A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State and the leader of the nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, yesterday denied that the nPDP gave an ultimatum to the leadership of the APC in a letter sent recently.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Baraje, who spoke with journalists in Ilorin, said a meeting between the group and the APC leadership would hold today to address their grievances.
While lamenting the high rate of internal conflicts within the ruling APC that culminated in parallel state congresses, he said the nPDP’s recent letter to the party leadership was to forestall such occurrence.
Baraje, who said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) never experienced the kind of internal wrangling now in the APC, warned that if the party failed to heed the request of the nPDP, the forthcoming national convention might become an avenue to wash its dirty linen openly.
He referred to the resignation of the group’s secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as signal to what might happen if members were not able to convince their followers about the need to remain in the APC.
He said the nPDP members would first meet with several leaders across the country to stop what he termed impunity within the party because they could consider the option of leaving the APC as a last resort.
He said, “The last time we met here in 2016, I told you that the way the party was going, we were on the road to perdition. If you look at the letter we wrote, we never said we gave ultimatum but that we advised them. We hinted the party because of the on-going congresses of the party.
“Now, the party has invited us, exactly on the seventh day of the letter and they wanted us to meet that same day, but because we were speaking for several leaders across the country, we told them we couldn’t meet that same day. Now, they have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow (Monday) anytime from 2pm.”
Baraje dismissed the opposition of the group led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu to their petition, saying that the nPDP is such a large group that it cannot but have “some black legs”.
“We have travelled a long way with the APC and now we are seeing things get worse in APC than in PDP. If we are leaders worth the name, we should be bold enough to speak about it,” he said.
Baraje also said the group was desirous of the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari, stating that it was part of factors that prompted them to write the letter to the leaders of the party.
He said, “President Buhari has declared to re-contest in 2019 and we are desirous of his coming back which led us to writing the letter we sent. We want the party to right all the wrongs so that we can win big; we don’t want all the aggrieved members to go into the elections with grudges in mind.
“Let me also warn that every politician has an aspiration and will always go to where his or her aspiration would be met and fulfilled.”