The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the defection of those he called ‘migrant and rolling stone politicians’ has not affected the party’s chances of achieving victory at elections.
Oshiomhole, who spoke on various activities of the party so far under a new national leadership, yesterday, at the 6th APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, said the fact that the party won the Ekiti State governorship election after the recent defections showed that the decampees’ action did not affect the party.
He said the defectors left with the belief that they would not realise their ambitions on the APC platform, telling them that they had the right to contest going by the provisions of the party constitution.
Oshiomhole reiterated APC’s commitment to address all grievances that might have arisen due to genuine misunderstanding, communication gap, and conflict of interests.
He expressed happiness that many senators and members of the House of Representatives had renewed confidence in the party as a result of the engagements they had with them.
The APC national chairman said the party was now stronger, smarter and more cohesive after the departure of those he regarded as “the conservatives”.
“And there is no better evidence than the fact that we have won almost all the major elections after their departure. That is not the only thing that confirms this. We have seen those going back to their communities to decamp and we see uncommon defectors. “So, I want to assure you that we have purged ourselves of excess fat that would have possibly interfered in the flow of blood in our veins.
“We asked the president to continue to provide leadership to deal with the vices that have detained Nigeria in the past and which seem to explain the paradox that has detained Nigeria, a country that is so rich and its people so poor.
“Mr. President, you are the only one who has had the courage to look at western leaders eye ball to eye ball and ask them to return the stolen money. If you have stolen money in their vault, you won’t have the courage to say so.
“None of your predecessors has had the courage to say so in the manner that you did. Those are things we are proud of and they give us courage and confidence that Nigerians will not be fooled come 2019,” Oshiomhole said.
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