The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has appealed to aggrieved members of the party to be patient with his leadership, in an apparent response to the emergence on Wednesday of a rebel faction, Reformed APC (R-APC).
The APC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, also said the party would review the claims and actions of the R-APC and reply accordingly.
The APC national chairman spoke to journalists after receiving the report of the party’s just concluded National Convention Appeal Panel Committee’s report on Wednesday.
Buba Galadima, who is the National Chairman of the Reformed APC, announced its formation at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
“My appeal to all those who are aggrieved is to be patient,” Mr Oshiomhole said.
“The assurance is that under my leadership, we will make honest mistakes and once our attention is drawn, we will find courage to make up for our mistake.
“Some people say how can people eat their words? For me, I will eat my words if it is nutritious enough and if that is what I have to do to have peace in the family.”
He expressed appreciation to members of the party for his election and for entrusting with him, the responsibility to pilot the party’s affairs at this time.
He acknowledged that he knew of the party’s challenges before accepting the task, saying that it was a huge opportunity for him and other newly elected executives of the party to make a difference.
This, Mr Oshiomhole said, was not only for the party, but for the country generally.
“So, I appeal to people to realise that a blind man can redeem his eyes if he applies the correct medication, but you can’t force it to open overnight,” he said.
He added that forcing the eyes to open overnight, would create more problems and damage the eye the more.
The APC national chairman maintained that he would do everything possible to sustain confidence and trust, adding that everybody was important in the party.
He also said everybody in the party matters, adding that he would run an inclusive party.
“I pray for wisdom and courage and I believe that we have it and we will deploy it for peace within the APC family, Mr Oshiomhole said.
Mr Oshiomhole’s emergence as APC national chairman at the recently held national convention was one of the issues raised by the “Reformed APC” as being improper.
The faction alleged that Mr Oshiomhole and 17 other delegates were elected without the input of delegates at the convention.
“It is therefore unquestionably clear that the 18 officers of APC that was “Elected” through this process could not have been duly elected,” Mr Galadima said in his press statement.
In his reaction to the “Reformed APC” and its allegations, the APC spokesperson, Bolaji Abudullahi, said the party leadership would need to get the full details of what happened.
“We have report of a group of who have purportedly described themselves as a faction of our party. We will be able to give our reaction as soon as we get the full details and have the opportunity to review it,” he said.