Ade

Last night, I had an interview with Arise TV, where I sympathised with our aspirants over some noticeable irregularities in our just-concluded primaries. I noted that, while not claiming that the exercise was perfect, I urged all of them to bear with the party in view of the circumstances we are managing, which have overwhelmed even bigger parties. This includes parties with a sitting President, 33 Governors, and control of political structures in most states, in the case of the APC, and even the ADC, which is over two years old. I made the case that we are just four months old and have been thrown into the middle of a very tight electoral timeframe, within which we had to carry out membership registration, congresses up to the national convention, primaries up to the national convention, appeal processes, and now the reconciliation phase. I identified the root cause of these challenges, my views on the Electoral Act have been clear: the APC-led majority were wrong in foisting compulsory direct primaries on political parties and the country. Complaints about irregularities in direct primaries are pervasive across all parties and are not peculiar to the NDC. As a matter of fact, considering the age of the NDC and the teeming number of aspirants we have had to manage, we have done quite well. For months since the formation of the NDC, I have been building confidence and receiving respected politicians into its fold. Since the primaries I have been attending to people and managing disagreements across the country on a daily basis. The NDC is on the ascendancy, and I thank Nigerians for their trust and confidence in our party. Even these challenges, which are not peculiar to us, will pass. I also noted that no party has announced any set of winners from its primaries, and neither has the NDC. The public should disregard any such claims in circulation, especially on social media, and await the party's formal submissions through the appropriate channels. The results of party primaries are not announced like school results; they are communicated through formal channels. I thank all our members for their abiding support. In anticipation of these challenges, the 2nd NEC meeting, held a few days ago, approved the composition of a Reconciliation Committee to work with state caucus leaders and other stakeholders in managing grievances. As I have stated before, this is our first set of primaries, and it will also be the last to be conducted manually. The next primaries will be technologically driven and will have none of these issues. I thank all supporters of our party, which has no government officials and is entirely self-funded. I appreciate their donations, contributions, and sacrifices made on behalf of the party. They remain valuable members of our party regardless of the outcome of the primaries. We are in this together, and we are all committed to ensuring the success of our party and our presidential team, their Excellencies Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who are my colleagues in this project. This success must be managed carefully, with everyone working together. I advise all members and supporters to avoid meaningless quarrels and infighting. Everyone should support our candidates, from the Presidency down to the least elective office. I urge all the stakeholders, caucus leaders and other leaders in various states who coordinated the primaries to take responsibility and step up their game in terms of coordiating the reconciliation process. Most of the candidates are persons backed and recommended by them, and not me nor the national leadership of the party. It is not a time to shift blames or dodge responsibilities. Since they midwifed and managed the process of the primaries, they should equally help in supporting the party in coordinating the reconciliation process, of which they have the support of the party. ~HSD