A new group which calls itself, The Concerned Stakeholders Forum All Progressives Congress (APC), has alleged that some government appointees are sabotaging the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Dominic Alancha Convener of the forum said this at a news conference on Saturday in Abuja, Alancha supported the claim by Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, that some individuals in government were sabotaging the good efforts of the Buhari-led administration.
He said it was clear that some government appointees whose appointments were celebrated had turned out to be the biggest disasters and saboteurs of the Buhari administration.
Alancha gave an instant of an appointee who refused to release board appointments that could have gone to party faithful for more than three years in spite of Buhari’s directive.
“Few months to the end of the tenure of his administration, this man has done nothing of the sort, thereby illiciting the anger of party faithful, especially the younger members,” he said.
Alancha also accused heads of some government agencies of bringing in their friends and allies to head different departments, saying they were hell-bent on undermining Buhari and the APC led administration
“Some ministers have taken it upon themselves to allocate to themselves positions of parastatals under them and assign it to whoever they want.
“They are completely nonchalant about the party and the president’s legacy,” he said, adding that most parastatal were headed by none APC members,” he said.
He said that most ministers were only interested in promoting themselves and their kinsmen and not the APC as a political party.
Alancha added that this was a big shame and an aberration, saying that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) had also not helped issues, especially with regards to accountability and rewarding loyal party members.
According to him, most party members at State and Local Government levels were defecting to opposition parties following the outcome of its primary in 2022 while its major stakeholders had been alienated.
“This is the first time in the history of political campaign, a ruling party failed in her responsibility to mobilised members and its critical stakeholders to raise campaign funds for it.
“Neither has the NWC called for a National Executive Committee (NEC)meeting to look into the well being of the party and the campaign.
“Although we are happy with the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) that they insisted on power shift to the South and posterity will judge them faithful.
“But their high handedness in their states and in the party led to complete dis-configuration of the growth of the party,” Alancha said.
He said that the Feb. 25 election was the most important since the return to democracy in 1999 in the country.
Alancha said the election was also the most critical in the life of the APC as it sought to possibly transmit power from one leader to another within the same fold.
“Let me make it clear from the onset that we believe this election is ours to lose, and we will not lose it, we will win.
“Our winning is sacrosanct God willing, but before every victory comes a great test, the last few weeks have been a great test for us as a party,” he said.
He appealed to Buhari to direct his ministers and other political appointees to go back to their wards within the next one week to hold meetings in their electoral wards.
He added that such meetings should be done with a view to canvassing for votes for the APC under whose platform they were serving the country.
Alancha also appealed to the president to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor to extend the withdrawal of the old naira note by six month as a legal tender.
This, he said, would help to ease the suffering the naira re-design policy and swap had inflicted on Nigerians.
He said an investigation should also be launched to know how much of the newly re-designed naira notes the CBN had printed and how much was released to the banks for onward circulation.
Alancha added that the CBN should ensure there was sufficient newly re-designed naira notes in circulations to avoid a break down of law and order in the country as seen in the pockets of protest across states.
He said the policy was anti-people and designed to hurt citizens, adding that the insistance of the CBN Governor on the Feb. 10, deadline for the old naira notes swap was not in the interest of Nigerians.
“It is very clear that he had chosen to make a few people rich in this government at the detriment of majority of Nigerians.
“The naira re-design policy is a good policy that is long overdue, but the timing is absolutely horrible and we condemn it because the timing is short and very restrictive,” he said.
Alancha said this was especially so because the policy had plunged the country into a serious mess.
This, he said, was due to the inability of citizens to access the newly redesigned naira notes which had resulted to pockets of protest currently being witnessed in parts of the country and grounding of the economy.
He expressed fear that if the development was not addressed, it could lead to a complete and total breakdown of law and order.
“This is not the philosophy and policy behind the formation of our party, the APC,” he said.
