Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja 
T
he Director-General, All Progressives Congress Governors Forum, Salihu Lukuman, has denied insinuations that there was division among governors of the party over the leadership crisis rocking the party.
Lukuman, who was reacting to a newspaper publication on Sunday, June 21 (not New Telegraph) that 13 governors were backing the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party led by factional National Chairman, Hilliard Eta, while seven other governors were backing Chief Victor Giadom-led NWC, describing the report as false.
He said: “This is false as there is nothing like the kind of sensational division being alluded to among progressive governors.
“Progressive governors are all individually and collectively committed to the development of the party. In the context of the current challenges facing the party leadership, progressive governors are all working for the quick resolutions of the crisis. Although, approaches and perspectives of each progressive governor may vary, they have been able to debate and reach some consensus on the problems affecting the party as contained in the resolutions of the emergency teleconference meeting of Saturday, June 13, 2020.
“Part of the resolutions, which was made public, include collectively working “to ensure strengthening fair and democratic internal party mechanism for the selection of party candidates in all elections,” in the statement he issued in Abuja yesterday.
Further, he said: “Debates and contestation of positions will be encouraged in the party. Anyone who seeks to stifle internal debate within the party is only interested in destroying the vital progressive credential, which the party must have to be able to live up to its commitment of being a social democratic.
“Somehow, vested interests who may have been furtively peddling false allegations against some progressive governors for the perspectives they hold about the crisis facing the party, are doing everything possible to impose their fantasies. All other perspective outside those fantasies are being criminalised and every attempt is being made to break the ranks of progressive governors. This is unfortunate.
“The reality is that all progressive governors are guided by all the resolutions adopted at the June 13, 2020 meeting. Those trying to create imaginary divisions are enemies of the party and clearly not interested in contributing in any way to bringing about an end to the crisis facing the party.
“As part of the scheme of dividing the ranks of progressive governors, fictitious support for and against Senator Abiola Ajimobi are being raised. For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Ajimobi is a respected founding member of the forum. Any day and anytime, Senator Ajimobi will enjoy the fraternal support of all progressive governors.
“However, given the current leadership challenges, it is not about support for or against sections of the NWC as is being projected. It is more about ensuring that the NWC functions as a united organ of the party based on which it is able to make provisions of the APC constitution functional. It will be downgrading to attempt to project Senator Ajimobi as a factional leader of the NWC.”
He described those behind the Sunday, June 21, 2020 newspaper report “as acting more like pornographic leaders, who as aptly described by Warren Bennis in his 1989 classic, ‘Why Leaders Can’t Lead’ are people ‘distanced from reality, from direct experience. They are not real people, but appendages … engaged in mechanical acts. These appendages are so without personalities or identifiable social characteristics’.
“They just sit down in their remote locations and attempt to simulate so called positions of leaders of the party, including progressive governors. They are merchants of crisis and conflicts. Every debate is reduced to conflicts based on which sections of the party are being pitched against each other.
