By Godwin Amunde
The Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), the umbrella body of governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Salihu Lukman, has enjoin leaders of the party to stop considering citizens demands as disagreements and subversive, when such demands do not correspond with their position.
In a position paper entitled: Nigerian Democracy and Challenge of Interests Negotiation, he made available to newsmen, in Abuja, on Sunday, Lukman also urged elected and appointed leaders of the APC to consider political proposals which are aimed at deepening democracy in Nigeria.
As a party, APC is far ahead of its political peers in terms of being a liberal party with strong internal contestation.
But such liberalism is yet to produce the corresponding requirement for interest representation and negotiation within the party, which is responsible for why our elected and appointed political leaders in the party estimate citizens demands as disagreement and subversive when it doesnt correspond to their positions.
It is also why fellow party leaders would appear intolerant to positions of other party leaders regarding both citizens demands and internal disagreements.
We need to appeal to our leaders at all levels, especially in APC to liberate themselves and shed off any fear of citizens engagement, internal disagreements, political negotiations and the possible compromises that may emerge both within the party and in the country.
Fear of citizens engagement and political negotiations is largely what is emboldening political opponents whose credentials on this score are anything but attractive, Lukman said.
He warned leaders of the party against complacency, saying APC should be ideally encouraged to consider testing political proposals meant to deepen democracy.
He said: Emerging from a big existential leadership crisis, all our political leaders in APC should ideally be encouraged to consider testing political proposals that should strengthen and deepen our democracy.
There should be no room for complacency. In fact, as a party, we need to take every necessary step to open up our party structures and invite patriotic Nigerians, members and leaders of organised groups to join the party.
With the partys National Caretaker Committee about to commence processes of membership registration and verification, we should aggressively mobilise Nigerians across all parts and sections of the country to join the party.
This should be a necessary precondition to accelerate the process of ensuring that political negotiations in the country go beyond electoral contests.
Part of the incentive required to encourage members and leaders of interest groups to be convinced about the APC being the go-to party for the realisation of political aspirations of diverse interests including professional and organised groups has to do with conducts of elected and appointed officials in governments controlled by the party.
Are our elected and appointed officials dispose to public debates, engagements and negotiations with organised groups? Or, do they also consider demands by interest groups as an expression of disagreement and therefore evidence of conspiracy against the party, governments it controls and all our political leaders?
For our democracy to develop to the level of producing compromises on a permanent basis, and with all Nigerians across all sectors based on corresponding respect for every interest in the country, the structures of our parties must be opened and broadened to accommodate everyone.
Otherwise, our democracy will remain stagnant and limited to electoral contests with the risk of the current ugly leadership vicious circle.
