Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged patience for the party National leadership to unite the party warring sections in Rivers State.
Ganduje stated this during a meeting with APC stakeholders from Rivers State on Thursday in Abuja.
The former Kano governor stated that litigation was killing the party in the state.
He stated that Rivers was a highly significant state in the country due to its oil reserve and vast population, describing it as an asset for any political party seeking election.
“So you can see why we cannot rubbish the state; Rivers as a state in politics is very important. Coincidentally, some of us are conversant with the politics in Rivers,” he said.
He said that the current crisis in the Rivers chapter of the party started in 2015.
“Our party in Rivers is highly factionalised, that is the fact about it. Our party in Rivers was killed by litigations, that one is a fact,” Ganduje said.
He thanked those who worked to ensure the party’s electoral success at the poll, saying it was a miracle that it won the presidential election and lost the state in the 2023 election.
“There is confusion in the party in Rivers, but we don’t want members to over heat the system, we are focused, we are organised, we work scientifically in politics.
“And therefore, you give us an enabling environment, give us a chance so that we can put a round peg in a round hole, square peg in a square hole, so that we maintain our dignity as a party.
“We have to capitalise on what we have, we have to capitalise on the fact that we have won the national election in Rivers.
“We are not extracting anything less again, but give us a chance to see how we can have both the state and the national election together,” Ganduje said.
He said that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) would constitute a leadership that would reconcile the warring factions in the state in the interest of its members.
“But do not overheat the system, overheating the system will bring litigation and then a vicious cycle will come again.
“We don’t want too much analysis because they say too much analysis leads to paralysis.
“So give us a chance so that we can consult, so that we look at the Constitution of APC and then we wait and see how we can put things in order,” he said. (NAN)