. Ganduje’s invitation to NNPP officials meant to forge national unity-Okpala
The Kano state chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC) Abdullahi Abbas hinted that the party loyalists have expressed willingness to follow Abdullahi Ganduje if he decided to dump the party.
Mr Abbas gave the hint on Thursday during a political gathering held at APC campaign office in Kano.
“Mr. chairman these are core party loyalists. They have pledged their unalloyed loyalty to you for better or worse. If you decide to leave APC they will follow suit. They are with you 100%,” Mr Abbas said.
Ganduje mocks NNPP while sending invitation to join APC
During the meeting Ganduje described NNPP as rotten fruit (failed party) making reference with the party’s symbol.
“We are calling on the NNPP, the rotten fruits (referring to NNPP symbol) to join APC if they want save the fruits from spoilage,” Ganduje said.
“If you are talking about APC we are the leaders of APC. Not in local government, not in state, not zones but national as a whole.
“If you are an APC membership card holder, you are subordinate and follower of the national leader. Same thing with leaders in ward, state and zonal levels.
“If you defect to APC today, you are our subordinate and follower. It is important for you to note this; a child of the household and a stranger are all under the care of the head of the house.”
Ganduje called on the party loyalists not to panic or exercise any fear about someone coming to join them in the party.
He added, “Don’t be afraid if someone came to your house to get one thing or the other. For you to go to his house looking for anything and for him to come to your house which one do you prefer?
“One who has what to offer is the one who welcomes others. One that doesn’t have anything to offer is the one looking for where to enter. Lend me your ears I want to tell you a story. What is the work of the national chairman of the APC? Is it in Kano State alone? 36 states and Abuja wherever I go I am the King, I am the Sheikh, I am the Modibbo, I am the Alanguburo. So, same thing here at home, we are calling on the NNPP to pack those their perishable fruits where it will be preserved in a fridge so that it will not get spoiled or rotten.
“We are calling on them to come back to APC. Is that a crime? One that has something is the one to beg, one that has something is the one who gives so we are begging them to measure and see, leading this country in their party is not going to be possible. So it is something to be proud of, for us when we call on them.
“Like I told you people, whoever you are and your status in the party even if you are ‘Jagora’ (leader) once you come to APC then your grandfather is here!”
Ganduje had earlier met with APC stakeholders in Kano where he invited Governor Abba Yusuf to join the party.
The invitation followed speculations that President Bola Tinubu was in the process of reconciling Mr Ganduje and his former boss, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to have the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) back in the APC.
The Kano governorship judgement had brought wild criticism of President Tinubu by the members of the APC in the state who accused the president of betrayal.
Some members of the APC in the state reacted immediately by uploading photos of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to indicate their rejection of president Tinubu for the 2027 election.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, (APC), has explained that the invitation by its National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to leaders of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) to join the ruling party was conceived as a means of promoting national unity, peace and harmony.
Chief Oliver Okpala, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment to the national chairman said as good democrats, APC leaders will continue to push for a united and cohesive Nigerian nation that meets the aspirations of citizens and ensure peace, unity and sanity.
Okpala remarked, in a statement, that the national chairman was clearly carrying out his promise not to rest until “complete political sanity and decorum are enthroned in the country to put an end to the politics of bitterness and rancour.”
The Special Assistant regretted that rather than taking full advantage of the uncommon opportunity, leaders of New Nigeria Peoples Party rejected the invitation to join the ruling All Progressives Congress.
He remarked that the Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf Kabir, the national leader of the NNPP, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and a former Governor of the state Senator Shekarau would gain more by heeding the call to join the ruling party in its efforts to rebuild the nation.
While praising the national chairman for the humility to extend open invitations to politicians in the opposition, Chief Okpala said it was both courageous and exemplary for Dr. Ganduje to call on opposition members to toe the path of reconciliation irrespective of political differences.
According to the statement, “Even though, the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has dismissed the invitation from Ganduje, the move should be appreciated and encouraged , considering our national trajectory of bad politics which has left our country prostate in the past.
“This is the first time the Chairman of a ruling political party in the country has exhibited such maturity, taking such approach and calling for a united front.
“It is a call to avoid bitterness and rancour, it is a call for politicians to work together as Nigerians and to see each other as brothers and sisters.From his comment it is important that the intention of his call should not be misconstrued. It should be seen for what it is, an invitation from a matured politician without guile, aimed at building the much needed synergy that Nigeria needs to surmount it’s multifaceted challenges.”
Chief Okpala maintained that the APC national chairman represents a new kind of politics devoid of bitterness, which he has continued to promote since taking over the leadership of the party.
“This is the first time a national Chairman of a ruling political party will show such humility and dynamic gesture. Others would rather attack, deride and challenge those in other parties, seeing them perpetually as rivals and opposition.
“Ganduje however has waved the olive branch and has made it clear that the move was from his heart.
For Ganduje, this is a way of fostering national unity and peaceful coexistence in the country and sanitizing the political system, exorcizing it off the preachers of bitterness and hatred.
“Some see it as a further push toward what they fear as a bludgeoning one party state by the APC administration. But not at all, as this is not a forceful invitation but rather a friendly call to join a national movement of a governing political party that has shown a clear commitment to re-writing the story of the country for the good of all citizens.
“It is a call from a government in power at the centre that has never seen the people in the opposition as conquered but as potential comrades in joining a movement for the task of liberating the nation from the stranglehold of long standing degradation which the current APC administration is tackling.
“The Kano state Governor and the NNPP national leader, Senator Kwankwaso should see the invitation as a means of fostering decorum in politics.
“Ganduje made similar calls earlier as he traversed the country calling on notable, and indeed all Nigerians, to see reasons to join the APC as a way of galvanizing a broad based national movement to liberate the nation from the bull strap of backwardness, economic bondage and underdevelopment as witnessed in the past.
The Senior Special Assistant emphasized that Ganduje’s style has already started yielding fruits as notable politicians across the country are joining the APC.
