Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged African leaders to uphold good governance as a means of lowering the frequency of military coups in West Africa.
This was made clear by Ganduje when he hosted a group from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is currently in power in Ghana and is headed by Mr. Stephen Ntim, the party’s national chairman.
He emphasised the long-standing historical ties between Nigeria and Ghana, saying it would be appropriate for the ruling parties of both countries to exchange views on how to provide their citizens with excellent governance.
He insisted that the people would fight back against any military intrusions that would undermine democratic rule if effective governance structures were in place.
“This kind of visit is crucial and beneficial to our ability to share ideas about how to provide the people with excellent government; it may even be able to stem the recent wave of military incursions.
The APC chairman stated that while military coups were discouraged, our governance processes needed to be improved. Once this was done, the masses would be the first to even oppose such military interventions.
He characterised the NPP national chairman’s visit as an icebreaker that would improve relations between the two countries’ respective ruling political parties.
He claimed that this was especially true given the same political history and ideals between Ghana and Nigeria.
Since both nations shared the same colonial overlords and the same national language, English, Ganduje noted that their relationship had a lengthy history.
He recalled how both nations attained independence from Britain without using force, and how they both adopted English as their official language, thus solidifying their bonds with their Francophone neighbours.
Ntim had earlier congratulated Ganduje on becoming the national chairman of the APC as well as Nigeria on its 63rd anniversary of independence.
“We are delighted and honoured to be with you on this special day. It portends better times to come, and we hope you’ll want to return the favour,” he said.
In order for the APC and NPP to remain in power for many more years, he informed Ganduje that it would be important for the two parties to collaborate on ideas for establishing excellent administration.
The NPP national chairman claimed that his party could learn a lot from Ganduje and the APC, which currently controls Nigeria.
“As a party, we have a lot to learn from Ganduje as an individual, and from the APC as a political party,” he insisted.
He said that the purpose of his visit was to kick off a dialogue between the two countries’ ruling parties about how to enshrine good governance for the benefit of its people.
Ntim remarked that the long-standing connection between Ghana and Nigeria should not be taken for granted and mentioned the 45 times Ghanaian presidents had visited Nigeria since 2017.
He expressed gratitude to the APC national chairman for agreeing to the meeting despite the short notice and expressed his desire to have him visit Ghana soon.
Mr. Rashid Bawa, the Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, and some party officials accompanied Ntim on the visit. (NAN)
