A forum of former members of the 7th National Assembly under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to address the marginalisation of CPC bloc within the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections.
The Forum said while the President was doing well in a lot of areas, there are rooms for improvement and to give the CPC bloc what is due to them in order to have the courage to galvanise and woo 12 million votes of the bloc for APC.
A member of the forum and former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aliyu Gebi stated this at a press conference held on Wednesday in Abuja.
The former lawmaker noted that while they are committed members of the APC, they cannot pretend that the CPC was marginalised within the ruling party.
His words: “We cannot sit here and pretend marginalisations do not exist. We cannot sit here and pretend that we were not thrown out of a vehicle that we created. We cannot sit here and pretend that our supporters, the 12 million votes that we can garner at any point in time, are not also disenfranchised because of the antecedents of the previous administration and how it has continued.
“However, being loyal party members, we created this baby, we funded it against all odds from our legal earnings when it was not popular to do so. We fought the PDP when it was very dangerous to do so, and we still remain.
“However, it is not too late to cause-correct. So when you call us a faction, we are not a faction. We are the bona fide members of APC because we gave the money, we gave the blood, we gave the sweat for this merger to happen.
“Having been out of office for 10 years. What becomes of me? What becomes of my people? Politics is a game of representation. Leaders spoke of the North West and I am from the North East. There are problems in the North East, and we can argue that the North East is marginalised at some level or the other.
“However, it does not negate the fact that we are bonafide members of the APC. But political parties are supposed to nurture those who invested in them, but we still have a situation where we have usurpers, interlopers, and criminals jumping in through the window. I will not sit down here, it has never been my nature. It is not the nature of the CPC. Certainly, it is not our nature or our DNA to shy away from the truth.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the forum, Hon. Basiru Ila declared that former Governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Tanko Al-Makura remained the leader of the CPC bloc in APC and not the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.
He stated: “It is also pertinent to emphasise that the CPC, having produced only one Governor in the federation-Sen. Tanko Al-Makura, Governor of Nasarawa State-this body of duly elected members of the 7th National Assembly recognises him as our leader.
“This forum will work with him to ensure that what we worked hard and sacrificed so much for this party, our party, the ruling party, our APC-succeeds in delivering, beyond expectations, the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians, which were the instruments that led to the merger in the first place.”
Ila called on all Nigerians, particularly the supporters of the CPC in Northern Nigeria and beyond, to disregard any unauthorised statements, actions, or representations made in the name of the CPC.
He noted: “It has come to our attention that certain individuals, groups and entities who had no electoral value during the heyday of the CPC have falsely claimed to speak for or represent the CPC, purporting to act on behalf of its legacy and its millions of supporters.
“We categorically declare that no person, group of persons, or entity has the authority to speak for or on behalf of the defunct CPC, except the elected representatives of the party who were duly chosen by its supporters in 2011.
“We, the former elected Members of the CPC from the 7th Assembly and many more who stood for elections, won and were subsequently robbed of their hard work. earned, hard-won, yet short-lived victories, remain the only legitimate and authentic voice of the defunct CPC.”
Some members of the forum are: Senator Ibrahim Musa, Hon. Sanusi Aliyu, Hon. Mohammed Tukur, Senator Ahmed Sani, Hon. Ibrahim Chachangi, Hon. Yusuf Bala, and the National Vice Chairman, North west, Hon. Garuba Datti.