•Tinubu laments party’s loss of goodwill
Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has admitted the party has a lot of issues to resolve within the ranks of its members in the National Assembly, Benue, Kano, Kogi states, among others.
Welcoming APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his entourage, on behalf of the party’ National Working Committee, Oyegun said it is necessary for the APC to put its house in order, so as “to become a political force in 2019.
“We have major issues in the National Assembly, we have major issues in Benue State, we have major issues in Kano State, we have major issues in Kogi…We will make your assignment the most successful one; you are most welcome and I know you are here to brief us and tell us how you want to proceed and how we fit into the picture and the way we will take it up.”
Earlier, Tinubu had lamented how the party lost its goodwill, before a meeting with the party’s NWC which lasted over three hours, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, yesterday.In his opening remarks before commencement of the close-door meeting, Tinubu, who made his first visit to the headquarters after the party’s victory in 2015, also noted that implementing changes the party promised Nigerians have been very difficult.
Stating his mission at the secretariat, the former governor of Lagos State said: “I am here to consult, since you are aware of the directive and announcement by the President who is the leader of our party and the President of the country. I came for consultation over the assignment given to me and I am all ears to listen to various challenges we have.
“We have worked hard after the last convention of the party; congresses were held from various wards to elect representatives at the state, local government and national levels, which you are in charge of.
“We worked hard for victory. We have never governed before, but we won the confidence of Nigerians to govern. We have the determination to really serve the country to change and reform the country; it is not easy to have those changes implemented like instant coffee, we have to grow it, we have to face challenges.
“I sympathise with us and wish we equally look at ourselves, since we won the elections, the expectations were very high and the goodwill was extremely high, too, but, where are we today?” Tinubu queried.
Speaking further, he said his committee will seek opinions and advice on various complaints in some troubled states of the Federation, to reconcile and move the party in a cohesive manner and reposition, if any, and build the confidence of the party members.
“The challenges faced by the government and the president are enormous. It’s only because people are not paying attention to the various statistics that are available, we have to push that and I won’t touch that yet.
“The challenges of reform and re-engineering of the finances of this country, stopping corruption and challenging the status quo to change are there, they don’t go away over night,” he said.
Asked how he intends to go about the task of reconciliation given to him when he is also an aggrieved person, he tactically avoided the question, but stressed: “How I intend to do it is personal and another topic for another day. If you want me to answer this, you will have to come to my house.”
In response, Tinubu said his mission to the party secretariat was in line with the task given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the crisis facing the party at various levels.He explained that despite the challenges facing the party and the administration, the APC remained the best alternative for Nigeria.Tinubu observed that many were not aware of the enormity of the challenges because hope and the goodwill of the party enjoyed at inception were very high.On February 6, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Tinubu to lead the consultation, reconciliation and confidence-building committee, as a measure towards improving cohesion within the APC, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Tinubu’s assignment will involve resolving disagreements among party members, party leadership and political office holders in some states of the Federation.
The Tinubu committee is expected to reconcile APC members in Kaduna, Zamfara, Oyo, Kogi, Kano and other states of the Federation.