*As Okey Nwosu rates one-year of Tinubu’s regime low
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
A former presidential aspirant on the platform of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Chukwuka Monye, has said the party is desirous of ensuring that voters, who are displeased with the outcome of last election, are encouraged to engage the process in future polls.
He stated this during the opening of a retreat for ADC executives tagged “What Nigerian Voters Want – A Strategic Public Engagement” on Monday in Abuja.
Monye, who is also a Board of Trustees (BoT) member of the party, said
ADC wants to do something different by hearing from Nigerians so that they can go back and think and come up with practical solutions.
On the issue of voter apathy he said many Nigerians are not happy with the way the elections turned out and that some won’t want to come back and participate in the process again.
According to him, “So we need to know if they would come back and on what basis they would return to vote again.
“ADC will listen and develop game plans based on what the panellists tell us”, he said, adding that the recommendations will form a basis for ADC development road plan.
The former presidential aspirant said the gathering was important because what Nigerians want is what matters.
He said some of the members on the panel are driver, market women, and other people from regular walks of life.
He said, “They are important to us. Not many parties out there seek to understand what Nigerians want. ADC is thinking about the operations of the party not waiting till 2027.”
Monye, who stressed that getting the right set of leaders will change the situation in Nigeria, said issues of leadership accountability and voter apathy will be deliberated on during the retreat.
On his part, ADC national chairman, Dr Ralph Okey Nwosu said, “We want to hear from all the people that have attended.
He said the gathering will be held around the country, adding that it will enable the party to work out policies based on the feedback they get.
According to him, “We do a listing on the things we do as a matter of fact on the day of the voting, the people that will be out there to vote are those who don’t have air conditions in their rooms.
“If you saw the INEC record ADC always present the greatest number of young people to run election”, he said.
Commenting on the one year in office of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr Okey Nwosu said, “One of the reasons why the one year in office has been so dramatic and full of flip flops is because the president didn’t listen to the people and they started in a very engrossed way and leadership is not just about me, you or what you think.
“It’s about what the people want and APC is failing, the President is not doing too well and you know why? You can’t see a hungry people and the first policy you’d do, even before you step into office, is to tell them your fuel price has gone up by 400% it is irresponsible and it will take them more than 4 years to address the problem that the singular decision took and so on”, he said.
