10th October, 2013
The All Progressives Congress, APC, says it is targeting 2.5 million members during it registration exercise in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
Otunba Henry Ajomale, Chairman, APC, Lagos State Chapter, said on Wednesday that the party ought to surpass its previous figure of 864,000 members when it was still Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
“Under the ACN era, we had over 864,000 members across the state alone. But All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, and All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, have joined us.
“It is not just the membership of any political party that determines its strength. Many voters are members of any political party. Therefore, we cannot even cover one percent of the state population. It is just a ratio of 864,000 to 18 million. We are talking of 2015.
“A lot of people will come and register with us. But if we look at the statistics, those we have not been able capture run into millions. Our target is to reach out to as many Lagos residents as possible and bring them into the fold of the party. In real sense, we are actually targeting at least 2.5 million,” he stated.
Ajomale said anybody wanting to register with the party must be able to abide by the obligations of the party, which include payment of party dues, attendance at meetings and assisting during electioneering campaigns.
He stated that all over the world, the political class was not significant, but that the class is the moving force behind voting as lots of people who have sympathy for a party were neither politicians nor members of the party.
Ajomale disclosed that registering of members for the new party would begin in the next few weeks and that the national office ordered the registration of members in Anambra State because of the coming governorship election on 16 November.
He added that the party was looking at two options in registering members, saying that the first option was that “during the era of the Action Congress of Nigeria, we were the only chapter that computerized our membership cards. Each registration card had unique code on it. Every member in each ward and local government had its own number and peculiarity.
“We are thinking whether to continue updating our existing registration data. This simply requires that we continue with our computerisation exercise. The option will definitely reduce the cost of the registration exercise. On our software, we access any information about our members at any time.
“Secondly, we are looking at the option of starting all over again. Starting all over again will cost us a lot of money. We are talking about more than one million members across the local councils in the state,” he explained.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga