APC not behind crises ravaging opposition parties, says IPAC deputy chair

The newly elected Deputy National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Hajiya Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, has absolved the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of any complicity in the various crises affecting opposition political parties.

She said the governing party should not be held responsible for any internal crisis of other political parties.

Ibrahim, who is also the APC Deputy National Women Leader, made this clarification yesterday in Abuja while addressing reporters on the outcome of the IPAC election, which was held on December 8 in Abuja.

Responding to an accusation that the ruling party has been fingered in the instability within most opposition parties in the country, Ibrahim emphatically rejected the allegation, saying: “I do not think APC is responsible for the internal problems of any political party. That is their internal affair.”

She noted that, unlike other parties, APC strictly adheres to the principle of internal democracy.

The IPAC deputy chairperson said this has been the ruling party’s special quality that makes it an attractive and formidable national party, which continues to attract more members from opposition parties and well-meaning Nigerians.

“APC is a formidable national party with representation across all zones. It is the strict adherence to the principle of internal democracy that draws the attention of the people to the party. You cannot stop a moving train. Other parties’ challenges are their responsibility, not that of the APC.”

Clarifying the position of the council on factionalised parties, the IPAC leader said the council was not involved in the running of any political party but only aligned and worked with party leadership recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Ibrahim said: “IPAC relates strictly with INEC. It is the names of party leaders on the INEC portal that IPAC works with. We do not concern ourselves with factional disputes of political parties.”

Shedding light on the just-concluded IPAC election, the deputy chairperson said the adoption of the “twinning formula” in the newly drafted constitution of the council has further entrenched gender inclusivity in the political space of the country.

This, she said, led to the election of three women into the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the council, a development that she claimed was novel to the council.

Under the new constitution, Ibrahim said, “if the Chairman is male, automatically the deputy must be female. Where the secretary is male, automatically the deputy is female, and vice versa”.

She added: “It is now inscribed in the IPAC Constitution that there must always be at least two females in the IPAC Executive. That is what happened.

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“On the 8th of December, the election was held. I contested for the position of Deputy National Chairman and another female contested for Deputy National Secretary. These positions were meant strictly for women to contest.

“Today, IPAC now has three women in its Executive, instead of the zero gender inclusion level we previously had. Standing before you now is the Deputy National Chairman of IPAC—the Inter-Party Advisory Council, the umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria.”