*Says APC have moved to reconcile with aggrieved aspirants
As campaigns for the 2023 General Elections take central stage, the All Progressive Party (APC) has maintained that aspirants who lost out in the party’s presidential primary have joined forces to deliver its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu
This is even as the party said it has commenced moves to reconcile all aggrieved members, to ensure that the party goes into the elections as a united body
National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdulahi Adamu said on Thursday that reconciliation efforts are on top gear to bring in all aggrieved members, particularly aspirants that vied for the party’s presidential ticket.
It would be recalled that some APC leaders, especially those who contested and lost the presidential ticket of the party have remained silent in the party’s affairs since after the presidential primary which was won by senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, amidst protest, at the primary venue by some of the aspirants
It was also gathered that an earlier move to bring the aggrieved aspirants to a meeting with Tinubu was rebuffed by the aggrieved aspirants who could not respond to invitation letters and messages sent to them by another aspirant, Felix Nicholas, leading to an indefinite postponement of the meeting
The former Nasarawa Sate Governor, who stated this during a media parley in Abuja, noted also that the party is committed to youth empowerment.
Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who said that all the presidential aspirants have now declared support for Tinubu, challenged the media to meet the said presidential aspirants to hear directly from them.
Adamu dismissed the claim that all the presidential aspirants that lost to Tinubu during the national convention of the party in June have been working underground to scuttle the presidential aspiration of Tinubu.
“To the best of our knowledge they are (supporting Tinubu). One thing which the fourth estate of the realm owe as a duty is that each of the aspirants for the presidency of this country that presented themselves during the June convention of the party are still alive.
“I don’t see any reason why you have not taken the initiative having observed or having the state of mind to know where do they stand today, none of you have any restrictions to meeting any of these candidates.
“It is not for me to observe, to start talking for them if you notice anything that is not the normal. Or you want something from them that you have not seen. Nothing stops you from talking to any of them.”
He lamented that despite its landmark achievements, the ruling APC is not being given equal coverage by the media.
While reacting to allegations that some directors in the party were sidelined on his assumption of office, Abdullahi refuted the claim saying that he decided to reorganize the party since he met unpaid salary arrears.
‘It is untrue that some directors are sidelined. We met unpaid salary arrears and we had introduced table payment. We had to reorganize the place and we did it without any bias or prejudice.
“Reconciliation is work in progress. All the aspirants are keying into our party’s programmes. I don’t see any reason why they should not key in. As for reconciliation, it is work in progress.
“So far no party known to us has tried to do what we are doing to ensure that the youth are empowered,” he stated.
He called on the media to always help to propagate it’s activities in good light noting that his party cannot succeed without the media.
“We are going to campaign so we need maximum media coverage benefit. We do not want to run a solo outfit. We want to carry the media along. We want to continue to be ruling party and we need the media to succeed,” the APC chairman stressed.