The Chairman, All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rochas Okorocha, on Wednesday declared that the party was its own enemy.
Okorocha, who visited Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, in Abuja, said the cold war in the party was due to ego problem.
He, however, declared: “Nonetheless, it is never too late to make amends where possible.”
Okorocha said he visited Saraki in his capacity as the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum.
He said: “This is the very first time I am coming to your office and I am here because I am concerned. I am here because I am a stakeholder. I am here as the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum – your friends and colleagues in the struggle.
“Mr. Senate President, leaders of this great Senate, you may recall a few years ago that we were all in the trenches, in battle, asking for change in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I recall vividly the role most of you played in that very struggle. We became a government when no one gave us a chance to be so. And shortly, Nigerians believed in us and entrusted us with the responsibility of leading this nation.
“But one year and several months after, we have not been able to manage this God-given victory very well and it is very worrisome, Mr. Senate President. That Nigerians expect so much from us but we seem to be in crisis with ourselves; not crisis made by the opposition parties but crisis created by ourselves for ourselves and which has kept us in total difficult position that we are not making the headway we need to make as a party.
“One wonders then what went wrong. Where did we get it wrong? And after these troubles and after the much hope we have given to Nigerians, we still cannot work together as a party, as a family. And I notice particularly that there is so much bitterness in the system – from the party, from the legislature, from the executive, from the governors – and it seems to me like there is no more platform for us to chant those old songs, which we used to sing in the days of struggle for change. One wonders, was this what we were asking for or was this the change we were asking for? I think Nigerians expect so much from us and at the end of it all.
“Nigerians will not ask us, how many of each other we have been able to destroy or how many we have been able to bring down. But they will ask us how many plates of food have we put on the table of the common man who elected us. So, I am here, Mr. President of the Senate, to call for unity among us and our party. And to sheathe our sword in whatever form anger has got to us.
“We noticed and we know that we are a party in majority at the National Assembly and we are a party with majority in the number of governors, state Houses of Assembly, but we notice there is no cordial relationship among the governors, the executive and the legislature.
“And let me reemphasise that in all these arms of government, it is only the legislature and the executive that are the elected members, not the judiciary. And Nigerians will hold us responsible as the executive and legislative arms of government. So, we must act quickly to ensure that peace reigns among us. I have discussed with the party – that was my first point of call – to seek what we must do to forge a way forward.
“Today, I am before you, the Senate President, and I ask you to use your wisdom to bring peace into our party. We need to enjoy that very vibrancy for which the National Assembly has been known for.”
In his reaction, Saraki declared that the crisis in the party was surmountable.
He regretted that the party leadership has not visited the National Assembly since June 2015 when he emerged as Senate President.
Okorocha also visited the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
He told the speaker that APC needed rebranding.
He said: “I am saying that our party will be re-branded to what we know it should look like,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff; Majority Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; the Deputy Leader; Mr. Buba Jibril; the Deputy Minority Whip, Mr. Pally Iriase, and other principal officers and some members of the House, attended the meeting.
