APC chieftains abroad task Akande, Odigie-Oyegun on united party

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Diaspora Chairmen Forum yesterday urged former national chairmen of the party, Bisi Akande and John Odigie-Oyegun to urgently wade into the lingering crisis in the party.

In a statement jointly signed by 12 APC Diaspora chairmen in Lagos, the group led by Lawal Ayoola appealed to Akande and Odigie-Oyegun to immediately intervene and save the party from collapse by bringing all factions together for the common good.

The group said it was compelled by a sense of responsibility and anxiety over the present state of the party on issues and challenges they were conversant with.

“We fear that unless something is urgently done and steps taken to bring peace, sanity and discipline back into the party, the APC as conceived at the beginning will sooner than later become history as a political party.

“We are convinced that Nigerians from the different political parties, groups and associations who gave their best to birth this ideological movement for a progressive, social democratic political party are agonising over the current state of the party.

“Their agony arose from the fact that their hopes and emotional investment are being dissipated on the altar of personal acrimony without regard to the vision of the party,” the statement reads.

The group further reminded the former national chairmen that several Nigerians actually died in the struggle to see the APC established as a force for political change in the country.

“Many gave selflessly of their time, intellect, finances and other material resources to ensure that the party becomes a reality,” it added.

It also lamented that it was troubled that incessant conflicts seem to have become the order of the day in the party, not just at state level, but also at the national level.

“The house you laboured day and night to build is actually being pulled apart and the continued building process has been totally disrupted. On our part, we know the cost of this movement and project to us as leaders and members of the party in the Diaspora.

“As things stand today, APC transmuting into what it was not envisioned to be, may have far more unpleasant consequences for our polity and country than can be anticipated.

“This is because a destabilised APC will reinforce the negative view of the Nigerian political leadership and further cause disenchantment of young Nigerians to the possibilities of a better future and country.

“Many who supported the party in the past are already openly declaring that APC is not different from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For any member of this family, that should be taken for an insult,” the statement added.