President
Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to All Progressives Congress’ faithful to
collectively come together in unity and rise above the current crisis threatening
to engulf the party.
Buhari
made the call in Abuja on Friday at the first National Executive Council
emergency meeting of the APC after its victory at the polls.
He said party members should strive to win the war .
“I have
already appealed to you through the chairman, the leadership of the
party, through the governors, through our lawmakers and the APC must not
disappoint its constituency, the nation.
”We have
had to convince our individual constituencies that we are worthy of
sacrifices they had made in staying awake days and nights, travelling
all over the country and making sure the party emerged victorious.
”What
subsequently happened is human and as human beings, we are not perfect
but let our collective actions prove that we’ve won the election, the
battle, and we will eventually win the war,” he said.
Buhari
further urged the party members to honour the platform through which
they won the elections and gave a background of how he contested his
present position and lost three times.
President
Muhammadu Buhari has said all All Progressives Congress’ faithful must
collectively come together to rise above the current crisis threatening
to engulf the party.
Buhari
made the call in Abuja on Friday at the first National Executive Council
emergency meeting of the APC after its victory at the polls.
He said party members should strive to win the war (National Assembly crisis) as they won the battle (general elections).
He said: ”APC has won the battle and lost the war which is a paradox of democracy and we shall see how we shall manage it.
”How do we manage it? We move forward.
“I have
already appealed to you through the chairman, the leadership of the
party, through the governors, through our lawmakers and the APC must not
disappoint its constituency, the nation.
”We have
had to convince our individual constituencies that we are worthy of
sacrifices they had made in staying awake days and nights, travelling
all over the country and making sure the party emerged victorious.
”What
subsequently happened is human and as human beings, we are not perfect
but let our collective actions prove that we’ve won the election, the
battle, and we will eventually win the war,” he said.
Buhari
further urged the party members to honour the platform through which
they won the elections and gave a background of how he contested his
present position and lost three times.
”Whoever
wants to run for any elected office as a Nigerian must have a platform
and that platform is the political party, hence the superiority of the
party because that is our platform,” the president said.
He told
the story of the party from the beginning when other parties came
together to form APC, how INEC rejected their initial merger, how the
first convention was planned and who was instrumental at the initial
stage.
”I am
going through all these (stories) because not all of us here
participated in this and for you to reflect and thank the leadership of
the party at various stages for going through all these which wasn’t
easy.
”But God in his infinite mercies has paid us by giving us success, let us not throw this success to the wind.
“Let us as members of APC, no matter our personal differences, get together and meet the mandate given to us by this country.
”This is
my personal appeal and, in the name of God, whatever your personal
interest is and ambition, please keep it close to your heart and in
your pocket.
”Let APC work and let this system work and let us have a government that will earn the respect of our constituencies.
”I appeal
to you to please continue working together and please accept the
superiority of the party….because I respect the superiority of the
party,” he said.
The
president congratulated the APC Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, for
leading the party to victory and acknowledged the presence of the
president of the Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives.
APC National Chairman,
Odigie-Oyegun said it was unfortunate that the first NEC meeting was
convened hurriedly but congratulated the members on the landslide
victory at the polls.
”The main item on the agenda is the ratification of aspects of members of the Board of Trustees,” he said.
He lauded the character of the president and his deputy, saying APC became easily believable because of their integrity.
He said that ”APC governors have increased from 14 to 22 and we are still counting.”
The governors of Sokoto, Kebbi, Plateau, Imo, Bauchi and Lagos States were among dignitaries at the event.
Others were APC National Working Committee members, state chairmen, former governors, senators and zonal leaders.
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