An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari has advised members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to seize the opportunity of the reconciliation efforts by the National Leader of the party as assigned to him by the President.
Abdulrahman Sumaila, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), who emphasized that he was not speaking for the Presidency but as a founding member of the party said the advice became necessary if the party is aiming to retain power with the election year fast approaching.
Sumaila, in a press conference on Tuesday at the National Assembly said it was most important for the party to avoid the pitfalls that led to the ouster of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with the 2015 general election.
Ahead of the party’s national convention, he warned against imposition of delegates.
He said: “First, I welcome the development and commend the courage of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the love he has for Nigeria. He has sacrificed a lot for the party during formation, pre and post-elections period.
“Therefore, I believe he is the best person to handle the assignment of reconciling aggrieved members of the party.
“The most important thing is for the members of the party to embrace this golden opportunity and join hands for proper reconciliation to take place.
“I urge members of the party to stop compounding issues and creating unnecessary atmosphere that may undermine the reconciliation process and make it difficult to achieve the desired results.
“We should remember what Nigerians did to us by rejecting the then ruling party, which ruled for 16 years and voting out a sitting president.
“We should also remember the promise we made to Nigerians during the formative stage and electioneering campaigns of our party.
“The only way to appreciate what God did to us is to respect the tenets of democracy. As a founding member of the party who served in various organs of the party, I want to remind us that 2019 is very close and Nigerians are watching all our actions and inactions. We should tell ourselves the truth and desist from sycophancy.
“The success of our party and the government depends on how the stakeholders work together for the common interest of Nigerians and for better Nigeria. We must fight impunity and sycophancy.
“Ahead of our congresses, national convention and party primaries, we must make sure that we put a process that will make it transparent and participatory.
“We need to avoid whatever that will lead to imposition of candidates both in the delegates selection and the party primaries”.
