• We lied to Nigerians about APC population strength -Ajibola, party’s scribe
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has warned that only party members whose names appeared on the digital register shall be deemed to be true and faithful members of the party.
He handed down the warning in his remarks at the opening ceremony of the e-membership registration train-the-trainer workshop in Abuja, yesterday.
The former governor of Kano State also described the exercise as an attempt to have a graphic idea of the total members of the party, their geographical spread, and demographic divisions.
Ganduje further emphasised that apart from other commendable importance of the e-registration, it would also serve as a basis of reference for any member of the party seeking appointment at any level or desiring to contest an election.
He warned that the biometrics of party members must synchronise with their details in the National Identity Number (NIN), adding that the process would drive the planning, decision-making, and projection processes.
“We are gathered in fulfilment and accomplishment of our promise to start the process of digitising the membership of our party. This is an attempt to have a graphic idea of the total members of our party, their geographical spread, and demographic divisions.
“This process will not only drive the planning, decision-making, and projection processes, it will also serve as the basis of reference for any member of our party seeking appointment at any level or desiring to contest an election.
“The App and portal on which the prospective trainees from the 36 states and FCT, Abuja, are expected to use, will soon be reactivated so that existing and new members can go online to register and join our party from any part of the world.
“Each person is expected to provide his or her biometric data, which must tally with the details captured in the NIN. By doing so, any member whose name appears on the digital register, shall be deemed to be true and faithful members of our great party,” he said.
The party’s National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Argungu, claimed that a few people expressed reservations on the possibility of translating the vision of a digital membership register for a political party in our country into reality.
Represented by the Deputy National Organising Secretary, Nze Chidi Duru, he said: “We are all gathered here as living witnesses to the commencement of a new era in political administration in our great country. This, for me personally, evokes a sense of pride and admiration for our national chairman, Umar Ganduje, who conceived and continued to lead this great initiative from the front.
“I am well aware that not a few people expressed their opinions on the impossibility of translating the vision of a digital membership register for a political party in our country because of the peculiar nature, and technology limitations of the rank and file of politicians across the country. But, the national chairman refused to be daunted or discouraged as he remained focused on making his dream of digitalisation of our great party membership register come to pass,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Secretary, Suraijudeen Ajibola Basiru, has admitted that the party made false claims about the population strength of the party in the build up to the 2023 general elections.
The national leadership of the party, under the headship of the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala-Buni, had pegged the population of the party at 45 million, but the party failed to garner up to nine million votes during the poll last year.
Ajibola confessed that Amilcar Cabral’s doctrine of ‘tell no lies, claim no easy victories,’ has exhumed the lie.
The Osun-born politician maintained that the exposure was not to ridicule anybody, but to know that, “when a child falls, he will look at the front. But when an elder falls, he will look back to see where he made a mistake.”
According to him, “If we have that membership of 45 million, how come we went to poll and got votes of less than 10 million.
“We made a mistake because the registers of the party were tools for fighting causes we don’t know. Weaponisation of party register led to corruption. It was on this basis that the National Working Committee decided that one of the cardinal programmes will be to have a digitalised and biometric-based registration system that is linked with the National Identification Number of all members,” he noted.
On the registration, Basiru said: “I am glad to say this effort is coming with a vision at this important programme to ‘train the trainers’ and ensure that the work is done. Also, knowledge is very essential to leadership,” he said.
