Travels to Portugal for national honour, UN Ocean Conference
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders to prevent loss of the party’s gains ahead of next year’s general elections.
Speaking when he hosted some APC Senators, led by Orji Uzor Kalu, on the outcome of recent primaries and its implications, the President acknowledged he received complaints, adding that machinery has been put in place by the National Working Committee (NWC) to address concerns.
He said: “I have noted grievances, particularly, as it concerns the just concluded processes, the cost to the nation, the threat to the majority position held by our party in the legislative chambers and likely consequent cost to the electoral fortunes of our party as we approach the general elections. We must not allow these dire threats to come to pass.”
Promising to sustain healing of the party, he said: “I shall continue to address the ensuing challenges and grievances through the party machinery while paying keen attention to the outcome.
“I must also remind you of the primacy of justice in all our actions. If justice is denied, the outcome is usually unpleasant.
“This is because you are the members who keep the party running. I should add that as part of the policy of using the party machinery for effective resolution of conflict, the chairman and some members of the NWC visited the National Assembly, recently, to dialogue with our legislators.
“The leadership of the party is currently addressing the outcome as part of the way forward. I am encouraging all party functionaries to adhere to the truth and be fair to all parties in any dispute.”
In his remarks, Kalu said, at least, 22 senators and members of the party were unhappy with the outcome of the primaries in their states because they felt disenfranchised.
Kalu, who is Chief Whip of the Senate, said the legislators had made sacrifices for the growth of the party and democracy in the country, and pleaded for the President’s intervention.
ALSO, Buhari departed Abuja, yesterday, on a state visit to Portugal at the invitation of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
He will hold official talks with his Portuguese counterpart and be conferred with the country’s national honour: The Great Collar of the Order of Prince Henry.
The two Presidents are expected to chair an enlarged bilateral meeting and witness the signing of agreements bordering on issues of mutual concern.
Buhari will also visit the Portuguese Parliament and hold discussions with its president, Dr Augusto Santo Silva, as well as the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa.
In the course of the visit, he will address a forum of Nigerian and Portuguese businessmen and hold separate meetings with select Portuguese Chief Executive Officers and prospective investors to Nigeria.
Buhari will also participate in the United Nations Ocean Conference, which began in Lisbon on Monday, June 27, and runs till July 1. He will return to Abuja on Saturday, July 2.
SOurce: Guardian.ng