Babatunde Fashola, former minister of works, says members of the opposition are beginning to understand the difficulty party leaders faced in building the coalition that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Fashola spoke on Tuesday at a Lagos APC stakeholders’ forum
where party members endorsed President Bola Tinubu for re-election.
The former governor of Lagos said the president deserved
commendation for leading the country’s “only successful” political merger.
“Well, this meeting is coming up at a time when some of
those who stood in opposition against our emergence are now trying to form a
coalition,” he said.
“And they are seeing how difficult it is to form the merger
that produced APC.
“History will tell you that it is the only merger that has
occurred in Nigeria’s political history; it was difficult, they said it would
not happen, and it happened.”
Fashola said the opposition’s current struggle to unite
shows the arduous journey that led to APC’s creation.
“But the opposition can’t do their own,” he said.
“And they are now seeing the long and difficult road that we
walked back then that makes us sit where we sit today.”
He commended Tinubu and other party leaders for their
resilience and contribution to the APC’s success.
“So, every commendation is due and worthy for all our
leaders, those who made this party possible, especially the president and all
of the people I see here and those who are not here,” he said.
Fashola added that managing a political party remains one of
the hardest tasks in governance.
“Trust me, one of the most difficult institutions to run is
a political party because it thrives on numbers,” he said.
“At the same time, it thrives on the freedom to enter and
the freedom to leave. Those who run parties, honestly, have all the support and
all the respect that we can give them.”
‘VOTER APATHY ON THE RISE’
The former Lagos governor also expressed concern over
growing voter apathy despite increasing voter registration figures.
“We are witnessing an increase in voter registration but a
decrease in voter turnout,” Fashola said.
“At one time, Lagos had over 1.5 million voters compared to
our closest rival’s 300,000.
“We must ask ourselves what has changed and how to restore
that enthusiasm.”
The former minister also said less than 30 percent of the 93
million registered voters across Nigeria participated in the 2023 general
election, describing the trend as “not good enough” for a developing democracy.
The Lagos APC stakeholders’ forum was attended by Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos; Akinwunmi Ambode, former governor of Lagos;
senators James Faleke, Ajibola Bashiru and Tokunbo Abiru; Cornelius Ojelabi,
Lagos APC chairman; and others.
In 2013, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and New Peoples
Democratic Party (nPDP) merged to form the APC.
Meanwhile, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and
opposition leaders under the coalition movement have formed the African
Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform to wrest power from the ruling APC in
2027.
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