Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for attending the All Progressives Congress National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
In a statement, Lukman said the president’s attendance at the meeting has helped to resolve the crisis plaguing the party.
“We should be able to respond by acknowledging properly the commendable leadership of the President in this challenging moment.
“Without attempting to compel or force anyone, he was able to broker peace in the party.
“Rather than displaying arrogance or dictatorship as he is always been accused of, he displayed excellent democratic credentials.
“With the way the NEC played out, we should ask the question, why did it take this long to hold the NEC? The simple answer is because we have locked ourselves with leaders who become the problem.
“The fact is, the president was able to discharge his responsibility as the moral authority of the party because he freed himself from all the leaders who were the problem.
“It is only because of that, he was able to see the true picture and accordingly make recommendations that can solve the problem.
“These were recommendations that didn’t defeat anyone but favour everyone, which confirms the President’s status as ‘belonging to everybody and belonging to no one.
“This is one attribute that can be said to be unique to this president.
“If the APC leadership crisis is anything to go by, it has highlighted the danger posed by the shortage of leaders with this unique attribute.
“Therefore, part of the challenge before every APC leader is to develop this attribute.
“Looking at the proposals made by the President at the NEC, which eventually became the solution, they provided a guide in terms of how the leaders can develop these attributes.
“These proposal include, discontinuing pending litigation(s) involving the party and its members, ratify Edo primary election, dissolving National Working Committee, and appointment of caretaker/Extra-ordinary Convention Working Committee.
“These are not proposals that supported any of the parties in the APC leadership crisis. But they are also proposals that accommodated everyone.
“By far, what may have settled the matter was the composition of the Convention Working Committee, which reflected all sections but more importantly party leaders that are not directly involved in the dispute.
“How was the president able to achieve this? This should be the question APC leaders should be asking if they are to succeed in developing the unique attributes of the president,”Lukman said.