The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State chapter has broken into factions,
with loyalists of national leader, Bola Tinubu leading a new group called the
Broom United Movement (BUM).
The development came barely two
weeks after Tinubu started his assignment as head of the reconciliation
committee of the party.
The
splinter group, at its inaugural meeting which took place at the Absolute Lagos
Lounge of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club on Tuesday, accused leadership of the
party in Lagos of engaging in “illegalities, manipulation and marginalisation”
against members.
Mr. Faud Oki, convener of BUM,
warned that unless genuine reconciliation is allowed to take place, the party
may be heading for a crisis and a disaster in an election year.
Oki, a former Director General of
ex-Governors Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode’s campaign
organisations, said, “Our party suffers from low organisational capacity and
lack of internal democracy.”
“The resultant effect of this has
been its incapacity to support our democracy as expected.
Today, our
party in Lagos State is fading into insignificance. Massive membership
exclusion is becoming the order of the day with members withdrawing from the
political space and constituting themselves into internal opposition.
“It is in the light of all these,
that the BUM will involve committed party members who will bring moral
authority, character and wisdom in handling the delicate issue of
reconciliation, unity and accord.”
The BUM Leader lamented that the
APC in the state has never been this divided and disunited.
“The current graveyard silence that
permeate our political landscape with a ‘siddon look’ syndrome is very
dangerous,” adding that political parties are vital organisations in a
democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of
political parties parties.”
“Unfortunately,
the democratic culture in our state is characterised by factors such as
illegalities, rigging, oppression, manipulation, marginalisation and violence.
“Democracy and political
participation are related to good governance; this relationship is
complementary but appear to be antithetical in our political system. When
democracy is abused, good governance becomes elusive and evasive.”
Oki assured party members that from
now on, their “votes will count and will be allowed to freely choose their
leaders in a healthy competitive atmosphere.”
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