From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Newly sworn-in National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has quipped that opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others should now be sulking, wearing long faces of sadness, bewilderment and dismay over the successful conduct of the APC’s national convention.
Senator Adamu threw the jab at the opposition party in his acceptance speech shortly after swearing in the newly-constituted 78-member zonal and national officers of the ruling party in Abuja on Sunday.
The former governor of Nasarawa State further claimed that the “PDP had been hoping and praying to make a fortune out of our misfortunes. They were also hoping and praying to capitalize on assumed failures of our party to reap political benefits.”
He however promised to hit the ground running in redirecting the ship of the party and deploying every strategy to ensure that APC remains in power beyond 2023, just as he promised quick release of timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general elections.
“We accept the onerous responsibility that you have placed on our shoulders and we will work hard to ensure that we fulfill your expectations for the greater good of our great party and of our dear country,” he said.
On disgracing the opposition party with the successful conduct of the convention, he said: “as we conclude this very successful convention of our great party, I know that our opponents in PDP and other opposition parties are now sulking, wearing long faces of sadness, bewilderment and dismay.
“They had been hoping and praying to make a fortune out of our misfortunes. They were also hoping and praying to capitalize on assumed failures of our party to reap political benefits,” he said.
Chatting a roadmap for his administration, he noted that: “for almost seven years now, APC administrations at the federal, state and local government levels have been battling night and day in order to enhance the livelihood of Nigerians through various policies, programmes and projects.
“We need to renew our faith in our party and its leadership at all levels in order to herald a new dawn. We need to commit to the resolution of our crisis within the confines of our party constitution. We must resist the temptation to blow every minor personal disagreement into a major party crisis.
“It is time for us to do things differently. When we quarrel, we open our flanks to our rival political parties that are only too eager to exploit them for their own benefit. I promise you here and now that we shall heal any wounds in our party; we shall effect lasting reconciliation among our members, and we shall go into the next general elections as a strong and united party.
“I offer my hands of friendship to all our members. I want to assure you that my colleagues and myself will run an open door policy to all members of the party,” he promised.
Assuring Nigerians that more will come from the ruling party, he said: “No government can satisfy everybody, however hard it works. Some work will always be left undone and every work done will continue to need maintenance, expansion and improvement. We are however satisfied that APC has fulfilled its covenant with the Nigerian people.
“Of the three main pillars of its promises to the Nigerian people in 2015, that is, security, economy and anti-corruption, much progress has been recorded in all three areas and many more. APC is set to do much, much more when Nigerians continue to bestow on us their love, support and confidence in next year’s general elections.
“My dear compatriots, the eyes of the nation are on us; the eyes of Africa are on us; the eyes of the world are on us. This is a historic moment. There is no room for false steps. Our first step is to make our party the bastion of internal democracy. If a party is not internally democratic, it cannot offer the country true democracy.
“Together, let us rise and march towards the sunrise in our party and in our country. The time has come for us to show statesmanship to arrive at the new dawn. The time has come for us to be patriotic in words and deeds. The time has come for us to affirm our being the party of the people, for the people and by the people,” he assured.
“Once more, I thank you very much for the confidence reposed in us and I solemnly promise that I shall not disappoint you, I shall not disappoint the APC and the nation. I shall not disappoint Africa. I shall not disappoint the world. So help me, Allah. Very soon after our inaugural meeting, we will release the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general elections,” he promised.
The Nasarawa State-born politician, has words for the media, when he said: “at this point, I wish to appeal to our journalists and media houses to revive and uphold the patriotic spirit of the founding fathers of their profession such as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Malam Abubakar Imam, Alhaji Alade Odunewu and other media pioneers. Those great pioneers of Nigerian journalism always put the interests of Nigeria and its people above all other considerations and they always worked for the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria.
“Journalists and everyone else in Nigeria should uphold this spirit of selflessness and patriotism and continue to work hard for the success of the Nigerian project. It is not correct to assume that it is the work of political leaders alone that will make Nigeria great, that other citizens can sit on the sidelines and just observe and criticize. We should all remember the wisdom in the saying that the chain is no stronger than its weakest link,” he warned.