Eniola Yemi
Weeks after the peace and reconciliation committees of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) were inaugurated and dispatched to the six geopolitical zones of the country, aggrieved aspirants of the party are still insisting on pursuing their cases pending before various courts across the country.
The Premier newspaper gathered that the disgruntled party members are also demanding for a refund of fees they paid for the purchase of nomination forms.
A source close to the committees told our correspondent yesterday that the aggrieved aspirants are asking for some form of compensation from the committee as a prerequisite to their loyalty to the party ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
The source who did not want his name in print noted however that the committees are not predisposed to the demand for compensation since it is was not within the scope of their mandate.
“Only the leadership of the party can guarantee any form of compensation because this was not part of the terms of reference of the committees”, he noted.
The premier newspaper recalls that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC had in November approved the formation and composition of National Peace and Reconciliation Committees for each geo-political zone in recognition of the need to address the post-primary elections’ disputes in the party.
National chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, while inaugurating the committees had charged their members to help the party’s national leadership find an in-house solution to the acrimony that followed the party’s primary elections, adding that members of the committees are also to maintain peace and ensure internal harmony within the APC family before the elections.
The reconciliatory committee sent to the North East had revealed that it received over 350 complaints from aggrieved members of the party.
Governor of Nassarawa State and chairman of the committee, Tanko Almakura, who refused to reveal the recommendations of his committee, said the suggestions made focus on critical issues that would guarantee victory for the party.
He expressed confidence that no member would consider leaving the party from the responses they received, as the party members in the zone are highly committed, faithful and loyal.
Almakura however noted that even though aggrieved members within the zone came to the committee’s meetings with palpable issues, President Muhammadu Buhari is sure to win with a wide margin in the Northeast.
Speaking on issues that would militate against total attainment of peace within the party, deputy national publicity secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, has stressed that the NWC must find a way of compensating aspirants who lost out in the contest and that true reconciliation must be sought and achieved in time before the 2019 general elections.
Nabena said, “In this reconciliation, what are you giving? There is no doubt that people are aggrieved, but the good thing about APC is that there are people who love the party and the president genuinely. But there are people act purely for their selfish interest. For those who are acting on selfish interest, what do you want to give to them in the process of this reconciliation?
“You must have something to give to the next person for him to fall in line. But if you have nothing to offer him, what do you expect? So, when you set up peace and reconciliation committee, you must make sure that you achieve results. If I wanted to be a senatorial candidate and I did not get that, I would be looking out for whatever you want to offer me.
“The committees must have a package for such people from the party or the national chairman. Look at what is happening in Rivers State right now. We have some people that genuinely believe in the party and the president but right now, they have gone to other parties but are still working for the president. However, there those who are saying it must be me or nothing else. What are you going to do with such people”?
