Former National Vice Chairman, North West of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has said the leadership of the ruling party must seize the initiative to develop a sustainable method of funding the party’s activities.
Lukman made the call in a statement on Monday. The former member of the APC National Working Committee, who expressed strong reservations about what he called the surrogate status of the APC NWC, said an effective and enduring funding mechanism would wean the party’s national officers from undue influence of those holding elective offices under the party platform.
Lukman suggested an annual budget of not less than N100 billion, noting that such a huge sum accruing
to the party purse would make the dream of the proposed Institute of Progressive Studies, presented to President Bola Tinubu by the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, attainable.
“The declaration by the National Chairman of APC, Dr. Ganduje, that the party will be establishing a National Institute of Progressive Studies in 2024, should be oriented to respond to all the challenges of making APC emerge as a functionally progressive party. Such an institute should develop the needed programmatic framework for undertaking the requisite broader operational training to develop the aptitude of party leaders at all levels to discharge all their responsibilities to party organs. In addition, the institute should have the responsibility of organizing political education courses for all party leaders at all levels.
“For such an institute to succeed, however, there are fundamental issues that must be resolved. The first one is the question of funding. This is in two parts. The easiest is mobilizing funds for the proposed institute. It is easy because there are many sources of funding that could be accessed by such an institute. The most difficult is the challenge of mobilizing funding for the management and sustenance of the party. Currently, like all political parties in Nigeria, APC has no sustainable sources of funding. The only defined source of funding is fees for nomination forms paid by aspiring candidates. Although more than N30 billion was generated under the leadership of Sen. Adamu ahead of the 2023 general elections, it wasn’t used to fund activities of the party organs nationally. For instance, each of the six zones in the country was only given N40 million, and each state was given only N20 million.
“If the organs of the party at all levels are to functionAPC, Lukman as required by the provisions of the party’s constitution, the APC should have an annual budget of not less than N100 billion. Certainly, funding activities of States, Local Governments, and Wards organs of the party throughout the country would require not less than N50 billion. With an annual budget of not less than N100 billion, how can the party mobilize the required funding? What will be the responsibilities of all the organs of the party in the process of fund mobilization? How will the funds be shared, and what will be the accountability structures that will be put in place?
“Part of what the budget of the party must clearly outline is an unambiguous reward and conditions of service for party leadership at all levels. If the confidence of party leaders is to be strengthened, reward and conditions of service for party leaders should be benchmarked with public service conditions of service. This would entail, for instance, the National Chairman should have the same condition of service as the Vice President. Deputy National Chairmen should have the same conditions of service as the Senate President. National Secretary, the same conditions as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. And other members of the National Working Committee should have the same conditions as Ministers.
“This should be cascaded down to states, local governments, and wards and should necessarily require that qualifications for all positions are appropriately benchmarked with corresponding public service qualifications. But first things first; the issue of party funding and the capacity to mobilize the fund to implement all these should be resolved beyond assumptions. A situation whereby the National Chairman of the party is reduced to a beggar, expecting charity from elected and appointed officials in government is unacceptable. Once that is the case, the capacity of the party to influence and regulate the conduct of elected and appointed officials in government will remain weak.
“Once the issue of party funding is not resolved, the current reality whereby party leaders are not committed to discharging their responsibilities will continue. Given such reality, the only realistic mandate of any proposed Progressive Institute could only be to develop the capacity of party leaders to manipulate electoral contests. Certainly, that couldn’t be the kind of institute Dr. Ganduje is proposing.”
Lukman further argued that the proposed Institute would go a long way in giving the party the latitude to Apcensure that those holding elective offices subordinate themselves to the party manifestoes and programs in line with its Constitution.
“Beyond every doubt, Nigerian political parties should have a programmatic framework for developing the capacity of political party leaders to discharge the responsibilities assigned to them by their respective constitutions. Above all, if political parties in Nigeria are to emerge as the supreme political authority directing and regulating the conduct of elected representatives to ensure that policies and legislations by elected officials produced by parties are representative and responsive to the interest of citizens in line with provisions of the party manifestos and campaign promises, the desirability of an institute should be welcome.
Such an institute can only succeed in meeting the expectations of Nigerians if it is part of a wider strategy of reforming Nigerian political parties to ensure that their structures are functional in line with extant provisions of their constitution. Therefore, the proposed National Institute of Progressive Studies to be set up by APC should be part of a wider strategic reform initiative by the party to ensure that structures of the party at all levels are functional and elected party leaders at all levels are oriented to deliver on their respective mandates as enshrined in the APC constitution.”
. TheWitness
Tajeo
