The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nantewe Yilwatda, has assured legacy members of the party that political defectors will not be allowed to take over the party’s leadership structures.
He said this to newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) APC stakeholders on Tuesday in Abuja.
Yilwatda drew a clear distinction between those who were in the party from the beginning and those who just joined it, saying the interest of both would be protected without allowing one to subsume the other.
He said: “It is a home that we built.
“If the house was not built, nobody would come.
“So nobody should come as a warrior and take over.”
Yilwatda added that the solution however was in a deliberate power-sharing formula that guaranteed inclusion across both blocs.
He said: “We must have everybody included.
“There will be a sharing formula that will ensure that all members of the legacy group and defectors are properly carried along.”
On the APC FCT party structure, the National Chairman outlined a five dimensional sharing formula, which included gender inclusion, with women in substantive executive positions and not merely as women leaders.
Others, he said, are geopolitical representation across the six zones of the country, inclusion of FCT’s indigenous tribes, and youth engagement among others.
Yilwatda confirmed the existence of a committee chaired by the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Zephaniah Jisalo, describing its members as bona fide APC members.
He noted that the committee had conducted zoning for the FCT APC and that its work had been followed to the letter.
He further noted that so far, no APC member had complained of being cheated or deprived in any way, adding that the party’s Constitution would be strictly enforced in its coming congresses.
He added that defectors seeking executive positions must produce resignation letters accepted by their former party chairmen.
“If you are in opposition, you must give a resignation letter and show evidence of resignation and acceptance of your resignation by your former party chairman,” he said.
Yilwatda reiterated the constitutional rule on tenure, saying if a member had spent consecutively eight years in one office, he must step down or at best change office.
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The APC National Chairman used the occasion to articulate what he described as his core political philosophy, saying inclusion was a non-negotiable organisational principle.
He said: “We must accommodate all tribes, including the geopolitical resource.
“I am chairing this party because of inclusion.
“If there is no inclusion, I can’t be here because my tribe is only found in two local governments of this country.
“I am a minority.”
Yilwatda noted that women were great mobilisers that should not be used only at election periods to win elections, saying they should be seen on the list of the experts.
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