Primaries: Buhari meets aggrieved APC senators, says justice will prevail

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured senators of the All ProgressivesCongress (APC) who are aggrieved over the recent primaries of the party that justice will prevail.

He asked the senators to exercise patience and to restrain from making any decision that could hurt the party.

The president stated this when some APC senators, about 22 of them, paid him a visit at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday.

The lawmakers, led by the Senate Chief Whip, Orji Kalu, had vowed to defect from the party over the outcome of primaries in their states – ahead of the 2023 general elections.

They said they felt disenfranchised by the process.

The party has been hit recently by a gale of defections since its primaries last month.

Already, some senators have left the party and joined other opposition parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

One common reason the lawmakers gave for exiting the ruling party was the lack of internal democracy and interference of their state governors.

Last week, the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, met with the Senate caucus of the party over the defections of top party members.

Addressing the senators, Mr Buhari said he will strengthen the culture of internal democracy and dispute resolution in the party.

This, he said, he will do, by creating the opportunity for members to ventilate their opinions, views and grievances at different levels.

“I have noted your grievances particularly as it concerns the just concluded processes. The cost to the nation, the threat to the majority of positions held by our party in the legislative chambers and likely consequent causes to the electoral fortune of the party as we approach the General elections. We must not allow these dire threats to come to pass,” he said.

While acknowledging the presence of a level-playing field in every contest, the president urged them to see grievances that followed as a test of democratic credentials, systems and practices.

The leadership of the party is currently addressing the outcomes as part of the way forward, he said just as he admonished all the party functionaries to adhere to the truth and to be fair to all parties in any dispute.

“Finally, Let me assure you that justice shall prevail, aggrieved members shall be assuaged in the interest of the party and the nation shall be protected.”

At the end of the meeting, Mr Kalu, who described the meeting as successful, said the issue of “decamping from our party has been laid to rest.”

Although the president and the party’s national chairman have promised to address the issues raised by the aggrieved lawmakers, it is not clear how they intend to “settle” them – particularly those who have lost their return tickets. (Premium Times)

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