The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has boasted that the party is set to take over Rivers State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Kano State governor has also revealed that the ruling party will establish functional party offices in all the 8,813 wards across the country to bring the party closer to the people.
Ganduje disclosed his party’s plan to take over Rivers State when he hosted the leadership of Senator Magnus Abe’s group in the party in his office at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.
The former Kano Governor said with the agreement by the three major blocks of the APC in the state to work together, the ruling PDP in the state would soon be on the way out.
According to the APC national chairman: “We have now come to the end of the problem in APC Rivers State, as the three major blocks have now come to work together to build APC that we know in Rivers State.
“The first of the three blocks are the APC members that have been there despite all that happened. The second is the group of those who broke away from APC for one reason or the other and have decided to come back to the fold. That block is very strong and that shows hope and the third block is the block coming from the PDP. This is from the wind that we have seen so far.”
In his speech, the leader of the delegation, Senator Wilson Ake, expressed confidence in the ability of the party’s National Chairman to rejig the party, particularly in Rivers State which he said had faced many challenges leading to disaffections and seeming disintegration.
Ake assured the party leadership of the group’s readiness to support every effort to rebuild the party.
He noted that the Magnus Abe group worked for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s success and was desirous of a stronger and better APC under the leadership of the National leader and the chairman.
The delegation had former members of the National Assembly, former commissioners, former state assembly members, council chairmen and some aspirants who worked with Senator Magnus Abe.
Meanwhile, Ganduje has also revealed that the APC will open functional offices in 8,813 wards in the country.
Ganduje also disclosed that the APC is at the concluding stage of establishing a National Institute of Progressive Studies.
Speaking yesterday in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, during the inauguration of the leadership and members of the APC National Gubernatorial Campaign Council for the state, Ganduje called on all party members and stakeholders to rally around the APC governorship candidate, Alhaji Ododo Ahmed Usman to succeed in the forthcoming election.
According to him, the ruling party believes that progressivism as a political ideology can be deployed to improve the lives of millions of Nigerians and improve society through appropriate political actions and social reforms based on advancement in science, technology, economic development and social organisation.
Ganduje said: “It is pertinent to also note that we have initiated and concluded plans to structure our party into a truly grassroots progressive party by opening full-fledged and functional offices in all 8,813 wards in Nigeria.
“This is to enable our members across the country to have both a symbolic representation of our party in their neighbourhood and a place for active interaction between and among members on one hand, and members and leadership at different tiers of government on the other hand.
“In addition, our vision is to institutionalise the progressive ideology in the body politic of our country. We indeed believe that progressivism as a political ideology can be deployed to improve the lives of millions of our compatriots and improve our society through appropriate political action and social reform based on advancement in science, technology, economic development and social organisation. To crystalise this vision, we are at the concluding stage of establishing a National Institute of Progressive Study.
“This Institute, going forward, will facilitate the channelling and integrating the nation’s progressive-minded politicians into the substance, orientation and practice of progressive ideology and political best practices. This will certainly amplify our differences from other political parties that are only interested in capturing power.
The inauguration was attended by six governors of Kogi, Ogun, Lagos, Niger, Benue and Kwara states, respectively.
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
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