There may be confusion in the All Progressives Congress on how to respond to President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent foray into the South-west geopolitical zone and with a promise to implement the national conference report, a matter that resonates with the South-west voters. Following enquiries to APC by Thisday, the newspaper got two different and conflicting responses.
The APC national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, disclosed on Saturday that the party would study the recommendations of the national conference convoked by the federal government last year with the aim of implementing relevant sections of the report if the party is elected at the March 28 presidential election. He said government is a continuum and an APC federal government would adopt germane reports commissioned by the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party government.
However, director of publicity of the APC presidential campaign organisation, Garba Shehu, insisted that the rationale behind the national conference was dubious, reiterating the official position of the party on the conference it had boycotted. Shehu said the recommendations were another “un-implementable report” of the Jonathan government.
Jonathan had opened the national conference on March 17 last year in Abuja, with 492 delegates drawn from diverse geopolitical, economic and social interests across the country, and chaired by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Lebo Kutigi. It was mandated to discuss and recommend solutions to the various political, economic, and social problems besetting the country.
The report of the conference, made in 22 volumes and annexures totalling about 10, 335 pages, was submitted to the president on August 21 last year. APC had officially boycotted the conference, though its governors nominated delegates to the forum.
Mohammed said if the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, was elected he would implement aspects of the national conference report that would help Nigeria make progress. The explanation came against the background of allegation by the PDP that APC would dump the conference report if voted into power considering that the party was indisposed to its conduct.
The national conference has become a major campaign issue recently, with Jonathan seeming to win points, especially in the South-west, by promising to fully implement the report of the conference. Yoruba leaders under the aegis of Afenifere have premised their support for the president on his pledge to implement the report. At various post-conference meetings held in Akure and Ibadan recently, they assured Jonathan of the zone’s support in his re-election bid. (Thisday).