The Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, yesterday took issues with the former Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, over his criticism of the ongoing membership registration and re-validation exercise.

Buni, responding to Akande’s Wednesday comments that the exercise is a needless and an unnecessary waste of funds, described the membership drive as a constitutional provision and a strategic measure by the committee to give existing and new members a sense of belonging.

However, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lauded Akande for exposing what it called the fraud in the APC’s membership drive.

Akande had described the exercise as an indefensible aberration leading to certain ugly perceptions.

He also described the exercise as a waste of money considering the economic situation of the country.

But Buni, in a statement yesterday by his Director-General, Press and Media Affairs, Mr. Mamman Mohammed, said the registration and re-validation would assist the party to generate a valid, accurate and up-to-date data on party membership to enhance and support its planning process.

He stated: “Since the initial exercise in 2014, the party has not registered new members nor updated the personal information of our existing members as provided for by the constitution.

“The registration exercise gives our new members a sense of belonging and the existing members will update their information while those who left the party will have their names removed from the party register.”

Buni added that the party has succeeded in building a new confidence among its members and reassured them of new hope. He noted that the focus of the caretaker committee is to strengthen the party through a bottom-up approach and to carry everyone on board.

According to him, the caretaker committee has reconciled many aggrieved members and factions across the country, including the Zamfara State factions among others and bringing in prominent politicians into APC, including the Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Umahi.

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