* Warns against bitter acrimony;
* Takes quick potshots at the PDP;
* Catalogues strides made by the APC;
* Says the press been negative in its reportage
President Muhammadu Buhari has again urged the APC to jettison divisive interests, saying internal feuds could only aggravate problems.
The President in a statement warned the leadership and membership of the party against name calling and backstabbing ahead of the oncoming March 26 Convention.
He also appealed to party leaders and their supporters to remain steadfast and maintain party unity “if the party is to continue in the path of victory and its dominance at all levels.”
“They failed in 16 years in power and a failure as opposition”, the President noted as he took potshots at the PDP.
President Buhari explained that the APC “is proud of the fact that in its short period of existence, it has won two general elections decisively…
“Despite losing a few states in 2019”, the statement disclosed that the APC has “steadfastly expanded its pan-Nigerian outlook with significant defections of the opposition Governors and parliamentarians into its fold.”
The President did not refer to the situation in Ebonyi State where a court has purportedly removed the Governor, his deputy and 17 lawmakers who crossed over to the APC with a mandate that the PDP insists belongs to it.
He described what is going on within the political spectrum as normal, saying the APC is getting its fair share of crisis.
” Yes, we are entitled to our own share of dissent and intra-party discord”, Buhari acknowledged, “These are common in all parties, left an right all over the world.”
“But parties splintered by competing egos destine themselves to the worst possible fate”, Buhari reminded his fellow party men.
He however remarked that “candidates and their promoters for party offices are not so much debating policy differences.
“But differences of management, personality, character and suitability for the most important leadership roles in our country.”
The president observed that over the last week, “the internal management affairs of the APC have been afforded generous media coverage – over and above its importance to voters.
“It is important to ask what benefits the poor are getting during the period of intense negative coverage.
“As the country prepares for the long run up to the 2023 presidential election, the President emphasized, “we all expect a robust debate on the issues that matter.
“And what is going in the APC should be a reflection of this, not the infighting we are seeing.”
Reminding party members of the goals which were considered auspicious at the beginning and which laid the foundation for the great successes achieved by the APC, President Buhari added:
“We didn’t start on the note of arrogance of power, nor see government as a vehicle for self-aggrandisement, to be held at all cost, but a vehicle to bring development to all without discrimination-political, ethnic or regional – to our dear country made this success possible.”