The All Progressives Congress (APC) has postponed its State Congresses
scheduled for Wednesday, April 23rd, to allow State Governors under
the aegis of the party to attend the rescheduled expanded National
Security Council meeting, fixed for that day to discuss the security
situation in the country.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the
postponement (to Saturday, April 26th) is a confirmation of the
party’s stated stand to be part of all genuine efforts to end the
insurgency in the country, and its strong belief that bipartisanship
must replace the crass partisanship of the presidency and the ruling
party if the security crisis is to be overcome.
APC reiterated its earlier warning to the presidency and the PDP not
to politicize Nigeria’s security and to desist from seeking to profit
from the current state of widespread insecurity in the country.
”Cunningly edging out the APC Governors from Thursday’s meeting of
the expanded National Security Council is a bad strategy because,
despite belonging to the opposition, our Governors are not any less of
stakeholders on the issue of our nation’s security than Governors of
the PDP or its satellite parties.
”As a matter of fact, three of the states worst hit by the ongoing
insurgency are being presided over by APC Governors, hence they are
indispensable to any serious effort aimed at ending the security
conundrum,” the party said.
It wondered what the Governors of the PDP, Labour Party and APGA could
have discussed with the President at Thursday’s surreptitious meeting
that they did not want APC Governors to know about.
”Every trick in the book was employed to give APC Governors the
impression that the meeting had been called off, only for those who
believe they are the ‘real stakeholders’ to go ahead with the meeting,
and then attempt to deceive Nigerians into believing that APC
Governors shunned the meeting. Unfortunately for the deceivers, truth
– as always – has prevailed and they have fallen on their own
swords,” APC said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Interim National Publicity Secretary
