President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, held a meeting with 22 aggrieved senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and urged them not to defect.
The lawmakers are those who threatened to leave the APC after they failed to secure the party’s ticket to return to the senate.
The delegation which included Messrs Smart Adeyemi, Frank Ibezim, Danladi Sankara, and Ibrahim Oloriegbe, was led by the chief whip of the senate, Mr. Orji Kalu, who said the lawmakers felt disenfranchised by the process that led to their losing return tickets to the senate.
The meeting was held at the Council Chambers of State House, Abuja.
Spokesman for the president, Mr. Femi Adesina said in a statement that Buhari assured the lawmakers that the leadership of the party would sustain the hearing and healing process to ensure fairness, justice and oneness before the 2023 general elections.
He disclosed that he had received torrents of complaints about the primaries and further assured that he would continue to address the challenges through the party’s machinery.
The president told the angry lawmakers that their exit would affect the future of the APC and praised the senators’ effort to find a solution.
The president assured them that as the leader of the party, part of his role was to create the environment for members to ventilate their grievances.
“I thank you for the decision to approach me with your concerns over the future of the party and for pursuing solutions approach for the challenges thrown up by the recent election-related activities particularly, the primaries.
“As the leader of the party, one of my primary role is to ensure that our culture of internal democracy and dispute resolution is strengthened by creating the opportunity for members to ventilate their opinions, views and grievances at different levels.
“Notwithstanding the fact that we have accomplished 23 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, our journey is still in a nascent stage and we continue to learn from our challenges and mistakes.
“Similarly, our party is still evolving in its culture and practice and it is my expectation and hope that we should attain a mature level in our internal conduct.
“I have noted your grievances, particularly, as it concerns the just concluded processes, the cost to the nation, the threat to the majority position held by our party in the legislative chambers, and likely consequent causes to the electoral fortunes of the party as we approach the general election. We must not allow these dire threats to come to pass.
“I must acknowledge that in every contest, there must be a level-playing ground, just as there would be grievances at the end. That is the test of our democratic credentials, systems and practices.
“I have since the conclusion of the process been inundated with various reports and complaints. In keeping with our ethos, therefore, I shall continue to address the ensuing challenges and grievances through the party machinery while paying keen attention to the outcomes.
“I must also remind you of the primacy of justice in all our actions. If justice is denied, its outcome is usually unpleasant. This is because you, the members, keep the party running.
“I should add that as part of the policy of using the party machinery for effective resolutions of conflict, the chairman and some members of the National Working Committee visited the National Assembly recently to dialogue with our legislators.
“The leadership of the party is currently addressing the outcomes as part of the way forward. I am encouraging all the party functionaries to adhere to the truth and to be fair to all parties in any dispute. This is important because our strength and victory in the election lies in the unity of the party and our ability to prevent or heal any injustice perceived unfair.
“I urge you and all party members to exercise restraint and continue to demonstrate commitment to the ideals while we continue to build and develop the party and the country.
“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,” he said.
