President Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned the All Progressives Congress, APC, against imposing candidates for the 2023 elections.
Buhari advised APC leaders against imposing unpopular candidates on the party.
He spoke at APC’s meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Abuja.
A statement by Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the President as urging the party leaders to follow due process in picking candidates for the next elections.
He also cautioned against in-fighting within the APC, stressing that such would lead to the party’s loss.
“I enjoin you all to follow due process in all the party processes and more importantly to develop more mechanisms against corruption. I call on all party members to abide by all extant laws, rules, and regulations and to leaders of our party to avoid the imposition of candidates that cannot win popular elections.
“This dictatorial behavior cost us many strategic seats in the past. In the recent past, this led to some of our strong members, unfortunately, opting to go elsewhere because of the unfairly oppressive behavior of party leaders at state level.
“I must caution strongly against any tendency towards developing cliques, infighting within the party. We want to win well not succumb to factions on account of personal acerbities and desire to retain control at all costs. That surely is not the road to win,” he said.