APC won’t negotiate with political machinery – Oshiomhole

“We will not be distracted. We’ll talk to those who have genuine grievances, but, we will not negotiate with political machinery.”

Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned that it will not negotiate with political machinery masquerading as members of the party, who defected to other political parties in the National Assembly.

The National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, handed the warning during a meeting with members of the House of Representatives at the party’s national secretariat, in Abuja, yesterday.

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“I assure you that we will sustain the fight; we will not be distracted. We’ll talk to those who have genuine grievances, but, we will not negotiate with political machinery.

“That position remains unchanged, we will sustain it and, seeing you here, I am further encouraged to sustain the fight and build a Nigeria of our dream, so that our children will inherit a better country,” he promised.

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Speaking further on the gale of defections that hit the National Assembly, the former Edo State governor said: “I understand now, after we have carried out some investigations, that certain persons played on the fears of people who were completely innocent.

“They tried to portray their own frustration, which is personal to them, as if it is a shared frustration by all those who have issues.

“My findings arising from interactions is that it is true there are a number of legislators who have some issues with their local forces in their respective states, and not arising from the federal executives.

“Those issues are local, and because every politics is local, every solution to political problem should, necessarily, be local. The important thing is to identify the source of those problems, the parties involved, bring to the table and remind them of what binds the house together.

“So, if there are issues between any one of our members and leaders, with local forces across the 36 states, we have a duty to intervene and ensure the spark is properly extinguished.

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“The good news is that no single persons that I have spoken to and shared our core value of progressive politics has said no, let the fire burn.

“As a matter of fact, just with a phone call, a number of issues have been addressed, and people are at peace, and we will do more of that. What we are saying now is that we need to do the right thing to ensure that wherever there is a problem, we address it before it blossoms.

“I continue to say we will not pursue a policy which will produce winners and losers. I believe we have intervened and have a situation that will produce winners all.

“In other to send clear signals out, so that no one person or group can hold the system to ransom, we have tried to revisit our constitution and activate all the clauses that will help us to maintain unity and harmony within the house.

“I have said for us to have peace and unity, we must fight for justice and fairness because peace and unity is an outcome of justice and fairness. If you do not address justice, we cannot preach peace because peace cannot be decreed, but, the outcome of a process,” he noted.