Lalong seeks all-inclusive campaign council for APC

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has warned against appointing those he described as “Abuja politicians” to take charge of the President’s campaign.

The governor, who spoke at a consultative meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) and the party’s governorship candidates, said many Abuja based members struggling to be part of the campaign council had not visited their states in the last two years nor have they attended ward meetings. They are not in touch with the grassroots, he said.

Lalong spoke just as APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole urged the candidates to assist the party in reconciliation by involving in their campaign those who contested against them.

Lalong, who called for the immediate composition of the Presidential Campaign Council, lamented that only those who know Abuja will be appointed, warning: “Somebody may be a champion in Abuja but without base at the grass roots. The election will not be in Abuja. In some places, governors and candidates will labour up and down but by the end of the day, they will not have the opportunity to present those who helped them in achieving the victory.

“This thing must be handled with emphasis because we have already started to see people raising structures. I have told them if you raise any structure in Abuja that is for Abuja  but if you raise the structure, come back home and identify the structure with the grass roots.

“Some of them have never gone to their wards in the past two years and they don’t attend meetings at the ward level. What they are doing in Abuja is nothing other than to advise themselves.

“That is why I am also of the opinion that the earlier you release the campaign council, the better. Some of the items we intend to build into our campaign slogan are also for the President. We have started hearing people saying that they will campaign for the President not the governor.

“The party structure is one and if they are not going to campaign for the governor, don’t campaign with us. Raise another structure in Abuja and remain in  Abuja because if you come you are likely to dilute the message of the APC. The earlier we get the one from the national to build from the state assembly to the Presidency, otherwise there will be conflicts here and there.

“The other parties have started their campaign. This meeting to me is very timely because we have been sitting down, waiting and wondering whether we can even start our campaign. We wanted to be sure that we have a meeting like this to confirm that we are very comfortable with our national executive to return and flag off our campaign from state assembly to Mr President.”

Speaking on behalf of the other governors, Lalong said: “Let me apologise on behalf of my colleagues that are still on the way. Many of them said that they got the invitation late yesterday (Wednesday) and are on their way. This meeting is important because it is the first after our confirmation as candidates of the party. This is an opportunity to congratulate the party for a very wonderful exercise.

“We all saw the challenges and how the chairman was harassed and messed up and down by some of us from morning till evening. But it is good that the chairman has bounced back and he is beginning to shine again a little.”

Oshiomhole told the governorship candidates that their action or inaction could help the ongoing  process or aggravate it.

He said: “I felt it is important to know who our governorship candidates are. In addition, I thought it would be helpful for the candidates themselves to also know one another. From our now, very limited experience, sometimes it is good to call somebody from another state to ask, how did you handle this matter in your state?

“What is happening in your area is what is happening in my area and you will find out that that information sharing can, be helpful and taking advantage of the sitting governors who are also seeking reelection, you will also…

“We appreciate that a lot has happened over the past couple of months particularly with primaries.

“In many states, we didn’t have challenges because state organs to of the party recognises that they have to be neutral just as we have to try to do the same until the President becomes the official candidate. We were not able to refer to him as such because we preferred to be neutral until that formality was completed and he is now the candidate of our party.”

“So, we all can now refer to him as our candidate and the vice president who is his running mate. This was what we expected the state organs to do, to remain neutral and in the process produce a candidate.”

“In some states, some members of the executive were able to maintain some level of neutrality, in some other states it was not like that. If you had read the papers, you would have seen the state organ endorsing one candidate against the others.

“So, we imagined that there could have been surprises, some suspension, etc but we thought that now, this period is over and we should be able to remind the governorship candidates and the state chairmen to recognise whether the person that emerged is your favourite or not; as a party, we all have responsibility to work wholeheartedly to deliver our candidates in the respective states.

“We thought that a meeting like this would also afford the candidates the opportunity to seek clarifications on any matter that you think is important for you to know and what role you expect us to play and also to remind you that we have very little time left between now and middle of March when we will be expected to go to the polls.”

“To be honest, l think that as candidates, each and everyone of you has one important role to play. Your actions could help the process of reconciliation and it could also deepen division. For example, in constituting your campaign organisation, if you find that there were those who wanted to be governor like you and who indeed have what it takes to be governor, but the system can only produce one candidate, l think it would be best for you to identify such persons and bring them close and integrate them into your campaign organisation or if possible ask them to head the campaign.

“It would be helpful. No matter what anybody from outside who is helping you to reconcile with those who contested with you, your action would be far more potent in the process.” Niger state Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said one of the ways of addressing grievances of aspirants who lost out is to refund their money, saying “What we are doing in Niger State, which we feel can help in other states, is to refund the money they used in buying the forms.

“The national chairman has already highlighted many issue but what I will do is to emphasise on two key areas. God has made it possible that we emerged candidates by defeating our opponents. What we should do is to extend hands of fellowship  to them and like the National Chairman said, make them part of your campaign council.

“It will help to douse tension and give them and sense of belonging so that by God’s grace when we win in 2019, we must carry them along. The reconciliation committee set up is a good effort. But we should set up similar committees at the state level. What we are doing in Niger state which we feel can help in other states is to refund them money they used in buying the forms. It will help douse a lot of tension.”