Barely a week since the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bola Tinubu, resumed his assignment as head of the reconciliation committee of the party, the Lagos State chapter of the party may have split as a new organisation called the Broom United Movement (BUM) on Tuesday emerged to challenge the leadership in the state.
The split in the state may have made the work of the national leader difficult as those involved in the 'rebellion' are known followers of Tinubu.
The splinter group accused the leadership of the party in the state of engaging in "illegalities, manipulation and marginalisation" against members, warning that unless genuine reconciliation is allowed to take place, the party may be heading for a crisis and a disaster in an election year.
According to Mr. Found Oki, a former Director General of Governors Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode's campaign organisations and convener of BUM, "our party suffers from low organisational capacity and lack of internal democracy. The resultant effect of this has been its incapacity to support our democracy as expected."
At the inaugural meeting of the group which took place at the Absolute Lagos Lounge of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Oki, lamented that there are no templates established to promote inclusiveness and equity in the party.
"Today, our in Lagos state is fading into insignificance. Massive membership exclusion is becoming the order of the day with members withdrawing from the political space and constituting themselves into internal opposition.
" It is in the light of all these, that the Broom United Movement will involve committed party members who will bring moral authority, character and wisdom in handling the delicate issue of reconciliation, unity and accord."
He assured party members that from now on, their "votes will count and will be allowed to freely chose their leaders in a healthy competitive atmosphere."
He cried that the APC in Lagos state "has never been this divided and disunited. The current graveyard silence that permeate our political landscape with a 'siddon look' syndrome is very dangerous," adding that political parties are vital organisations in a democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of political parties parties."
Oki said that this unfortunately is what is lacking in party management in the state. "Unfortunately, the democratic culture in our state is characterized by factors such as illegalities, rigging,oppression, manipulation, marginalisation and violence." Warning that "democracy and political participation are related to good governance; this relationship is complementary but appear to be antithetical in our political system. When democracy is abused, good governance becomes elusive and evasive."
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