Several prominent members of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) have defected from the opposition party to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Immediately past National Chairman of the party, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali led Senator Sulaiman Othman Hunkuyi, Professor Bem Angwe, Alhaji Garba Umar and others to the APC national secretariat on Tuesday.
They were received by the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Alkali, who spoke on behalf of his other colleagues, said they took the decision to pitch tent with APC after extensive consultations.
He also said following the Supreme Court judgement which affirmed the victory of Bola Tinubu in the last February elections, all hands must be on deck to make him govern the country successfully.
He said: “Given the numerous challenges confronting our country at this point of our nation’s history, all Nigerians deserve peace and tranquillity to go about their normal life. To achieve this, this country needs to be preserved; our democracy needs to be protected; and this Government needs to be supported. And with all litigations on the Presidential election over, it is time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be supported and encouraged to steer the ship of the Nigerian State to restore hope in the country. Our primary considerations for joining of the APC at this point in time are therefore based on a number of considerations, namely:
“As recent events over Niger Republic has shown, there is great hope and expectations on Nigeria to fulfil its manifest destiny as the leading nation in Africa. The tasks before us therefore are not only to solve our own internal problems, but also to play decisive and leading roles in addressing and resolving the numerous challenges in the African Continent.
“Nigerians have suffered much enough and long enough that the longer the country is allowed to drift, the more and deeper the pain and suffering of the ordinary citizen in our dear country. This is why we feel, even though the legal option remains always available to political actors, it must be remembered that the heroic decision of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to concede victory in March 2015 to General Muhammadu Buhari even before the final declaration of the Presidential election result was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made him a national and global hero of all times.”
The APC national chairman who commended the new entrants to his party for taking what he called a wise decision said “We knew NNPP was going for a doom and now we have seen the doom.”
He assured them that they would be given an adequate sense of belonging in the APC.
“The APC is a party that is an expert in the management of diversity. You have returned home to where you rightfully belong. APC will take the people of Nigeria to the next level and I assure you are now full members of the party.
“You are coming into the party at the right time when you can take an active role in the party. Here in the APC, we practice internal democracy and you can aspire for any position.”
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