Pocket your ambitions: Buhari to APC leaders

Pocket your ambitions: Buhari to APC leaders

President  Muhammadu Buhari yesterday warned warring  members of the All
Progressives Congress( APC) to cast aside their differences immediately as the party cannot afford to “throw our success to the wind.”
He appealed to them “in the name of God” to forget their personal interest or ambition for now  and “get together and use the mandate given to us by this country.”
President Buhari spoke at the opening of a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party in Abuja against the backdrop of the crisis in the party occasioned by the recent emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly.
He asked the actors in the NASS leadership crisis to sheathe their swords because the party cannot afford to disappoint Nigerians.

He was optimistic that  the APC would  win the war eventually  only if all hands are on the deck.
Insisting on the supremacy of the party over any member, he said no politician could  occupy any political office without belonging to a political party.
His words: ”Let us as members of the APC, no matter our personal differences, get together and use the mandate given to us by this country. “This is my personal appeal to you in the name of God. Whatever your personal interest or ambition is,  please keep it close to your heart and in your  pocket.
“Let APC work, let the system work and let us have a government that will earn the respect of our constituencies. Please accept the superiority of the party.
“I cannot confine myself to the cage of Sambisa forest and refuse to participate in the meetings  of NEC and eventually BOT because I respect the superiority of the party.
“The elections have come and gone, the APC has won the battle, but lost the war. This is the paradox of democracy, and we shall see how we can manage it going forward.
“The APC must not disappoint its constituency, that is the nation state. We have to convince our various constituencies that we are individually worthy of the sacrifices that they have made.
“They stayed awake day and night, travelling all over  the country and made sure as a party we emerged victorious. What subsequently happened is human, and as human beings we are not perfect. But let our collective actions in this party prove that we have won the elections, the battle and we will win the war.”
He went down the memory lane on the efforts of the party leaders to weave it into a formidable force that won the last elections in the country.
He said: “APC has been damn lucky, if I can use that. The way the opposition parties realised, agreed and accepted that the only way through which we could  be in the system was  for us to come together.
“The ACN, the ANPP, the CPC, APGA and DPP wanted to come to participate fully in the negotiation, but they had court cases at various levels, and we suspected that if we allowed them to participate actively in the negotiation for merger, their being in court could  cause either delay or deny us registration.
“So we  persuaded our colleagues in APGA and DPP that please, stay out of the negotiation, but when we eventually get the registration, they can join en bloc or individually. And we suspected that we couldn’t allow them  to participate  so that they couldn’t  either delay or deny us registration.
“Chief Rochas Okorocha is the epitome of this  understanding.
“There  have been various committees. Quite a number of you sitting here have been members of committees either leading them or being a member and we agreed. At some stage or the earlier stages, we agreed that nine people should form the interim committee, that is the national chairmen of the parties, the secretaries and the treasurers.
“I, here, personally, and on behalf of you now congratulate Chief Bisi Akande. It’s a pity he is not here. He led the interim party with  dexterity and integrity. I respect his patriotism.
“When we got the APC name through the agreement of various committees of the respective parties, we started working from polling unit upwards. Eventually, we ended up in the convention which gave us the leadership of the party.
“After  that, the election started, and again it started from the bottom to the top. I have gone to this extent because not all of us here participated in it and for you to reflect and thank the leadership of the party at various stages for going through all this, which is not easy. But God in his infinite mercy has helped by giving us acceptance. Let us not throw this success to the wind.”