By NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna

Kaduna based Chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC),Yusuf Ali has said that he sees the party crumbling after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023 unless a competent member of APC is elected as the national chairman of the party to bring cohesion to the party.

Ali, a grass roots politician told our Correspondent in an interview that if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t mind to tip former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari to replace the immediate past national chairman of APC, Adams Oshiohmole in the event that the Ex-governor indicates interest to contest for the party’s national chairmanship.

The APC Chieftain also spoke on Ondo governorship election, saying victory is a sure banker for the APC in the State having lost Edo recently in similar election.

“My personal interest as a member of the APC is for the party to continue to wax stronger and capture more states while retaining power in the centre.

I know that a lot of people are nursing the ambition to lead the party to victory up to 2023 and beyond and there are quite a number of people I believe if given the opportunity they can actually turn around the party. To me the zone the National Chairman comes from doesn’t really matter but the person to lead the party is the issue. We are talking about a team player with the political acumen, the capacity, competence and capabilities to rally round all the shades of opinion into a united party.

The pedigree of such a political leader can pave the way for him.Even though he has not made his intention known to lead the APC but in responding directly to your question, I am confident that former Governor of Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari is the man to beat in the contest for the APC chairmanship. Yari is a grass roots politicians who was a party Secretary in his state of Zamfara in ANPP – one of the legacy parties.

He was even an elected chairman of the ANPP in Zamfara State and rose to become the National Financial Secretary of the party before moving to the National Assembly and eventually becoming the Governor of Zamfara State. He has all the attributes of a servant leader who commands respect among his colleagues and can definitely mobilize men and resources to take over so many PDP states and retain power in the state. Of course you may ask why PDP is in charge of Zamfara but this is one of the challenges that the APC is contending with at the centre because PDP came a distant second in the 2019 governorship race and you are aware of all the issues that led PDP to be declared winners of that elections.

For me, Yari is a go-getter and is imbued with immense political capital capable of leading the APC to victory in subsequent elections.

“A lot of our politicians are not bound by ideology. They only serve personal interest and so it’s a common sight to see politicians moving from one party to the other simply to contest elections.

Politicians we think belong to the right of centre can easily move to the left and that has been the bane of our party politics. But like I said, if given the chance, Yari will promote cohesion within the APC and make it a more united and a stronger political entity”.

On Buhari’s Independence anniversary speech, “In a liberal democracy, citizens have the inalienable rights to criticize their leaders and it is the world over so it is expected that such a remarkable and historic speech could come under attack.

Having said that, it is important that the president and his administration remain focused on delivering their mandate to the people. Back to your question.

The fuel price issue was deliberately latched upon because of the sensitivity of the matter and the thinking especially within the political opposition was to cash in on the issue in order to inflame passion but unfortunately it did resonate with Nigerians who believe that the president is on track especially in his effort to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

Closely related to this is the PIB bill before the National Assembly, which is going to be a game changer in the oil industry. So the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry is not in isolation to the overarching interest to revolutionize the sector.

Just like they say, the dogs will continue to bark while the caravan moves on to reach its destination. So the criticism is healthy while the government remains focused on delivering what is good for the nation.

“A lot of political patronage has gone round and is still going round. Government is a behemoth and it has enough tentacles to reach everyone. But one thing that is salient is the structure being put in place for economic prosperity for all and that’s even more important than personal gains.

“Personally I would like my party to win all elections but as you are aware, my party has since congratulated the winners of the Edo elections and life moves on. That’s politics without bitterness. I pray APC wins the election because Akeredolu is contesting based on his performance and he has acquainted himself creditably as the Governor of Ondo State”. Ali stated. (Saturday Sun)

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