Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the ruling all progressives congress APC, has traced the genesis of the continued crisis in the party to its victory at the 2015 general elections as well as subsequent electoral successes in off-season elections in some parts of the country.
Oshiomhole spoke Wednesday, November 21, 2018, when he inaugurated a Peace and Reconciliation Committee to resolve all grievances associated with the conduct of its nationwide congresses and primary elections.
“We have gone through a very crucial stage in the processes leading to the next presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and House of Assembly elections.
I think, from my own records, of the 36 states and the FCT, I believe we have done exceedingly well as it is impossible for the most gifted child to score 100 percent in every subject and the more questions you have to answer, the more chances are that you will miss some of them.
“Four years ago around this time, we were in opposition and therefore the value of our tickets, if we have a political market were our tickets are weighed, the value of our tickets was not anything near where they are today.
Only men and women of conviction and vision subscribed to contesting elections on our platform.
“I believe that the house is bigger today than it was before because those who have reservations have since realized that the President means business and APC is delivering on the promises that we made.
The fact of these accomplishment that has enlarged the house and brought in more quality political activists and leaders, huge electoral value across the state meant that the internal democratic process which we obliged by our Constitution, that process was necessarily more intense and had to become more competitive as more people showed interest in the affairs of our party”, he said.
He also spoke of efforts of the APC administration to restore the lost fortunes of the country, saying compared to the 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has achieved a lot for the nation in just three and a half years.
“I believe that to our collective credit, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, who happily is our candidate for the presidential election, ably assisted by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, we have all worked hard and are well led by Mr President who leads by example, and the power of example cannot be underestimated and we have not solved all the problems of Nigeria but those who have good memories will not have any problem comparing the previous 16 years of PDP rule to the three and a half years of APC rule and our people clearly voted for change because they wanted to change the way in which the country is managed, government and governance is approached, check corruption, reconcile efforts and reward.
The NWC had set up reconciliation committees to interface with all aggrieved elements in the party. The committees were set up on geopolitical basis with seven members each, including governors elected on the platform of the party. Three aggrieved governors, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara were however excluded from the committees.
