With the raucous atmosphere which pervaded the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of ex-Edo governor, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday that never again should it be allowed to recur, urging a united, pliable leadership for the party.
Buhari also acknowledged and lauded the party’s National Caretaker/Convention Committee chaired by Yobe Governor Mai Buni for ushering a new lease of life and atmosphere of hope into the ruling political organization with many defected party members returning into the fold.
The President bared his mind at the ongoing meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, attended by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), state governors and members of the National Caretaker Committee.
Persecondnews reports that the just-dissolved state executive committee members are also attending virtually.
Buhari said: “I believe that as leaders our shared vision is to ensure that we are able to produce leaders that will not inherit the problems that led to the decision to dissolve our last national working committee.
“There should be no debate about the fact that we all want to have a united leadership for our party, the APC at all levels.
“We need such leaders to be able to manage big challenges that always come with elections.
“I have received periodic briefings from the caretaker extraordinary convention planning committee, as well as other leaders of the party.
“I am convinced that in the last five months, since the appointment of the caretaker committee the initiatives taken have brought remarkably new atmosphere of hope in the party.
“Healthy debates are now taking place and the potential for organs of the party to affirm majority positions as the decision of the party is now possible.’’
While urging a consolidation of the gains of the committee which has earned presidential commendation, Buhari stressed:”What is required now is for all of us as leaders of the party to maintain discipline and ensure that this new momentum is protected, sustained and the decisions of party organs are respected by every member.
“Despite the challenge to restore peace in the party and the series of elections at hand, the fact that we have gained more members and that we are not losing members to the opposition under the present interim leadership, indicates improvement of the party.
“In fact, we have begun to win back our members who left us and other notable political leaders are being attracted to our party.”
On the recent defection of PDP Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, to APC, the president said the development showed that the party was making some progress.
“We are indeed making progress as a party of choice for Nigerians as we move towards the resolution of our leadership challenges,’’ Buhari said, urging members at all levels to make sacrifices that would move the party forward.
“I want to appeal to all our party members and leaders at all levels to try and make the required sacrifices so that we are able to collectively restore our progressive and democratic political party which can nurture and give expression to our collection dream of building a strong, united and developed Nigeria.’’
On the negotiations that led to the formation of APC in 2012 and 2013, Buhari urged member to recreate what he called “our negotiation secret of 2012, 2013 under our legacy parties’, pointing out that “what guided our success to achieve the merger that produced the APC was the respect we were able to have for each other.’’
“In those times, decisions reached at both formal and informal consultations were respected with trusted initiatives taken and believed that they were needed to produce the required political platform that could guarantee electoral victory.
“Every one of us as leaders ensured that those decisions were respected.
I have through consultations of the caretaker committee and other leaders of the party agree that our challenges in the party require that we take steps to rebuild the party from wards to national levels.
“The initiative to carry out membership registration revalidation is therefore a necessary membership registration revalidation will lay the foundation for reorganizing our membership from ward to local government m, state and national levels.
“The responsibility of our party’s NEC at this meeting is to adopt and dispassionately consider all proposals submitted by the caretaker committee and grant all the necessary approvals requested to rebuild the party.”
Earlier in his report to the meeting, Gov. Buni said the committee had been able to reconcile factions within the party.
Buni, who presented an abridged version of the committee’s report and recommendations, said: “Tempers within our party have substantially come down although the work of our various reconciliation committees is yet to be concluded.
“Most, if not all, court cases inherited from the last Working Committee have been terminated which was part of the success of reconciliation efforts going on in the party.’’
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