The All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has a word of consolation for party members, who are aggrieved over the conduct of the primaries.
“Losing one nomination does not amount to the end of their political career”, Oshiomhole said in Abuja on Monday, December 10.
He urged all those who lost nominations to take a cue from President Muhammadu Buhari, who lost three times before finally coming to power, The Nation reports.
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Receiving the report of the party’s reconciliation committee for the northeast from Nasarawa state governor, Tanko Al-Makura, Oshiohmole said: “Although democracy was both attractive and problematic, it remains the best form of governing a people.”
Confidence that the APC would emerge stronger from the crisis of the primaries for 2019 polls, Oshiomhole said:“Thank you for making quality recommendations that will help us to address what has happened and talk people out of their mood and get them to rededicate themselves to the party, but also to learn one or two lesson in the future because this is not the last time we are going to conduct elections and we will be having more than one person participating therefore the possibility of one or more persons not winning the position they applied for.
“You are the first to submit a formal report to us and we are very grateful. I assure you that to justify the time and effort you have invested, and the time spent by the people and the confidence they have reposed in our party and your committee by appearing before you, we will study this report and NWC Will act on it as quickly as possible.
“It is quite reassuring that people recognise that there is no house where there are no grievances. What matters is whether the family has the competence to manage disagreement within the family.
“The only place where there is no disagreement is heaven and since none of us has been there, we can’t even speak to what happens there. But in the real world, people have a right to feel the way they feel. They may be right, they may be wrong, but it is all part of democracy.
“I read a lot of things in the media, some of which are not quite informed. The truth is that if you look at the issue of political parties around the world, the United Kingdom (UK) for example, the Labour Party is more prone to internal contestations than the Conservative.
“The more democratic and liberal a political party is, the more freedom that people feel that they cannot be sanctioned and so, you will have such discordant voices.
“We can learn from those voices and run a better party and a better system in the future. No matter what anybody wants to say, our party is leading by example.”
“For example, we are the only party that allows people to contest election against a sitting governor. All the sitting governors of the PDP had automatic tickets and so, you are not even allowed to murmur about your governor.
“But here, in obedience to our rules, we allowed people wishing to challenge sitting governors to do so and in one case, a governor could not return.
“Democracy is an attractive wind but also problematic. But like they say, it is still the best way to run a system and a country. So, I am very confident that we are going forward; we are going to win this election. The whole essence of this reconciliation is to let people know that the fact that you lost one nomination submit the end of your political future.
“We have the best teacher in our family in person of President Buhari who contested elections three times and lost. He almost gave up, hotness encouraged not to give up. He went for the fourth time and won. He has thought is that this process is only for long distance runners and not a 100 meters dash.
“Secondly, if our primary purpose for seeking nomination and getting elected is to serve the people, and improve on the quality of life, then even if 20 of us file out to contest election as governor, we know ab-initio that only one person will be elected even if all 20 are angels.
“But if democracy is working and working well, that one person that emerged will govern in such a way that will add value to the quality of life of every citizen because the main objective is to improve the quality of life of the people.
“At the end of the day, the deliverable is what will change as a result of my membership of the APC. I am excited that you said people have not decamped and have confidence in the leadership of the party.”
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Governor Al-Makura on his part said that the committee was glad to report that no aggrieved members in their area of coverage decamped but have confidence in the leadership of the party.
Al-Makura stated: “Immediately after our inauguration and considering the fact that there no time, we immediately hit the ground running. Considering the area to be covered, the committee decided to cluster the area into three. Maiduguri played host to Borno and Yobe; Bauchi played host to Bauchi and Gombe; and Yola played host to Adamawa and Taraba.
“We are pleased to inform the National Working Committee that we were impressed by the response we received across the zone. It showed commitment and faithfulness of members of our party and their confidence not only on our committee, but the leadership of the party.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that
Source: Legit.ng
