Newly registered All Progressives Congress, (APC) yesterday said it will name its presidential candidate and governorship candidates for the 2015 general elections after it has concluded its National Convention in November.
Thus was as it wielded the big stick on its members, particularly it’s officials from making public statements that purportedly come from the party, insisting that only the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed was permitted to speak for APC.
Interim National Chairman, Bisi Akande said this on Tuesday while addressing the press on the successful registration of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said: ” We are building a structure from the foundation up, and not from the top down. We listened to some people talking about the presidency; no, we have not reached that stage at all. Our major pre-occupation is to step up the structure of our party, the All Progressives Congress. It is after that, may be in November or December, when we hold our national convention, where our national executive will be elected, then we can talk about who becomes the President or governor or anything.
“The only exception is Anambra State, and a Committee is already working on that. And We are going to register our members in Anambra state; we are going to conduct congresses and we are going to elect a candidate who is going to contest on the platform of APC”.
He noted: “The only thing you will say is creating some misunderstanding is that people are anxious to be part of APC. But because the party has not given directives on what it wants to do, people are just talking on behalf of the party. We are putting a stop to that. Any statement about APC should emanate from the national publicity secretary of the party, that is Alhaji Lai Mohammed. And whatever he says you should know is the mind and position of the All Progressives Congress. And we are warning the people who are arrogating to themselves chairmanship of APC in the state or in the local government; they are all unauthorized.
“All those who are printing papers, printing forms in the name of APC in the states or local government, they are not yet authorized. The authority will soon begin to flow down from the national level to the state level to the local government level. And when it is going to be done, the national publicity secretary will keep you informed.
“We have set up a Committee headed by Alhaji Aminu Bello Masri, the National
Deputy Chairman of the party to advise APC on how to establish structures and activities below the level of the national interim executive. And as soon as they report is out, we are going to let the world know how to organize our party at the state and the local government levels. But anything you hear before now, and until we come out as a party and address the whole country by the national publicity secretary are all unauthorized”.
He said though there are other registered political parties in Nigeria, the APC and the PDP are very manifest, pointing out that it would be easier for Nigerians to make choice between the two outstanding parties.
He dismissed the purported contention on the original owner of the acronym, saying: “in Nigeria today, we don’t know of any other APC apart from this All Progressives Congress. And we don’t contemplate anything, and nothing will happen to move this APC out of place. We remain a party and we shall remain a party forever to rule this country Nigeria.”