President Muhammadu Buhari has said that all APC 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 (NEC)
emergency meeting of All Progressives Congress (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 elected office as a Nigerian must have a platform and that
platform is the political parties 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 mercy 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.
Earlier,
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 swollen from 14 to 22 and we are still
counting.’’
Buhari
arrived at the party secretariat at 11:04 a. m. and left at 12:40 p. m.
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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