Buhari begs aggrieved APC members not to leave party

PHOTO: Facebook/Femi Adesina

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) not to leave the party after they failed to win in their respective primary election.

Most of the aspirants faulted the entrenchment of internal democracy in the party, with allegations of bias in the conduct of the APC’s National Working Committee led by its chairman Adams Oshiomole.

Oshiomole has been under fire to retain his position in the party after the governors Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and other governors allegedly planned to oust Oshiomole as the party’s chairman.

Buhari had earlier asked aspirants who failed in their bid to secure the party’s ticket to emulate Lagos governor Akinwunmi Ambode who lost his return ticket to a former commissioner in the state Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The president at a dinner with the aggrieved aspirants in Abuja urged them to be patient, remain with the party and work for its success during the 2019 elections.

Those in attendance included gubernatorial, national and state assembly aspirants who failed to secure the party’s tickets in the forthcoming general election.

“I spoke with the APC party chairman almost every other day, at least for an hour during the primaries. And sometimes, we met for two and half hours on ensuring internal democracy during the primaries,” Buhari said.

He pointed out that in spite of all efforts to appease everyone and give them a chance at the polls, some aspirants were still not treated fairly.

“I urge you to stay faithful if your objective is to serve the country. I came back to power in this ‘agbada’ to convince Nigerians to make sacrifices that the country needs now for a better future,” Buhari said.

Nasarawa state governorship aspirant, Aliyu Wadada, said the president assured the aspirants that justice will be done as their cases would be looked into.

“The president told us his experiences from the military to civilian eras, adding that naturally it is never easy when your mandate is forcefully taken but whatever it is, we should remain as a family,” Wadada said.

Senior special assistant to the President on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang, also said the aspirants pledged to work for the success of the party in next year’s election.

Enang said the meeting was one of the greatest steps taken by Buhari and the APC to bring every aggrieved person together to ensure victory at the 2019 polls.