The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Benjamin Kalu, on Wednesday, said that no individual, including President Bola Tinubu, owns the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kalu said this in Umuahia while addressing the APC stakeholders during its ward congress in Abia.
He urged them to embrace unity and cohesion towards the party’s success in the 2027 elections, saying that the party belongs to all its members.
Kalu, the APC leader in Abia, said the party’s focus was to eliminate internal divisions and “build a united front, anchored on discipline, inclusion, and purpose”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the party had rescheduled its Ward and Local Government congresses for Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, respectively, after resolving internal conflicts.
The party had affirmed its commitment to unity, expansion, and preparation for the 2027 General Elections.
Kalu explained that the earlier congress was cancelled because there were multiple factions in the state in violation of the party’s national leadership directive.
He said that the leadership decided that there was no need to do any other congress than that, which it believed would strengthen the party’s cohesion.
Kalu said: “It is nothing else but a congress of harmonization.
“And harmonization is where stakeholders are given a sense of belonging in deciding who will lead from their ward to their local government, as well as the state.
“It is where everybody is given a sense of importance, of relevance, where it will be made obvious that no one man will own the party, not Benjamin Kalu, not anybody.
“That is the vision of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“When I met with him, he said, I can’t even say my party, I like saying our party.”
In a statement, the Chairman of the Congress Committee, Emmanuel Goar, promised a peaceful and transparent congress while urging stakeholders to cooperate with the committee.
He said that the committee, as constituted by the national leadership of the party, would conduct a “congress of harmonization” as agreed by the people.
Goar, the former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly and former member of the House of Representatives, said the national committee would work with the state committee to ensure a successful congress.
NAN further reports that forms were later distributed for the conduct of the congress across the 184 wards in the state.
The party will also hold its Local Government congress on Thursday, Feb. 26.
