President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, urged members of the All Progressives Congress to remain united and strong, as well as to support the party’s new leadership.
Buhari stated this while speaking at the party’s National Convention in Eagle Square, Abuja.
The President urged members to support the party’s new National Working Committee, which he said will “encourage unity and avoid emotions that could lead to disaffection and divisiveness.”
Internal democracy, he argued, should be encouraged through equitable chances for all.
He stated that if this is done, “top bidders” will have no influence on party primaries in 2023.
The president praised the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee for steering the party’s ship, saying, “the Party under the Caretaker Committee has bounced back to life with the reconciliation of several key and critical stakeholders and groups who had previously left or were on the verge of leaving the Party.”
“The reconciliation process gave the aggrieved stakeholders a true sense of belonging and assurance.
“It is gratifying that the Party recorded massive and unprecedented defections under the Caretaker Committee administration. APC received three sitting Governors, a Deputy Governor, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives and State Assemblies, and other key officials from opposition parties who defected along with millions of their supporters.
“I am impressed to learn that the membership registration and revalidation exercise undertaken by the Caretaker Committee, has recorded over 41 million members. This has proved that we are indeed Nigeria’s leading and largest political party. It also exhibits our numerical strength and the potential to win elections at all given times fairly and squarely.”
Buhari added that, “Recently, l had cause to intervene in the leadership crisis which was about to cause confusion in the Party. Such internal disputes are common in young democracies such as ours, but we must avoid overheating the polity and not allow our differences to tear and frustrate the Party.
“Like I said earlier, it does not do anybody or the Party any good, when we, as leaders, go down so low and resort to backstabbing and name-calling in the media.
“We should learn how to resolve our differences without jeopardizing our personal relationships and the fate of the Party.”
