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Governor Sule with his predecessor, Senator Al-makura, left
By Anthony Maliki
Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, has appealed to aspirants of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who lost out during the recent party primaries, to close ranks and remain United to ensure the victory of the party during the 2023 general elections.
Engineer Sule made the appeal when he convened a meeting involving state party officials and all the aspirants under the platform of the party, including some of the aspirants that left the party, at the Government House, on Monday.
This is just as a former governor of the state, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-makura, pleaded with the Governor, to create a soft landing for some of the aspirants that vacated their offices and contested but lost out during the primaries.
While thanking the over 191 aspirants that attended the parley, Engineer Sule said this is a demonstration of their faith and love in the APC, in spite of all that happened.
“Let me join everyone who have spoken earlier on in thanking you all for turning up to be part of this meeting. It shows your love and your interest for this party and the success of the party. It shows your faith in the political party in spite of all the things that has happened. I want to sincerely thank you for turning up enmasse,” he stated.
He noted that, the high number of people seeking elective positions under the platform of the APC, is a mark of the acceptability of the party in the state.
“I think that goes to show you the strength of the party. The party is beyond any one person. The party is already well established, is strong and that is the reason why you are building on top of it,” he said.
The Governor said the meeting with all the aspirants couldn’t take place earlier because his administration set up the reconciliation committee that submitted its report only last week.
“I want to apologize to you for not having this meeting earlier for some of who who believed should have been held much earlier.
“There are several reasons why we couldn’t have this meeting much earlier. But I want to assure you that those of you who contested for office and feel such people were offended and some of them we saw leaving the party, we had the opportunity to meet with them.
“But more importantly we had the opportunity to set up a reconciliation committee of people that we believe will be listened to, people who are respected in our party,” he stated.
He urged aspirants of the party who felt aggrieved as result of the primaries, to mend fences in the spirit of reconciliation.
Engineer Sule also called on members of the APC not to create enmity between the party and those who, because they felt aggrieved, left to join other political parties.
In his speech during the meeting, Senator Al-makura who is seeking re-election to represent Nasarawa South at the senate, appealed to Engineer Sule to use the discretion of his office, to provide soft landing for some of the aspirants that left their positions in order to contest but lost our during the primaries.
Senator Al-makura, while appreciating the Governor and the party, for convening the meeting, urged the aspirants, as committed members of the APC, to consider and sacrifice for the good of the party.
“No matter how bitter we feel about the outcome of these primaries, I think it behoves upon all of us, as committed members of this party, to reconsider certain sacrifices for the general good of our party. I will like to caution that we are at a certain stage of the political history of our party,” he said.
The former governor cautioned against laxity, as according to him, the 2023 general election may not be the easiest because of the recourse to the use of technology in the voting process.
“This election is not the easiest election, let’s not take for granted that everything is going for us. We have to get up and do the right thing, especially with the change in the electoral process. The BVAT system that has gone scientific and foolproof, will make us laugh at ourselves at the end of the day, if we don’t take into consideration, some of the basic things that we need to do,” he said.
He further appealed to Engineer Sule to embrace all the aspirants, with a view to moving together as members of a strong, united APC.
Al-makura called on his fellow legislators to use the remaining period before the election, to deliver both stomach and physical infrastructure to their constituents, as that will further serve to motivate the people to vote for the candidates of the party.
Speaking at the event, Speaker, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Balarabe Ibrahim Abdullahi, pointed out that the high number of aspirants that turned up to contest under the platform of the APC, is an indication of the acceptability of the party in the state.
“We must try as much as possible to come together to sort out our differences. We must not allow anything to divide us as a party. This party has a lot of space for all of us,” he stated.
In a welcome address, state Chairman of the APC, Hon John Mamman, appreciated the Governor for calling for the meeting, stressing that it’s the wish of every member of the party for the APC to win all the elections come 2023.
Hon Mamman disclosed that, for the 33 available positions for contest, from the seat of the governor, to the House of assembly, 161 persons purchased forms from the party.
“For the Governorship we had two persons, Senate 6, House of Reps 22, House of Assembly, 131. This goes to show the remarkable love for the party that people desire to represent there constituencies in various capacities,” he added.
