said a caretaker committee “cannot remedy this situation, and cannot validly act in place of elected officers.”
In his reaction via a statement he personally signed on Tuesday evening,
Mr. Tinubu said that Buhari had spoken in a clear, straightforward
manner.
The former Lagos State governor said Buhari had confirmed that
APC is a party that is based on the rule of law coupled with a firm
adherence to internal democracy.
“While it would have been easy to allow the ill-conceived motion of
27 February to stand, President Buhari showed principle and courage by
steering the party back to its original and correct path.
“The president has spoken. Today is a good day for those who cherish democracy and legality,” he said.
Mr. Tinubu said the action of the president will also serve to
strengthen the party by allowing party members, including present
incumbents, to seek to contribute to the party by vying for executive
offices as they see fit.
He said Mr. Buhari’s decision will also help in advancing the process
of internal reconciliation that is now underway in the APC.
He said it is now time for the party to move forward and begin to
plan and organise the needed congresses according to the existing
timetables.
“After all, a party bearing the name All Progressives Congress should
be the last party to resist holding congresses in which all its people
have a fair say and fair chance to aspire to any position in the party
for which they are qualified to hold.
“Again, this is a good day for the APC and democratic political
practice in Nigeria. We shun the politics of old to move toward a new
and better way of governing ourselves and this nation,” Tinubu said.