Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has underscored the need for unity in the Abia State Chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it was the only panacea towards winning future elections.
Kalu made the emphasis at a meeting with the members of Abia State APC Stakeholders Forum in Abuja on Monday night.
He called for forgiveness and reconciliation amongst the aggrieved members of the party, urging them to work together in the interest of the party, the state and the nation at large.
A statement signed by the chief press secretary to the Deputy speaker Levinus Nwabughiogu revealed that Kalu acknowledged that APC is the ruling party at the national level, he however stressed that such should be replicated in the State to consolidate the gains of the party at the centre.
He said: “In us lies the capacity to reconcile for unity and peace. The expectation of those who are angry is that we reach out to them in all humility. Some will be easy, some will be difficult but that they are difficult doesn’t make them evil people. It means that we have to go the extra mile to win them back.
“As you go home ask yourself, who among us is missing? Our responsibility is to go and look for that one soul, identify the one soul, identify the problem and then set an agenda on how to achieve it. In that agenda, we put a timeline.
“There’s nothing more important to this political party now than unity, unity and unity. The only way people will feel united is when we give them a sense of belonging. It’s when we honour them and make them understand they have value to bring to the party. So, if I do my part and you do your part, there’s still the missing link, our job is not complete.
Our job will be complete when we move as a formidable block, as a formidable force to build our party. So, everyone is important.
“We have a lot to do. In the course of this deliberation, we are going to have an appraisal of how we fared. When we say political party, it’s not an ice cream party, it’s the aggregation of like-minds who come together to build one another, our community, and our nation in line with common policies.
“It’s high time we started looking at quality, capacity, integrity, transparency, accountability not gender or brother, etc. The most important thing is that at the end of the day, the constituents will enjoy good governance.
“We should start early, so we don’t get it wrong. It’s time to identify those who can play roles now and give them assignments. The role of the political parties is not just for campaigns, it’s to influence policies. Both at the federal and state level.
“We have not come to realize that we can come as a team and lobby for a particular policy that we want Abia to benefit from. We only wait for the election, and you end up wasting four years when we can come as a formidable team and lobby the presidency, even the governor, though he’s not from our party.”
Kalu also proposed that all suspended stakeholders of the party in the State be recalled immediately in the spirit of peace, unity and reconciliation.
“Today we should raise a resolution as the stakeholders of this party to recall everyone suspended. We don’t want to know the reason for such suspension. We want all hands to be on deck. We should be proud of the value we are going to bring as individuals and also recognize the value the other person is bringing.
“People like Senator Orji Kalu is a leader. Chief Ikechi Emenike is a leader. Hon. Nkiru is a leader in her office. Plus, don’t tell me to come and fight Nkiru. Chief Nwamkpa is a leader. Let’s bring the system that will bring everybody together. There’s no faction in this party.
“We must be careful in the steps we want to take and analyze it without sentiments so that when we say we are going any direction, it will be a sustainable direction. I encourage you to please assign to yourselves a responsibility that will channeled towards unifying the party. It will take sacrifice out of you and I’m encouraging you to make that sacrifice”, he said.
Assuring them that APC will still win the 2027 Presidential election, the Deputy Speaker further revealed that many people have indicated interest in joining the party.
He urged the stakeholders to be hospitable to them.
“We must work hard in our intention to have a regional integration policy. Economic integration has a root in the regional integration policy.
“I can assure you APC will win again in 2027. We have to start now to put our party in order. Whoever is offended, please forgive, let us move the political party forward. There is a tsunami coming. They are talking to us. Your attitude toward these people coming is very important. Please, be more welcoming. Political party is about numbers”, Kalu said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, of Abia State APC Stakeholders Forum, Senator Chris Adighije said that the issue of peace and unity was paramount and uppermost in the mind of the Deputy Speaker.
“I want to say quite frankly that from my private discussions with the Rt. Hon deputy speaker, all that he has been speaking to us is about the unity of the party. In all my discussions with him privately and publicly, it has been how we will unite and win future elections. I want to appeal to my party members that all we want to do is to strategize and win elections”, he said.