Senator representing Kwara Central District in the National Assembly, Saliu Mustapha has come out to support President Tinubu’s leadership choices in light of the recent appointment of the new APC National Executive Committee Chairman
Abdullahi Ganduje, former governor of Kano State had, on Thursday been announced as the new chairman of the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) Chairman. Following his appointment, Senator Basiru Ajibola was appointed as the party’s national secretary. Ganduje promised to hit the ground running in order to foster internal democracy.
Meanwhile the party’s National Legal Adviser, Adamu El-Marzuq resigned his position as a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) shortly after. His reason was attributed to the appointments.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Senator Mustapha said the APC is a democracy-centred party and pleaded for the people to give them the opportunity to rebrand the party, as well the chance to carry out their promises. He went further to express his confidence in Ganduje who was a part of the party’s reconciliation committees stating that the former governor would find a means to uphold the interest of the nation.
There was an alleged disagreement amongst the party members about a certain perceived bias in appointments from the president after complaints circulated that the chairmanship position was taken away from the North Central to the North West, meanwhile the secretary post was retained within the South Western region.
Mustapha stated that, as a member of the North West, he can assure that there was no such complaint saying, “Every house and every party has its own internal strategy on how it wants to win elections or how it wants to be seen in the public. So within the APC for now what we think is best for us is what we have gone for. Life is dynamic. And tomorrow we can decide to change our strategy so as to be able to win certain demographics in the county.
“I want to assure you that whatever you see happening is with the blessing of the team and the entire membership of APC. Basically the president is very right in his assertion, that the election is the freest and most credible election so far. And I can attest to that too because I was an active participant and as GOD will have it, I won my election too.
“You know in life, things change. Life is dynamic. When I was contesting to be the chairman of the party, I was contesting because I thought that time I needed to help rebrand the party and to reposition the party for the purpose of winning the 2023 election. As GOD will have it, we won the election, and I was able to gravitate to the legislative arm which I won my election too.”
He later went on to say, “Tinubu has exhibited the highest level of democratic principles. In this same country, we’ve seen where a former sitting head of state would force a chairman to resign at gunpoint. We are having a president who has given us the opportunity to sit amongst ourselves to agree or disagree on the best way forward.”
Senator Mustapha expressed his main aim as a part of the legislature is to contribute his experience and bring value to the table. According to him, “The most important thing now is Project Nigeria. Let us see how we can move this country forward. Let us see how we can all contribute to add value to the well-being of Nigeria and its citizens.”
The politician expressed gratitude to the president for “managing both the country and the party”.
“The party is satisfied and the legislature is also satisfied. The most important thing is, how well do we make sure we meet up with our promises to the Nigerian people.”
“If the constitution says one minister from every state, he has been able to fulfil that. So if he’s having additional hands to make sure the job is done well, I think Nigerians should give him a chance. He wants the best for us and he has chosen those he believes will deliver on his goals.”
Glamour Adah
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