Aggrieved aspirants of the All Progressives Congress screened out of the race by the party screening committee might defect from the ruling party.
National chairman of the Action Democratic Party, Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani dropped the hint on Tuesday.
The APC governorship primary to pick its standard-bearer ahead of the November election is scheduled for Thursday in Lokoja, the state capital.
The screening panel led by Senator Hope Uzodimma has since cleared four aspirants while it disqualified 12.
Those cleared for Thursday exercise included incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello, Hassan Abdullahi, Engineer Abubakar Bashir and Ekele Aishat Blessing.
Those disqualified for the primary have since dismissed the report of the screening panel as a charade while some of them threatened court action.
At a news briefing on Tuesday, the ADP chairman revealed that some of the aspirants on the APC platform in Kogi and Bayelsa states have opened discussion with his party.
Speaking on the proposed youth summit being organised by the APC with the inaugural event billed for the weekend in Lagos, Engineer Sani said the motive was to integrate the youth and encourage their participation in the governance of the country.
He said: “We are here today because ADP cherishes our young people and ready to empower, mentor and nurture them, as informed by the ADP compulsory and constitutional provisions, to allot 25% of Party Executive and all other elective and appointive positions to youth, women and Persons with Disabilities from the National, State, Local Government down to the unit level.
“To this end, ADP is set to change the narratives on poor leadership orientation being the major challenges confronting good governance in Nigeria through active engagement of the youths in our party across the country.
“Hence our decision to hold this Youth Summit, the first of its kind in the history of our Party, with the theme: ‘Building Bridges Amongst Youth Across Continents’ and the reason we have invited one of the youngest members of the British Conservative Party with a rising profile from the United Kingdom, Mr. Jaymey Mclvor as our guest speaker.
“One of our priorities as a party is to do a membership drive, but we are doing this to educate our youth on their right to engage government. We also don’t want them to lose hope in the country, that in spite of the enormous challenges, they should sustain their faith in this country. Like I said before, the youth played a critical role in the fight for independence and the fight to restore democracy. They must be seen to be doing noble things. But they must be encouraged, the summit is to assure them that this country has potentials.”
Engineer Sani commended the Oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde for picking a 27-year-old Seun Fakorede as a member of his cabinet.
“We want to use this opportunity to also commend the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde who recently appointed a 27-year old, Seun Fakorede as Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development. This is a good example of what our party is advocating.”
The ADP chairman listed youth political orientation, insecurity as the bane of youth development in Nigeria and youth migration and its impact on our socio-economic development as topics amongst others listed for discussions at the elaborate summit.
Credit: Tribune
