Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, who doubles as the Chairman, North Central Governor’s Forum, has sought for the interventions of both the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as well as the National Working Committee (NWC) towards resolving the lingering crisis engulfing the party in Benue State.
Governor Sule made this known when he paid a visit to the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, and in his capacity as the Chairman of the APC Governor’s Forum in the zone, he deemed it necessary to seek for the intervention of the father of the party, as well as the NWC, in order to put to rest the lingering crisis in the party in Benue State.
“In the North Central we have a state where there are issues here and there. We have plenty discussions on that and we want the National Chairman to also intervene, as well as the National Working Committee to intervene in order for us to resolve those issues. North Central is having five out of six APC governors. For that reason, we need to strengthen our zone. We cannot afford to have any kind of disagreement in our zone,” he stated.
He expressed his conviction that Ganduje, a former deputy governor, former governor has the pedigree to resolve the Benue APC impasse.
“I have no doubt that if there is any gentleman that can work to resolve that matter is no other than Ganduje, a former deputy governor and former governor. For that reason I came to pay my respect to the father of the party and the NWC,” he added.
Governor Sule said he was also at the national secretariat of the party to pay respect to the national chairman, who he said, deserves respect and cooperation, especially as the APC gears towards participating in the scheduled governorship election in Edo State.
“In the next couple of weeks we have an election in Edo. The man does not need to be distracted in any other way so that we can go and win our election in Edo. That is one of the reason why I came to encourage him to be focused,” he stated.
Governor Sule used the opportunity of the visit to call on his APC colleague governors to endeavour to pay regular visits to the national secretariat of the party in order not to be seen as visitors in a house they all worked hard to build.
In his response, APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, appreciated Governor Sule for the visit especially that there are controversies within the party in Benue State.
Ganduje said he wants the APC to be a strong institution that will back the ruling government, as well as an institution that will ensure internal democracy.
He however warned that with him in charge at the helm of affairs of the party, it is no longer business as usual.
Ganduje explained that the vision for the establishment of the party’s progressive institute is to give the APC a distinct identity.
“It is easy for everybody to say he is a politician. When you are looking for an engineer, you know how to get an engineer. When you are looking for a medical doctor, you know how to get a medical doctor. But politicians, this is an environment that has no boundary.
“But we must give it a boundary. A politician must be somebody of character. A politician must be somebody of capacity. And a politician must be somebody with capability. That is all that we want to entrench in our party as an institution,” he said.
Earlier, in an opening remarks, National Secretary of the party, Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, described state governors as the major pillars of support for the party.
While acknowledging that the party will continue to recognize the leadership role played by the governors, Basiru said one of the innovations introduced by the Ganduje administration is the idea of having zonal coordinators amongst the Governor’s so that the party will be able to tackle issues at the zonal level.
“Because by the time you get to the national level, the areas of differences and challenges would have been narrowed down. We thank our national chairman for this innovative idea,” he said.
The national secretary used the opportunity of the visit to highlight the activities of the party, as well as showcase the achievements so far recorded under the Ganduje administration, including the establishment of a progressive institute.
It would be recalled that, for over a year, the Benue chapter of the APC has been balkanised and embroiled in crisis by political gladiators fighting for control of the party.