By Ahmed Namudika.
The convention was conducted in an atmosphere of peace and the outcome was so predictable that it took the shine and excitement that past conventions were known for!
The question on the lips of most of the people who I interacted with, most of whom were delegates at the Eagle Square yesterday was the emerging and disturbing trend whereby sitting and elected officials of government are also coming out to contest for party positions while still holding on to their seats and positions at the national and state assemblies, and also in state executive councils.
Is this practice morally and legally the right thing to do ??
Does the constitution and the law including the party’s constitution grant permission for such individuals to hold on to dual positions in government and in the party at the same time?
Has this practice not compromised their positions and the oath of office which they swore to earlier while being sworn into office as NASS, SHoA, and state executive council members?
Is this practice going to be the norm rather than the exception?
Is it fair to other party members who are neither elected nor appointed members or officials of government, but are seeking to contest for positions in the NEC of the party?
Is this not a sign of greed and avarice on the part of the elected and appointed members to continue to hold on to their positions, and at the same time come out to contest for positions in the party?
With this practice, is this not an act of taking an insurance policy in lieu of the expiration of their tenure as elected or appointed members in the NASS and in state executive councils?
Will this category of persons do not make an attempt to further stretch the argument by picking up forms seeking to re-contest for the same seats they currently hold in the NASS or in SHoA?
Is the democratic space for members in the APC seeking to aspire for party offices shrinking, and now going to be exclusively reserved for some selected few who are either the elected or appointed members in the NASS and in SHoA/SEC?
Is this morally right and fair to other members of the party?
One can understand the argument of the President for the consensus arrangement to fill in party positions at this point in time, considering the fragile nature of the party due to several layers of the internal conflict raging within it.
If one is to view past precedences in situations such as this, I strongly suspect that the duality of holding offices either as an elected or appointed member of the government, and another in a political party will help to establish a straightforward and prima facie case of conflict of interest by the those involved whenever it’s challenged in a court of law by any concerned party member or aspirant….this is the fear I have with the present arrangement.
Going forward, I sincerely hope that this practice is going to be an exception rather than the norm.
I also hope and pray that this practice will not be entrenched as the norm in the party, because it will amount to the suppression of legitimate ambitions of the many aspirants seeking to stand for elections into offices, and may become an albatross to the party in the long term whereby candidates that are mediocre in nature are forced into party positions via the backdoor using underhand tactics such as the consensus arrangement.
In the future, the party must allow an unfettered atmosphere of democratic practice to prevail by allowing candidates seeking to stand for elections into party positions to face the ballot box and participate in proper elections, with votes cast into ballot boxes and winners declared.
Open contest and elections into an office is the highest form of democratic practice.
This democratic practice must be allowed to thrive and be entrenched in the party in the interest of all members.
Finally, I wish to congratulate the newly elected and chosen members of the NEC of the APC all the best of luck during their term in office.
