The embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for listening to him and other party members who came to him with complaints at the hit of the crisis facing the ruling party.
He also appreciated the governors elected on the party’s platform for their roles in keeping the party in one piece
The former Edo state governor spoke on Tuesday during the APC National Working Committee (NWC).
“I want to appreciate our president, with all the challenges he faced that he has time to listen to those who approach him with a view to ensuring that our party remains on course,” Oshiomhole said.
“I want to appreciate our governors elected on the platform of our party who regardless of whatever anybody feels, I have absolute respect for each and every one of them and I have personal relationships with each and every one of them.
“But, I also recognise that the fact of having personal relationships is not enough not to have personal differences and even suspicion,” added.
“The weapon against suspicion is more dialogue and more dialogue. People probably need to be reassured that i am not capable of being bias by the very background that I come from, and I recognise that one tree can never make a forest.
“So, I am a believer in conversation. I am a believer in contestation and i am also a believer in conflict resolution. And, I believed God will give us the grace over our meeting today as he has presided over the affairs of our party over the years.
“And, those who are thinking we are coming here to box, I wear no boxing gloves. I wanted to wear complete white to send a message of peace.
“And, I think everybody came here with a good heart and may God see us through this moment. We are going to bounce back stronger and better.
“Let me reassure you that this friendship we have built is past a year and 9 months; the food we have shared, those jokes, those visiting of people’s homes, the other matter, you are on your own.
“I am a Catholic and I am guided by the doctrines of my faith, so ladies and gentlemen let me also appreciate the judiciary and the comment made yesterday by the presiding judge at the Court of Appeal and I am sure none of us disagreed with him.
“He said and I hope I can quote him: ‘I will expect political parties to develop internal mechanisms of resolving their differences without coming to approach us in court’.
“Now, if a Judge said that to us in court and we refused to listen are we not our own enemies? I believe we all listened and we will pull forces of division outside APC.
“Everyone of us here has made enemies, not on account of our personal interest. In the course of defending our party we have attacked people in opposition parties not because we have personal differences, it is because of the complex nature of APC.
“If I have any energy left, I want to spend it defending this party and attacking those this party should attack not to destroy them but to defeat them in every election and I believe in moments like this when elections are over, we as NWC should interrogate those elected on the platform of our party.
“We shall meet with them, we shall invite them, what they are doing in their state and at the federal level. As we meet here now, any one of us will appreciate that we are facing huge challenges. We have a budget that was crafted on the basis of certain assumptions.
“The foundations for these assumptions have now been shaken such that our projected revenue from the oil sector has dropped but the expectations of Nigerians have not diminished because oil revenue has diminished.
“Our responsibility as a party now is to engage the government; what do we do differently to this reality so that the government elected on our platform delivers our promises to Nigeria people.
“These are the kinds of things we should spend more time doing; the Nigeria project is not becoming chairman. If I am chairman and can not walk the streets of Nigeria with pride because my party has not done what is expected I cannot be a happy chairman and I don’t think any of you will be a happy member.
“I ask us, in addition to putting what has happened behind us to find time to have an objective conversation on how we can generate ideas to support the government. I want to spend time on something that concerns Nigeria people.
“I didn’t come just to be a chairman, I wasn’t unemployed and none of you here was unemployed; what brought us here is the fact that we have a party that we have formed not to create divisions,” he noted.
“In all the NWC since June 21, 2018, when I was elected into office, this is the one that has attracted more cameras.
“I do understand that the event of the last few weeks particularly arising from our last NWC meeting held on January 14 and since then, even if we pretend about it, the truth is we have had challenges within our system.
“But as one who has worked from one voluntary organisation, those things are not strange to me. What will be strange is to have a governing party as large as our party coming from the background that we all come from – different background, different aspirations, etc, but bonded by a shared vision of building a party that is based on the principle of socio democracy – pro-people, pro-poor, one that is committed to ensuring that the instrument of state is used to deliver the greatest good to the greatest number and that’s is why consciously our part chose to be called All Progressives.
“This party belongs to all progressives element in Nigeria society who wishes to join our party. It is traditional if you reviewed the traditional literature. Parties that are more to the left – the left means parties that are more concerned with social issues, pro-people; they tend to have more contestation than the conservative parties, where their principle is based on survival of the fittest.
“What binds us together in this party is a lot more than the sum total of all the challenges that anybody can speak to. Of course, you and I know that when I watch the television and I am sure that you do too and you listen to some commentaries, you will even find some who are not members of our party pronouncing with finality on issues of our party.
“Let me give you an example, between the last NWC meeting and now, there was a judgement in Kogi State where PDP candidates were nullified, the court said PDP did not conduct a proper primary; I don’t remember seeing anything on one of those popular channels discussing crisis in PDP.
“Their primary has been nullified because it was fraught with primary and so on. They accepted their judgement as if nothing has happened. If it were to be our party, our opponent, the PDP will instigate stories,” he said.
