The newly elected National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has said that the time has come for members of the Party to do things differently.
This was as he said that the ruling Party is satisfied that it has fulfilled its covenant with the Nigerian people, stressing that of the three main pillars of its promises to the Nigerian people in 2015, namely, security, economy and anti-corruption, much progress has been recorded in all three areas and many more.
Adamu, who stated these in his acceptance speech at the national convention of the APC, urged members of the Party to renew their faith in the ruling party and its leadership at all levels in order to herald a new dawn.
He particularly called on the Party members to commit to the resolution of the crisis within the confines of the party constitution.
He said; “We must resist the temptation to blow every minor personal disagreement into a major party crisis. It is time for us to do things differently. When we quarrel, we open our flanks to our rival political parties that are only too eager to exploit them for their own benefit”.
The APC National Chairman noted that as the Party conclude its convention, the opposition PDP and other opposition parties are now sulking, wearing long faces of sadness, bewilderment and dismay.
Adamu said that the opposition parties had been hoping and praying to make a fortune out of the misfortunes of the APC national convention, adding that they were hoping and praying to capitalize on assumed failures of the APC to reap political benefits.
He promised that the new national leadership of the APC shall heal any wounds in the party, adding that the new executive members shall effect lasting reconciliation among its members, and the Party shall go into the next general elections as a strong and united body.
Adamu further said; “I offer my hands of friendship to all our members. I want to assure you that my colleagues and myself will run an open door policy to all members of the party.
He said that for almost seven years now, the APC-led Administrations at the Federal, state and local levels have been battling night and day in order to enhance the livelihood of Nigerians through various policies, programmes and projects.
Adamu said that no administration in the history of Nigeria has performed as much as the APC did in building key infrastructure and in uplifting the living conditions of the Nigerian people.
He said that projects that once existed only in the dreams of Nigerians such as the Second Niger Bridge, complete rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan dual carriageway, the Lagos-Ibadan express rail, the Abuja-Kaduna express light rail, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline and many others, have either been started and completed during the APC administration or have been inherited in abandoned conditions and have made rapid progress in the last seven years.
But, Adamu said that no government can satisfy everybody, however hard it works, saying that some work will always be left undone and every work done will continue to need maintenance, expansion and improvement.
He further said; “APC is set to do much, much more when Nigerians continue to bestow on us their love, support and confidence in next year’s general elections.
“We accept the onerous responsibility that you have placed on our shoulders and we will work hard to ensure that we fulfill your expectations for the greater good of our great party and of our dear country.
“My dear compatriots, the eyes of the nation are on us; the eyes of Africa are on us; the eyes of the world are on us. This is a historic moment. There is no room for false steps. Our first step is to make our party the bastion of internal democracy. If a party is not internally democratic, it cannot offer the country true democracy.
“Together, let us rise and march towards the sunrise in our party and in our country. The time has come for us to show statesmanship to arrive at the new dawn. The time has come for us to be patriotic in words and deeds. The time has come for us to affirm our being the party of the people, for the people and by the people.
“At this point, I wish to appeal to our journalists and media houses to revive and uphold the patriotic spirit of the founding fathers of their profession such as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Malam Abubakar Imam, Alhaji Alade Odunewu and other media pioneers. Those great pioneers of Nigerian journalism always put the interests of Nigeria and its people above all other considerations and they always worked for the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria.
“Journalists and everyone else in Nigeria should uphold this spirit of selflessness and patriotism and continue to work hard for the success of the Nigerian project. It is not correct to assume that it is the work of political leaders alone that will make Nigeria great, that other citizens can sit on the sidelines and just observe and criticize. We should all remember the wisdom in the saying that the chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
“Mr. President, Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates, once more, I thank you very much for the confidence reposed in us and I solemnly promise that I shall not disappoint you, I shall not disappoint the APC and the nation. I shall not disappoint Africa. I shall not disappoint the world. So help me, Allah,” he said.
