Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, has cautioned government and party officials against antiparty activities, directing the state working committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to sanction any official found wanting.
Engineer Sule handed down the warning during a meeting he summoned involving members of the state executive council, special advisers, chairmen of local government areas, overseers of development areas, members of the state working committee of the party, as well as members of his campaign council, at the Government House, on Wednesday.
The Governor said as the leader of the APC in the state, he cannot fold his arms and watch while some officials throw cautions to the winds and to engage in antiparty activities.
“We represent this party, we are the eyes of this political party. We are the ones that promote this political party. None of us should be seen promoting another party outside APC. If we do that, we are not being fair to the party. And we are not being fair to ourselves,” he stated.
Engineer Sule added that, as the Governor, it’s his responsibility to cater for all the people of the state, without recourse to political divide but as far as the 2023 general elections are concerned, he cannot be seen as carrying the flag of the APC and promoting another party.
The Governor directed the party hierarchy take punitive measures against any official found to be engaged in antiparty activities.
“I want to tell you first politely that, that is not right but I want to tell you on the other way that if I find somebody doing that, I will not mind using the stick instead of just the carrot. I think that is the right thing for me to do. I cannot be a leader while things like these are happening and I just look the other way. That is not the right thing to do,” he stated.
He pointed out that people have choice to either belong to the APC or leave the party, stressing that it is morally wrong for an individual to hold a position in APC and then be loyal to another party.
Engineer Sule equally used the opportunity of the meeting to speak on the need for tolerance, understanding and cordial relationship among government officials.
He decried the frequent friction between commissioners and special advisers, chairmen of local government areas and overseers of development areas, as well as between commissioners and local government chairmen.
The Governor also decried the high number of cases that have trailed the party primaries, urging for restraint.
He explained that, even though the party has chosen to remain law abiding, by waiting for the courts to decides who flies the flag of the party, there is every need to appeal to those aspiring under the platform of the APC to reduce the number of court cases.
“What we do as a party is that we decided to be law abiding. Whoever wins his or her case, as long as we don’t have an appeal notice, we will give such people their flag. That is what we have been doing. However, we as family, we should try as much as possible to reduce the number of cases, by appealing to our wards to reduce this number of cases. If somebody chose to go to court, he has a right. Then they go again to appeal, they lose, we should try to encourage them to avoid going to the Supreme Court,” he stated.
Engineer also spoke on the scheduled visit to the state by the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who is billed to hold his rally in Lafia on January 14.
The Governor charged the officials to do whatever possible towards ensuring that the event is successful.
