PANDEF, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, has attacked President Muhammadu Buhari’s succession plans.
The President had appealed to the APC governors to allow him to choose his chosen successor ahead of the party’s presidential primaries on June 6, according to Anaedoonline.ng.
On Tuesday, Buhari made the appeal at a meeting with governors and the party’s national chairman at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
During the meeting, President Buhari also urged the governors of the All Progressives Congress to make decisions that would allow the party to continue in power.
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He promised the governors that the consultation process would continue up till the convention, ensuring that all candidates and stakeholders were included.
However, in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesman, Ken Robinson, PANDEF said it is absurd that citizens are not carried along in determining the flag bearers of their parties ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The forum, however, called for an immediate review of the entire leadership’ selection process that must involve the participation of citizens.
The statement reads, “President Muhammadu Buhari, for some strange reasons, was aristocratic and played the “good boy”, in appealing to his APC Governors to allow him to pick the party’s Presidential candidate, “his successor” in his own words.
“The reflection is that if State Governors, the “demi-gods” and their associates can impose their preferred persons in the States as Governors, Local Government Chairmen, etcetera, why won’t the President who could be characterized as the “god” of Nigeria, not do likewise?
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“They are all, simply, leveraging the overwhelming powers vested in the executive arm of government by the military “imposed” 1999 Constitution.
“It’s unfortunate that the vast majority of citizens, and even members of political parties, do not participate in processes that produce those who would go on to contest elections and eventually become our president, governors and lawmakers. We now have situations where less than 800 persons choose a major party’s presidential candidate, in a country of over 200 million people. It is absurd!
“Politicians employ all sorts of crooked wiles to select or impose crooked officials and see how crooked the nation has become.
“And when you talk, they will readily assert that it is a party affair. This has to stop.
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“There must be an urgent review of the entire leadership’ selection process to involve greater participation of citizens, particularly membership of the political parties.”
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