BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Thursday said there was no time during Monday’s meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and members of the former new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) in the APC and the Party was any condition given that the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki’s CCT trial must be withdrawn.
Deputy National Chairman (North), of the APC Senator Lawali Shuaibu, who made the clarification while chatting with journalists at the APC National Secretariat, said Saraki’s CCT trial did not come up at Monday’s meeting.
Shuaibu, who represented the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at the talks with the nPDP members pointedly said that politics is not madness, stressing that there must be a way of accommodating people’s grievances and carrying people along, especially those who are left behind in any process.
Shuaibu announced that the meeting agreed to reconvene next Monday with a smaller group of eight which will comprise the Vice President, the Attorney-General, himself (Shuaibu) and five representatives of the former nPDP members.
He explained that while Monday’s meeting which had in attendance 20 former nPDP members dwelt on ‘general discussions’, the next meeting equally scheduled for next Monday will “go into the business of discussing the (former nPDP) specific demands.”
Shuaibu further said; “When we got to the meeting venue in Aguda House, the Vice President felt we were too many. He said for the meeting to achieve any meaningful result, we needed a much smaller group. On that, there were debates as to how many people. The Vice President suggested that the nPDP should bring three representatives, and then himself, the Attorney General and myself to make up three so that we have six, but they (nPDP) insisted that they needed more than three representatives and we finally settled on five.
“From there we went into general discussions, nothing specific. We said when they (nPDP) are ready with their five representatives, then we will sit down and go into the business of discussing the specific demands.
“There was no time during Monday’s meeting that a condition was given that Senator Bukola Saraki’s CCT trial must be withdrawn. I don’t know where they got that story from. I have a strong feeling that whoever wrote that story was only being speculative because nobody could have said that.”
Shuaibu also said that the basis for last Monday’s meeting was the content of the former nPDP’s letter submitted to the Party and copied to the President and Vice President.
“The content of the letter which is now public, that is what the basis of their demands are. At the next meeting on Monday, we will go into the specifics. That letter will be x-rayed point by point.” he said.
Commenting on whether the meeting touched on the recently conducted ward, local government and state congresses, Shuaibu explained that the letter did not even bring the issue of congresses because it was written before we started congresses.
He further said; “But the issue of congresses was raised in the meeting of Monday. The House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara raised the issue and we said when we come for the specifics, we will talk about that.
“When certain issues come up, there are ways we can always address them. Are you saying we can’t make amends? Yes we can. Decisions are made and amends of such decisions are always possible.
“Politics is not madness. There must be a way of accommodating people’s grievances. There must be a way of carrying people along, especially those who are left behind in any process.”
