… As you Ex- gubernatorial candidate says Kwara APC crisis will be resolved soon***
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja received briefing from Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo on security challenges as well as socio-economic developments in the state.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the closed door meeting, Uzodinma expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the consultations with the president.
“I came to see the president to consult with him and I had a very good consultation and the president received me well.
“I’m satisfied with the quality of discussion I had with him,’’ he said.
The governor revealed that normalcy had been restored in Imo, saying socio-economic activities had resumed across the state.
“So far, the situation is relatively okay in Imo state than it was…. Imo is okay now, people can come around, do their businesses, normal life and normal activities have resumed in Imo state.
Also read: Insecurity: Activist urges politicians to be mindful of utterances
“The security agencies are on top of the situation,’’ he said.
Uzodinma, however, solicited for the support and cooperation of all citizens of the state in maintaining law and order in the state, saying he alone could not guarantee security in the state.
He, therefore, stressed the need for other stakeholders including traditional rulers, religious leaders, and politicians, among others to engage more with the people to restore peace in the state.
The governor frowned at those former political office holders, who deliberately failed to speak out against the activities of trouble makers in the state, saying such people were not helping matters and “they have questions to answer’’.
He said if they had been speaking out in condemnation of the unwholesome activities of those destabilising the country, things would have been different.
“I am saying and I want to say it again, that cases of insecurity here and there in the country have not been helped by the posture of opposition party and some aggrieved politicians.
“Reason being that at the time like this in Nigeria, anybody worth his onions as a leader should be able to speak out. How many of them are speaking out? How many of them are condemning what is going on?
“Rather what you see are leaders fanning the embers of insecurity, blaming only government.
“We must be tired of this blame thing by now and then contribute our own quota towards ensuring that national security is not further threatened in the country.
“So it is not something for politics. It’s something that if you are a former senate president, and you are a former speaker, or a former deputy senate president, or a former deputy speaker, and things like this are happening in the country, and you are not able to speak out, and we’re not seeing you where you are engaging in addressing the young men and women in your area on the need for united Nigeria.
“And this is a country that have given you opportunity to serve and that level one time or the other, then it is either overtly or covertly, you have a question to answer.’’
The governor also expressed the hope that more state governors in the opposition parties would soon defect to All Progressives Congress (APC) across the country.
He said: “Not just from the south East, many governors in Nigeria will join the APC, because it’s not only the ruling party, it is the party that is today in government and they have seen in good conscience, speaking honestly, you’ve seen that this government, part of the problem of this government is the deliberate attempt by some group of people to pull down the government.
“Nobody is telling me that this government is not performing, that salaries are not being paid or that the roads are not being constructed or the railway is not going or the various intervention funds to empower our youths are not being given out.
“Nobody has come in concrete terms to accuse this government of one failure or the other.
“All we hear is that herdsmen and farmers are fighting and for that reason 200 people are kidnapped. People are shot down there, people are killed there. What do you want government to do? We must be realistic.
“I believe in pragmatism. I believe in doing things right. Can anybody come and tell me one, two, three, four reasons why this APC should not win in the next election?
“Nobody has said that, I’ve not read either in any newspaper. All I hear is that because of insecurity this, insecurity that but you send people out in the night to go and cause trouble and use it in day to blame government.
He also warned that those who had been destroying government property must be ready to face the consequences.
In the meantime, Malam Saliu Mustapha, former gubernatorial aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara, has assured that the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party would be resolved.
Mustapha told newsmen on Tuesday in Ilorin that the crisis would be resolved in a matter of weeks.
He said that although the crisis started too early in the life of the APC administration, its resolution was not beyond the capacities of stakeholders to achieve.
”The crisis stems from a battle of supremacy between two blocs. It was however heightened after the purported removal of Alhaji Bashir Bolarinwa, as the state chairman of the party.
“It is quite unfortunate that Kwara APC has to find itself in this kind of situation; it is uncalled for; it is unnecessary because it started way too early.
“But it is understandable that in politics, there will always be a divergence of opinions, views and interests.
“It is now a task for people like me to see that we reconcile everybody and find a solution to the crisis that has been rocking the party for the past two years,” said.
The former governorship aspirant said that he would take the issue as a challenge to communicate with all stakeholders and return everyone on board in unity.
“No doubt this is going to be a litmus test for my capacity and ability to manage crises in the party.
“I believe that in the shortest time possible, I will be able to achieve this by sitting together with the governor and other stakeholders of the party in the state and find a lasting solution to the crisis.
“The crisis is definitely not beyond our capacity to resolve and we shall resolve it without wasting time so that we are able to strategise together and win the next election in the state as overwhelmingly as we did in 2019,” he said.
Mustapha added that beyond party lines, many see themselves as partners in progress and it was on this premise that the Kwara APC, irrespective of the crisis, have been contributing toward his emergence as the national chairman.
