A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has reacted to the crisis rocking the ruling party under the leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
The former APC Chairman expressed sadness over the current crisis but expressed confidence that the ongoing peace moves will yield expected results.
Oyegun, who spoke with reporters at his Abuja residence Wednesday, Oyegun said he didn’t know anyone who is happy with the instability situation within the party.
“We need to begin to confront the election in February next year which given the state of the nation, are bound to be challenging,” he said, even as he appealed that every effort be made to establish peace such that the party will approach the general elections as a united force, rallying around a united program of action.
“Well, I can say something for sure that I am not happy as to state of peace or the relative instability in the party. I don’t think I know someone who is happy today about that but like I said earlier, there are peace missions that I have found all over the country and so at this point in time it will be ill of me to start saying ho, things went bad because that happened or because that did not happen but as a statesman let me not start passing my own personal judgement where there is a team out trying to broker peace, I won’t be helping the situation.
“What we require is peace, I pray God give these teams the wisdom that is required to to work out the settlement to bring the party back to strong political fighting force.
“As far as my own party is concerned, well I have only one appeal, that there should be peace and that Every effort should be made to establish Peace such that we will approach the elections a united force, a united voice a united party, rallying around a united program of action.
“There is no doubt about it that there are very serious disputations within the party. And I’m very very glad that peace teams have been sent out, I was glad to run into one of these teams once while I was on private business in the Southeast. And it is my prayer that they achieve the goals for which they were set up and for the reason they have been sent out.
“But It is necessary to state that for peace to happen, there is need to emphasize that all sides must be ready to give and to take, there must be willingness for compromise, such that can bring the party back together in such a fighting mood. We need to begin to confront the election in February next year which given the state of the nation, are bound to be challenging.
“As an elder statesman, I appeal to our leaders to keep away from distractions and non issues. If you read the Social Media today you see such terrible distractions, such terrible insults, such humongous, clear patent falsehood and this seem to have become the main issues whereas they are mere distractions, absolute distractions. Whether people have certificate or not, whether they went to schools or not and quite a lot of other things, manufactured stories about individuals, prominent individuals.
“It appears the pastime now is research for scandals rather than an attempt to build issues, to depict deepen alternative approach, alternative formulation. We all known the problems of our country, who has answers for these problems, what are the answers . I think those are issues this two and half months should try to address.”
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