Tinubu’s loyalists form splinter group in Lagos

Loyalists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader,

The inaugural meeting of the group took place at the Absolute Lagos Lounge of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club on Tuesday, February 27, 2018.

The group accused APC leadership in Lagos of engaging in “illegalities, manipulation and marginalisation” against members.

Fu’ad Oki, convener of BUM, warned that unless genuine reconciliation is allowed to take place, the party may be heading for a crisis and a disaster in an election year.

Oki, a former director general of ex-Governors Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode’s campaign organisations, said, the state chapter of the APC is fading into insignificance.

“Our party suffers from low organisational capacity and lack of internal democracy,” Oki began.

“The resultant effect of this has been its incapacity to support our democracy as expected.

“Today, our party in Lagos State is fading into insignificance. Massive membership exclusion is becoming the order of the day with members withdrawing from the political space and constituting themselves into internal opposition.

“It is in the light of all these, that the BUM will involve committed party members who will bring moral authority, character and wisdom in handling the delicate issue of reconciliation, unity and accord,” he added.

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He lamented that the APC in the state has never been this divided and disunited.

“The current graveyard silence that permeate our political landscape with a ‘siddon look’ syndrome is very dangerous. Political parties are vital organisations in a democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of political parties.

“Unfortunately, the democratic culture in our state is characterised by factors such as illegalities, rigging, oppression, manipulation, marginalisation and violence.

“Democracy and political participation are related to good governance; this relationship is complementary but appear to be antithetical in our political system. When democracy is abused, good governance becomes elusive and evasive," he added.

Oki assured party members that from now on, their votes will count and they would be allowed to freely choose their leaders in a healthy competitive atmosphere.