APC Chieftain Urges President Tinubu to Allow Democracy to Thrive

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been reminded that he became the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 through popular votes by the members, not through consensus, which he is believed to be promoting now.

A member of the APC in the state, Musa Buba Mohammed, popularly known as ‘Civilian General,’ who led some supporters of the party in the state, rejected alleged moves to impose a governorship candidate ahead of the party’s primary election, insisting on a transparent, credible, and competitive process.

Speaking in an interview with journalists on the conduct of the gubernatorial primary elections in the state yesterday, Mohammed insisted on a transparent, credible, and competitive process.

He asked the president to allow democracy to thrive in the country by not forcing party members to adopt consensus in selecting their preferred candidates.

The APC stalwart, who said that members would not accept any attempt by a few individuals to impose a candidate on the party, stressed that democracy must reflect the will of party members rather than the interests of a select few.

According to him, “Let the president be more democratic. The president should remember that he emerged as the President of the country through the ballot papers. I was a delegate during the primary election. He did not emerge as a consensus candidate. He emerged through the voice of the people. And he became the President of Nigeria through the ballot papers. That’s what we want. That’s the right thing to do.”

He added that: “And here we are keeping members of our loyal and peaceful members of our APC. We are here to see the members of the subcommittee that are sent to Bochi to conduct the gubernatorial primary election. And unfortunately, we did not see them. We are here to register our grievances that we are in a democracy.

He pointed out that “democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not a government of the people, by the people, for the few. The few cannot come and take the face of the state.

“What we are demanding is a peaceful, free, and fair primary election. We want democracy. That’s all we are demanding.”

He stressed that: “We need the election to be credible. That’s why we are here to see the officials. We are waiting for the date. Whenever they announce the date, we are ready to go to the election. What we want is an election.

“As I said earlier, democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people. Not a government by the few. So, we’re waiting for them.”

Also speaking, Abdulaziz Nasrullah from Katagum Local Government Area said, “I’m here to talk over our grievances on the gubernatorial primaries of our party.

“We need a credible primary that represents the will of the people and the will of democracy. Because in Bauchi State, we need a credible candidate that represents the people of the state, not to represent the few people that are selected by their cronies for their own selfish interest.”