Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo has stated that he is not a member of the African Democratic Congress,
ADC.
He said while urging the party
leadership to avoid the same political mistakes that had affected the smooth
running of major political parties in Nigeria.
Obasanjo outlined the problems
with the two major political parties as image, discipline, commitment and
leadership deficit.
Obasanjo said this when he
received the National Working Committee, NWC, of the ADC, led by the Chairman,
Chief Ralph Nwosu, in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He said in such a short period,
the party had become a force to reckon with in Nigeria’s politics.
He said, “Be prudent as a party,
and uphold its uniqueness of being members’ driven party, where its members are
the financiers and not a few money bags.”
He explained that being prudent
would help in no small way in preventing the party from toeing the path of past
governments in terms of using “government money directly or indirectly to fund
the party.”
The ex-President added, “I am
happy that the party has become a credible alternative to the other two parties
in such a short period. I have said it many times that I am not a member of
ADC; I will, however, provide guidance where necessary. You have to make sure
that you are guided by the vision of the party at all times, and continue to
accord women and youths the chance to participate without discrimination.
“The major parties, right now,
have image deficit, discipline deficit, commitment deficit, and leadership
deficit. Once you are able to ensure that you are not found wanting in all
these areas, you would have conquered the major challenges of running an ideal
party that will produce credible leaders; and there must be internal
democracy.”
He, therefore, advised ADC
leaders at all levels to focus on their short, medium and long-term objectives,
noting that, in the short term, ADC would have an impressive number of
lawmakers at the House of Representatives and Senate, control a good number of
state governments, and also work in collaboration with other parties to form
the right government at the federal level.
“Once this is done, your
short-term objective has been achieved. You can then focus on your medium-term
objective. However, the only thing that can uphold a political party is
morality. You can’t be a party condoning indiscipline,” he said.
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