Following
the recent and renewed calls for the resignation of chairman of the All
Progressive Congress (APC) chief John Oyegun by some chieftains of the party, Governors elected under the platform All
Progressives Congress, have come out yesterday to lend their support to the
embattled chairman.
Recall
that National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Deputy Publicity
Secretary of the party Timi Frank and other leaders of the party had asked
chief Oyegun to resign over alleged incompetence, bias and corruption.
The
governors, under the auspices of Progressives Governors Forum, spoke through
their chairman and Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha. Okorocha met National
Working Committee, NWC, of the party, at the party’s national secretariat,
Abuja.
He
argued that members of the NWC were elected, and that “no one will bully them
out or husk them out” of office, adding that their tenure will expire by 2018.
“I
have come to reassure them, because sometimes, when you have the fear or worry
that you are not stable, you begin to react in a negative way, but if you know
you are stable, you will put in your best. Here is a reassuring visit,” he
said.
“I
am here at our party’s headquarters to meet with the members of the National
Working Committee and to deliberate on what we must do to ensure unity in our
party,” he said. “We noticed there is so much bitterness among the ranks and
members of our party, and there is need for communication, and dialogue because
where there is no communication and there no dialogue, war is inevitable.
“You
may recall that it was the same National Working Committee and that these party
leaders that saw us through during the last election. What that means is that
if these people were good enough to see us through and never betrayed us, they
should so be honoured. I want to assure them that no one will bully them out or
husk them out. But, where there is need to make amendment, which is natural
within any human organization, the party will be restructured for the purpose
of making it stronger and to move forward as a people and as a party.
“Again,
very important, I came to commend the National Working Committee for their
understanding, their patience and sacrifice they made, especially during the
time of our election. Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, Muhammadu Buhari
who is the leader of our party will be addressing the party very soon in the
couple of weeks to come or before the next two months. From there, we shall
take it up to ensure the unity of our party. Our party is united, we must take
advantage of the moment, especially with the visible crisis in PDP. Many good
people in PDP want to join the APC, they are still watching because they have
not seen us show that which we were known for. We were so united before
election, and there is no reason we cannot manage this victory. So, APC must
manage its victory.
“And,
Nigerians are not going to ask us who is able to outdo each other in the party,
or who is able to bring down who, they will ask us what have we been able to do
as a party? We can do something when we are united. So, I came here for a call
for unity, and the governors are willing to show leadership in this regard by
making sure all the members of the National Working Committee, the APC
governors and National Assembly work together to ensure the unity of our party.
“Again,
Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you for a job well done. I want to thank all of
you because sometimes in our chequered history, we forget to say thank you to
people who have done well. You have seen me reassure them that we are still
one. They have not been forgotten. So, do your best in spite of the situation
we are going through. But, know that Nigeria is going through a difficult
moment, and very soon, we are going to get out of it,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment