The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje, has sworn in a six-man committee comprising six governors to coordinate the party affairs in their various geo-political zones.
The six governors were officially inaugurated by Ganduje at the APC national headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
They arw Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Bassey Otu (Cross River), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Uba Sani (Kaduna) and Mai Mala Buni (Yobe).
After their oath-taking ceremony, the APC national chairman announced that the governors have the mandate to initiate periodic interfaces with other members of the Progressive Governor’s Forum within their zones and the leadership of the party.
According to the former Kano governor, Sanwo-Olu will coordinate the party’s activities for the South-west zone while Uzodimma takes charge of the South-East.
Otu will be in charge of South-South while the trio of AbdulRazaq, Sani and Buni coordinate the affairs of North-Central, North-West and North-East regions.
He said, “We are here to mobilise the demand of the people and to form an agenda for the party and the government. We also need to disseminate information on what the government is doing down to the people.
“To do that, we have narrowed down our activities to geopolitical zones. So, in all this, there must be a governor that will oversee, motivate, and encourage all within that zone. That is the only way that we can move forward quickly.
“Therefore, we need you (newly inaugurated coordinators) to mobilise other governors of the zones to effectively and physically participate in party activities within and outside the zone. Also, consult with the governors on issues that will further enhance the progress and unity of the party and assist the APC on resource mobilisation in the zones.”
Responding on behalf of the governors, Uzodimma promised they would not fail the party in the assignment given to them.
“On behalf of the coordinators of the six geopolitical zones, I stand up here to thank you for finding us worthy to do this assignment. In doing this assignment, we are almost certain the expectations will be met. We are very delighted that the party in its wisdom introduced this new policy of properly coordinating the party. As you are aware, we at the PGF have a membership of 20 governors, which means 20 states are currently being governed by APC.
“We’ve to start from there to ensure an inclusive participation of all members of our party and to take this participation to the grassroots. I think that’s the wisdom behind this inauguration. In a partisan democracy, the party is supreme, and the government is controlled and managed by the party. That’s why the President of the country is the leader of our great party.
“We will do our best as progressive governor’s forum to support the government to ensure that it is functional and effective, to encourage all-inclusive programmes in the government and to strengthen the reward system of the party in government,” he pledged.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
