The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has put measures in place to access and keep track of the implementation of the party’s manifesto by the by President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government as well as the fulfillment of other promises made by the party to the electorate during the campaigns.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in a paper he presented at the ongoing 55th annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Abuja, where he explained that the assessment team which will also serve as an advisory committee to the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, is to comprise mainly of technocrats.
It would be recalled that ahead of the 2015 elections, the then opposition party had promised to among other things, tackle spiraling unemployment, as well as insecurity, the fight against corruption and the welfare of the people, especially payment of allowances to the unemployed and the aged.
It also pledged to directly address the deficits arising from the failings of past governments.
But since it assumed power at the federal level, the APC-led government has come under criticism by the opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has continued to demand the fulfillment of campaign promises by the APC and President Buhari.
Speaking on this, Lai Mohammed stressed that the setting up of the assessment team was to ensure that the government meets regularly with these critical sectors, and that there was a two-way communication between the government and these sectors.
“My party has also set up a mechanism for assessing, continuously, government’s performance and tracking whether or not the government is meeting its electoral promises. An Advisory team to the Chairman of the party, made up of technocrats, will track how the government is faring and also make suggestions to the chairman in this regard,” he said.
Mohammed, who revealed the move by the party in a paper presented at the conference, said that sustaining the gains of the last general election have been made easy by the realisation that Nigerians now have the opportunity to elect a leader of their choice without any hindrance.
In the aftermath of the elections, the APC spokesman said political parties must ensure that there was no disconnect between them and the people, adding that “there must also be constant interaction between the government and the people.”
He said his party, the APC, has organised an induction course for its members in the National Assembly, so that they, as representatives of the people, can have symbiotic relations with their party and the executive arm of government.
He stressed that notwithstanding the existence of separation of power, the relationship between the legislature and the executive should not be adversarial but complementary.
“Constant rapport between lawmakers and their party will ensure that they key into the party’s agenda. We have given every one of our members in the national assembly a copy of our manifesto, so they will see what laws need to be passed to ensure the implementation of the manifesto.
“Then there is the national conference for the party as well as its members in the legislature and in the executive to deliberate on how far the party is meeting its electoral promises.
“It is also important that, through the instrumentality of the party, the government continues to engage the critical sectors – youths, NGOs, Women, people living with disability, the organized private sector, organized labour and other groups, he said.
