…As Yari, Kalu, Sani lead protest to party
Following controversy, protests that trailed the endorsement of principal offices in the 10th National Assembly, by the National Working Committee (NWC) of All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has appealed for the understanding of displeased lawmakers, promising to right every wrong.
The chairman also took full responsibility for the error when he received some aggrieved senators in his office, told the lawmakers that the party, going by the magnitude of the displeasure expressed, would have no choice than to go back to the drawing board to review what has been done in the interest of the party.
Adamu urged the aspirants that included Abdulaziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara State and Senator Orji-Uzor Kalu and others to sheathe the sword and allow the NWC do more consultation over matters.
He said, “We have received with respect, the outcome of the meeting with party leaders, comprising leadership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the party. We will go back to the drawing board. We owe our party that duty to take a look whether what was done cannot be changed; what was done needs some changes or reviews.
“Hold the fire until the last word is heard from us. We are the custodians of the party as NWC but we are not acting alone. The voice of the president-elect is an essential voice. We must accommodate him, the best we can. I will not compromise on that.
“So, he is right now outside the country and by the grace of God when he comes back we will go back to the drawing board and put heads together again and see what we will get. I cannot preempt that, I will wait until we hold that meeting with the president-elect, the same team that we had the same meeting with. If we need to enlarge the committee we will do so we will be better informed through contributions that we will make.
Recall that Adamu who has come under intense pressure from members of both chambers over the endorsement of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Tajudeen Abbas respectively for senate president and Speaker, among other endorsements, assured the senators like he did on Wednesday when the Reps stormed the party headquarters that a mistake was made.
He added, “We will go through your memo, line by line and ensure that we are able to capture the spirit of your presentation and see what will be the best way out of the situation we have. Whatever you heard is the art of human endeavour and we are not perfect as human beings. We can make mistakes.
“So, if we find in the course of further consultations the mistakes that need to be looked at, we will look at them.
“The important thing is that the spirit of the party must be kept alive. We just came out of the election, the whole country looking towards us. We are just counting down to inauguration on the 29th of this month. Our eyes must stay on the ball but in doing so we must make sure justice will be done. We will do the best as human beings to deliver justice to all and sundry” he stated .
Recall also that the APC national chairman had come under usual attack from his North-Central political zone where stakeholders believe they have been taken for a ride.
“On the issue of the North-Central, I remain tongue tied talking about North-Central. Your argument is extremely plausible. I assure you, we will take a look at what has been given to the public”.
While expressing his displeasure, Yari maintained that if the Senate President has to be zoned, then it should be to the North, where he said the party won 63.4% of the votes.
While x-raying the poll results, Yari maintained that the South gave the President-elect only 36.6 percent of the vote for whatever reason, saying that the election was won by the North.
He said, “We should not be blinded that the power of anyone is not absolute but only God is absolute. We should not look at these four years as 20 years and then we are going into another election. We are going back to the next election, we should underline that we are elected and we are going to be looking for another election.
“Whatever decision you are going to take we are expecting you as friends that work with the President to tell him not to go there. We don’t need rocket science to explain why you can defend what you are trying to do for the betterment of the APC, and for the betterment of the president.
Senator Orji Kalu on his part declared that micro zoning of the Senate President by name was undemocratic and unconstitutional, promising to oppose it on the floor of the senate.
He dismissed the attempt to attach the zoning of principal officers of the Senate to votes cast during the 2023 general election.
He said that the 2023 election was different from previous polls held in the country because across the country something happened.
Kalu maintained that a presidential candidate ran election from the zone, hence the decision of the majority of the people to vote in a particular direction.
That notwithstanding, he pointed out that people who didn’t vote the party this time can turn around and vote the party in the future, “Kalu said.
“Vote is not a measurement. We had a hurricane in our zone. We need one another and not the level of votes cast. Those who didn’t vote for the party today can vote for the party tomorrow if they are properly aligned. After all, we have made progress.
“Before we used to be one or two senators but it is no longer so. This thing did not only happen in the Southeast. Many people from areas where the presidential candidates came from, voted along certain lines. I appeal to you people that you must cede something very reasonable to the South-East.
“What happened is that there was a presidential candidate from the southeast and the entire people of the area decided in a certain direction because if we look at the election, it was not only in the Southeast that thing happened,” he said.
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