FOLLOWING the mass cross carpeting of members of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to other political parties, National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, yesterday got into a marathon meeting with senators, pleading with them not to leave.
Adamu, who led other members of the National Working Committee, NWC, for the meeting of APC Senate Caucus in Hearing Room 1, Senate wing, expressed serious concern over the gale of defections that had hit the party in the National Assembly in the last few days.
He assured the lawmakers that the APC still had genuine plans for them, adding that all their grievances arising from party primaries would be addressed.Answering questions from journalists shortly after the meeting, Adamu noted that it was the season of defections and that there was nothing he or the party could do to stop those eager to leave the party from taking the exit door.
He said while he could not be bothered about what was happening in other parties, APC as the ruling party was likely to be hit the most by the massive realignments currently going on in the political sphere.
It would be recalled that party primaries sprang up several controversies, leading to many lawmakers who wanted to return to the Senate losing party tickets.
According to a source, the Adamu led- APC NWC was accused of not being assertive in its decisions as governors were allowed to exhibit very powerful postures to hijack primaries in their states as well as the national convention.
Speaking further, the APC national chairman said the current exodus from the party remained a source of serious concern to him and that it was part of the reason the leadership of the party had deemed necessary to meet with the APC caucus to mitigate the wave of defections.“He said: “It is an unfortunate development but this is a season for all manner of behaviours in the political space in the world and Nigeria is not an exception.
In every election year, this kind of sub-step gives cause for people, stakeholders to sneeze. Nigeria is not an exception and the APC is not an exception, so Idon’t give a damn about what is happening in other parties, I care about what is happening in our party. ”You and I know that it is not just APC that this thing is happening.
Because we are the ruling party, yes our problems are more prominent in the public glare”.Adamu, who described the defection as unfortunate, promised that the party leadership would address the cause.”