Dr Sani Shinkafi, a former National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has joined the race for the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairmanship.
Shinkafi disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when he interacted with newsmen at the party’s national secretariat, promising to ensure the supremacy of the party at all levels, if elected.
He also promised to promote and strengthen internal democracy in the party.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shinkafi was also the immediate past secretary of APGA’s Board of Trustees (BoT).
“It is with great pleasure and a sense of humility that I welcome you to this historic declaration.
“I am here today to formally express my interest to contest for the position of national chairman of our great party, the APC at the National Convention slated for Feb. 26, 2022.
“With my wide experience, I believe l have what it takes to pilot the affairs of the APC and take it to greater heights.
“We will maintain the supremacy of the party at all levels and wage war against imposition of unpopular candidates, during the general election.
“We will also put an end to the issue of Godfather in politics as we as impunity in the governance of the party at all levels,” he said.
Shinkafi said the decision of the party should be the final always to avoid dictatorship and internal wrangling.
He further assured that he would restore public confidence and support for the party and government at all levels if elected as its next national chairman.
Shinkafi who said he resigned from public service after years of service to join politics and engaged in business, described himself as a seasoned technocrat who knew how to manage human and material resources.
He said the APC needed a national chairman that will lead it to the needs, aspirations and yearning of women and the country’s talented youths.
He promised to reposition the APC if elected based on its philosophy of social democracy which he said meant people oriented, membership mobilisation and recruitment.
To achieve this, Shinkafi said he would ensure that things were done differently in the day to day management of the party’s affairs, while inter facing with its elected officials at all levels.
He stressed the need to have a membership drive for the party at the grassroots across electoral wards and polling units throughout the country.
“It is important that we must ensure that we have an authentic and verifiable Certified True Copy (CTC) membership registers that can be checked and verified by members and even non members of party.
“The leadership of our party under our watch will maintain a credible membership register,” he said.
He explained that a credible membership register would help eliminate abuse, corruption and manipulation in the conduct of intra party election from unit, Ward, Local Government, State and national level.
He said he would ensure that members of the party were given robust sense of belonging and control to make them owners of the party.
Shinkafi said this would encourage party members to work to ensure its success at all levels in 2023 general election and at all time.
He, however, stressed that the APC must be seen to operate on the basis of its rules as contained in its Constitution and other laws of the federation.
This, he said, was especially as such laws relate to the formation and administration of political parties in the country.
He added that the Constitution of the party was the basis of the contract between its members.
He said a credible membership register was therefore the pre-condition for sustainable internal party democracy.(NAN)
