Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the newly elected National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on party members, especially aspirants, at the just concluded National Convention to show maturity and sportsmanship.
Adamu, current Senator representing Nasarawa West in the Senate, said this in his acceptance speech on Sunday, at the Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the convention.
He charged aspirants who lost at the convention and party members generally, to accept the outcome of the convention with grace.
He congratulated those who aspired to occupy the party’s national offices, saying that although they did not succeed this time, they could succeed some other times.
“They did not succeed this time, but in God’s time, many of them would yet realise their ambitions to serve our party and country in many other positions.
“As politicians we are not strangers to gains, losses and disappointments, of the outcome of every political contest.
“Let us show maturity and good sportsmanship and accept the outcome of this convention with grace.
“Our party needs all hands on the steering wheel, so that together we can steer the ship of state through the inclement weather of our divisive national politics to the promised land,“ he said.
Adamu, while thanking the aspirants and party members for their spirit of sportsmanship, said the new party leadership would continue to count on their co-operation as loyal party members and patriots.
He expressed gratitude to the chairman and members of the APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee, (CECPC), delegates to the convention and the party’s leadership at various levels.
Adamu lauded members of the party across the country for electing him and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) into various positions, adding that he would work hard to meet their expectations.
“On behalf of my colleagues, the newly elected members of the NWC of our great party, the APC.
“I would like to express our gratitude to Almighty God, our very sincere thanks to our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, and Governors, in our party.
“We accept the onerous responsibility that you have placed on our shoulders and we would work hard to ensure that we fulfilled your expectations for the greater good of our great party and of our dear country.
“As we conclude this very successful convention of our great party, I know that our opponents in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties are now sulking, wearing long faces of sadness, bewilderment and dismay,’’ he said.
According to Adamu, the opposition PDP had been hoping and praying to make a fortune out of APC`s misfortunes.
They were also hoping and praying to capitalise on assumed failures of the APC to reap political benefits, he added.
Adamu stated that for almost seven years now, the APC administrations at the Federal, State and local levels had been battling to enhance the livelihood of Nigerians through various policies, programmes and projects.
He, therefore, said there was need for APC members and Nigerians generally to renew their faith in the party and its leadership at all levels in order to herald a new dawn.
“We need to commit to the resolution of our crisis within the confines of our party constitution, we must resist the temptation to blow every minor personal disagreement into a major party crisis.
“It is time for us to do things differently, when we quarrel, we open our flanks to our rival political parties that are only too eager to exploit them for their own benefit.
“I promise you here and now that we shall heal any wounds in our party; we shall effect lasting reconciliation among our members, and we shall go into the next general elections as a strong and united party.
“I offer my hands of friendship to all our members. I want to assure you that my colleagues and I, will run an open door policy for all members of the party,’’ Adamu said.
He further added that no administration in the country`s history had performed as much as the APC did in building key infrastructure and in uplifting the living conditions of Nigerians.
Projects that once existed only in the imaginations of Nigerians were now becoming a reality, he said.
He listed some of such projects to include: the Second Niger Bridge, complete rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan dual carriage way, the Lagos-Ibadan express rail and the Abuja-Kaduna express light rail, among others.
He said although most of the projects were inherited by the President Buhari-led administration, they were being worked on, adding that the APC had fulfilled its covenant with Nigerians.
He said that the party was set to do more, adding that all it needed from Nigerians was their continuous support and confidence in the 2023 general elections.
“My dear compatriots, the eyes of the nation are on us; the eyes of Africa are on us; the eyes of the world are on us.
“This is a historic moment, there is no room for false steps, our first step is to make our party the bastion of internal democracy.
`If a party is not internally democratic, it cannot offer the country true democracy.
Together, let us rise and march towards the sunrise in our party and in our country.
“The time has come for us to show statesmanship to arrive at the new dawn, The time has come for us to be patriotic in words and deeds.
“The time has come for us to affirm our being the party of the people, for the people and by the people“ the APC National Chairman said.
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