APC Moves To Reconcile With Ikimi, Sheriff, Others

Apc-unveiling-logoThe All Progressives Congress on Wednesday said it had started making progress in its bid to reconcile aggrieved members of the party, including ex-Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, who claimed he was stampeded out of the race for the national chairmanship of the party at its inaugural national convention in Abuja last month.

Ikimi, who had boycotted APC’s convention, accused party leaders, specifically, Asiwaju Bola Tinibu, of foisting Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on the party as its national chairman even before the convention.

Aside Ikimi, other party chieftains, including former governors of Ogun and Borno States, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, and Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff respectively, have also had conflicts with the leadership of the APC, leading to speculations that the main opposition party was about to lose some of its strong members to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

However, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the party was making efforts to reconcile all aggrieved members with its leadership.

Mohammed also affirmed that the APC National Chairman, Odigie-Oyegun, and some other leaders of the party had reached out to Ikimi, Sheriff and some other aggrieved members individually.

He said, “The chairman has reached out individually to all these members. And more specifically, he has reached out to Tom Ikimi; he has reached out to Sheriff and some other members of the party have done so.

“And I know that a committee has been set up to reconcile all aggrieved members. It’s an ongoing matter and the committee will not give up until total reconciliation is established”.

While resolving its own problems, Mr. Mohammed added that APC was also actively wooing politicians in other parties, including the PDP.

“We are also reaching out to new friends. Politics is about winning more and more people to your side. There is a deliberate drive to reach out to more and more people, even from their (the PDP’s) camp”, he said.