The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the party will henceforth not field candidates who will only use the party’s platform to pursue their own selfish interests.
He made this known while addressing members of the APC Governorship and National Assembly screening committees in Abuja, on Monday.
He said, “We do not want to field opportunists who are simply seeking a political vehicle for some selfish purposes.
“What has happened in recent past is enough for us to begin to look at the character of those who are seeking office in the APC platform.
“If before now we have taken for granted the powers of the National Assembly, how those powers can be used for national goals and how it can also be misused to undermine national progress.
“The current situation we are facing here, where two principal officers have chosen to put their personal interests over and above the national interest.
“Refusing to consider budget meant for physical infrastructure. Budget meant to re-order the way our budget is executed, to move money away from consumption, which recurrent expenditure represents, to capital projects, which will benefit our people.
“Henceforth, only persons with the intellectual capacity to carry out oversight functions to ensure that Nigerians get value for money would be those considered worthy of the party’s tickets.”
He also spoke on the National Assembly’s delay of the passage of the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2019 elections.
“For us as a party, we have chosen to learn from the positive lessons from this development so that we do not repeat those mistakes by selecting people who as far as human capacity is we can assess and predict that if elected, they will remain faithful not only to our party but more importantly to the Nigerian nation.
“As we speak, I am proud that we have 57 senators who have refused to be induced or misled or otherwise manipulated into moving to other parties or reward for juicy positions.
“It will be ungodly for us as a party not to reward those who believe in the party and the government of the day led by President Muhammadu Buhari,” Oshiomhole added.
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