By Bisi Olominu
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The All Progressives Congress(APC) was formed almost four years ago with the aim of  providing an alternative political platform in order to access power at the federal level. So it was  on that platform it massively defeated the People’s Democratic Party(PDP)   that was in the saddle for 16 years. The party won the presidency, have the majority at the National Assembly and won twenty six states governorship elections in 2015.

APC therefore became the first opposition party to defeat the incumbent party in Nigeria. Almost four years of APC formation, the centre  seems not to hold, falcon could not hear the falconers again.

The party has been polarised by the last primaries, discontentment seems to be the order of the day. Some members are aggrieved with the way and manner the party’s last primaries were handled.

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the party is  not knitted, united like it was in 2015. Just two months before the general elections, the party is in need of cohesion,  and a common front to fight the battles ahead. This is the reason the National Working Committee of the party put in place a Peace and Reconciliation Committee to placate aggrieved members who lost out in the last party primaries. The committee for the Southwest met those from Ondo/Ekiti in Ekiti State on Monday, December 10, 2018 to hear their grievances and how to resolve the issues before the coming general elections.

The Chairman of the committee  and Governor of Bornu State, Kashim Shettima made the appealed to the aggrieved aspirants and members of APC in the two states to embrace peace and work for the success of the party in 2019.

Shettima while speaking with APC members over the last primaries, told them to learn from the humility and dedication of Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode who handled the state primary that was taken away from him with maturity despite being the favourite of many Nigerians and performed to the admiration of Lagosians.

“It is possible to take everything from a human being and get away with it, but one thing you should never attempt doing is to deny a human being his or her self esteem. Many people are aggrieved with the outcome of the APC primaries. But as we know,party politics are sometimes unpredictable.

” However, we must summon the courage to fight our instincts by looking into the wider picture. If we are to go back to the formation of the APC, I think the first victim of the party’s compromise is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We all know what Asiwaju had put into the APC but when it was time to determine the running mate of President Mohammadu Buhari, he had to painfully compromise his interest for  the overall interest of the party.

“The worst politics on earth is to take the loyalty of anyone for granted. Loyalty begets loyalty. Loyalty begets compensation. We are here to share the feelings of fellow party members, to listen to you, console you and know how best to make recommendations to the party’s headquarters. There are many opportunities for a party in government to create roles for members to serve the people.

“Nigeria currently has about one hundred and twenty thousand polling units and for a presidential candidate of any party to  succeed, he or she will have to depend on good team  from 120,000 polling agents of his party and these are people he mostly doesn’t know and may never know. To work with these 120,000 polling agents, the president will have to rely on party executives at the state, local government  and wards level. He has to principally rely on serving and former governors,deputy governors, serving and former national and state assembly members, aspirants amongst other key stakeholders in each of the 36 states and the FCT.

“In politics, everyone is dependent on the other. No one is independent. To succeed in politics, there is no alternative to unity and inclusiveness”.

The Governor of Kaduna State and Vice Chairman of the committee, Ahmed Nasir  el-Rufai said that the issue of Ondo State was complicated than that of Ekiti State, stressing that if the issue was not handled with magnanimity, it would affect the fortune of APC in Ondo State.

“If we win at the state and federal level we stand the chance of accommodating many of our members, but if we lose, then the party will be the greatest loser.

“In Kaduna State,I had issues with APC, but I never had the intention of leaving the party. I stayed inside and fought for justice to prevail”.

He appealed to aggrieved members of APC who lost out in the last primaries in the two states to sheath their swords as the committee will make good recommendations to the party’s headquartersin a way that will assuage their minds.

A member of the committee and former Governorship candidate of APC in 2015 election in Rivers State, Dr. Peterside Dakuku urged members of the party who are aggrieved with the last primaries to consider the future of the party and act like true statesman.

” I too am a victim of the last primary in my state. After we lost the 2015 governorship election, the party elders sat together and we started building APC for the coming election. But when it comes to the issue of choosing the party’s flag bearer, the elders thought otherwise. They told me to wait for another time and gave the ticket to another person. I accepted calmly although painful”.

He therefore advised the aggrieved members to always think of what would promote the unity and progress of the party.

Hajia Seida Usmab Bugaje and Professor Module Adelabu, a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State called on the aggrieved members to be loyal, dedicated and accept the outcome of the party’s primaries in the interest of the party.

Both said that it was painful but not everyone can be satisfied. A chieftain of APC in Ondo State, Mr. Gbenga Elegbeleye said that the only way to assuage the grievances of those who lost out in the party’s primaries was to return their money back to them.

“If the party did  not allow primaries to hold and some members are aggrieved, the onus is on the party to return back their money so that they can forge ahead. Many of these people sold their houses, cars and goods to contest the primaries that did hold, so, let their money be returned, so that they can move forward and the party can move forward too.