L
LequteMan
Guest
Nigeria's Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, in an interview published by Premium Times, expressed his opinion on why the APC is yet to get a new publicity spokesman.
"The fact of the matter is that positions in political parties are not usually on ‘merit.’" he said.
"Or put this way, are not usually entirely on merit. There are other factors. They are not usually based on qualifications and, at times, it might be based on expediency or balancing. So it might be a bit difficult if you are now sourcing for your replacement. By the time you juggle the various political factors and all these things, you might not be able to find the right person.
"Let me give you a practical example, and I want to look at it from this perspective. We have an 18 member National Working Committee, there are three from each geo-political zone. So if one resigns from one geo-political zone, because he has been a minister or a commissioner or he takes another political office, he must be replaced by somebody from that same geopolitical zone. You can see where the problem lies.
"Yes, my deputy can act for me only until the next national convention of the party. But at that national convention of the party, my zone north-central, which is now left with only two members will expect that the next replacement must come from that zone. So that creates problems a bit.
"Two, the occupier of the office also brings a few things to that office. And with all sense of humility, I think I’ve been in that office for quite a while. I was the pioneer national publicity secretary for the AC in 2006, in Benin, Edo State, I was elected. And for almost 10 years I held that office. So think it helped a lot. From the AC to the ACN and to APC. So whoever is going to succeed me may not necessarily have that kind of experience, but he could have some qualities that might even make him better.
"The fact of the matter is that positions in political parties are not usually on ‘merit.’" he said.
"Or put this way, are not usually entirely on merit. There are other factors. They are not usually based on qualifications and, at times, it might be based on expediency or balancing. So it might be a bit difficult if you are now sourcing for your replacement. By the time you juggle the various political factors and all these things, you might not be able to find the right person.
"Let me give you a practical example, and I want to look at it from this perspective. We have an 18 member National Working Committee, there are three from each geo-political zone. So if one resigns from one geo-political zone, because he has been a minister or a commissioner or he takes another political office, he must be replaced by somebody from that same geopolitical zone. You can see where the problem lies.
"Yes, my deputy can act for me only until the next national convention of the party. But at that national convention of the party, my zone north-central, which is now left with only two members will expect that the next replacement must come from that zone. So that creates problems a bit.
"Two, the occupier of the office also brings a few things to that office. And with all sense of humility, I think I’ve been in that office for quite a while. I was the pioneer national publicity secretary for the AC in 2006, in Benin, Edo State, I was elected. And for almost 10 years I held that office. So think it helped a lot. From the AC to the ACN and to APC. So whoever is going to succeed me may not necessarily have that kind of experience, but he could have some qualities that might even make him better.
