Buhari Wade Into Stem Defection of 22 Aggrieved APC Senators

Image: This Day Live

On Wednesday, President Buhari called the 22 Aggrieved APC Senators in a bid to stop them from defecting to another party.

At a meeting with the aggrieved lawmakers at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja, the affected senators present at the meeting include Smart Adeyemi, Frank Ibezim, Danladi Sankara and Ibrahim Oloriegbe, led by the Senate Chief Whip, and Senator Orji Uzor-Kalu.

The meeting took place at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja. At the meeting, the President noted the senators’ concerns who failed to secure the party’s return ticket to the red chamber about the ruling party’s future but praised their effort to find a solution.

President Buhari assured the senators that their role as leaders was to create an environment for members to vent their grievances.

The President, in his words:

I thank you for the decision to approach me with your concerns over the future of the party and for pursuing solutions approach for the challenges thrown up by the recent election-related activities particularly, the primaries.

As the leader of the party, one of my primary role is to ensure that our culture of internal democracy and dispute resolution is strengthened by creating the opportunity for members to ventilate their opinions, views and grievances at different levels.

Notwithstanding the fact that we have accomplished 23 years of an uninterrupted democratic governance, our journey is still in a nascent stage and we continue to learn from our challenges and mistakes.

Similarly, our party is still evolving in its culture and practice and it is my expectation and hope that we should attain a mature level in our internal conduct.

I have noted your grievances, particularly, as it concerns the just concluded processes, the cost to the nation, the threat to the majority position held by our party in the legislative chambers, and likely consequent causes to the electoral fortunes of the party as we approach the general election. We must not allow these dire threats to come to pass.

I must acknowledge that in every contest, there must be a level-playing ground, just as there would be grievances at the end. That is the test of our democratic credentials, systems and practices.

I have since the conclusion of the process been inundated with various reports and complaints. In keeping with our ethos, therefore, I shall continue to address the ensuing challenges and grievances through the party machinery while paying keen attention to the outcomes.

I must also remind you of the primacy of justice in all our actions. If justice is denied, its outcome is usually unpleasant. This is because you, the members, keep the party running.

I should add that as part of the policy of using the party machinery for effective resolutions of conflict, the chairman and some members of the National Working Committee visited the National Assembly recently to dialogue with our legislators.

The leadership of the party is currently addressing the outcomes as part of the way forward. I am encouraging all the party functionaries to adhere to the truth and to be fair to all parties in any dispute. This is important because our strength and victory in the election lies in the unity of the party and our ability to prevent or heal any injustice perceived unfair.

I urge you and all party members to exercise restraint and continue to demonstrate commitment to the ideals while we continue to build and develop the party and the country.

Finally, Let me assure you that justice shall prevail, aggrieved members shall be assuaged in the interest of the party and the nation shall be protected.

Source

#APC

#APC Defection