Join APC to take Nigeria to greater height

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, has tasked opposition parties to join forces with the party to take Nigeria to greater heights.

Mr. Adamu said this in Abuja, while speaking with journalists in Abuja, saying that Mr. Tinubu clearly won the February 25 presidential election fair and square.

Some opposition parties in the contest began to reject the election results.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labor Party (LP), Peter Obi, who came second and third in the election, have vowed to challenge the result in court.

On its part, the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) called for the annulment of the result.

But Mr. Adamu called on the party to join forces with APC to overcome the challenges presented.

“I welcome you. Mr. President elected, with your victory, the people also renewed the lease of our political party in Aso Rock, we are a party that the people can trust.

“As the national chairman of the APC, our victory was a sad but proud experience for me.

“We recognize the winners, but we do not recognize the losers, our party gives them the hand of patriotism.

“We enjoin them to join our party so together, we will take up the same challenge that they offer their services,” he said.

Mr. Adamu said the decision of the voters was informed and supreme, saying the choice they made was the choice they could make.

“We offer our greetings, we salute the free and fair decision, we accept the victory of our presidential candidate and the party with humility and gratitude to the Almighty God and all the citizens of this great nation.

“We join millions of our citizens in congratulating the president-elect and all our members are celebrating the victory of our party in the election,” Mr. Adamu said.

He also congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for the peaceful conduct of the election, saying he kept his promise to provide a level playing field for all political parties and their candidates.

Mr. Adamu said Mr. Buhari stood for freedom of choice and action, adding that his legacy of upholding the rule of law would be a hallmark of APC leadership in the country.

He thanked the president for standing by the party, especially the presidential candidate Mr. Tinubu, adding that he has cemented his place in national history.

“We have all run a good race, the victory has gone to one person, but the race is not his alone. He won because we stood with him.

“He won because we as members of the party are committed to his victory and the victory of our party at all levels in the general election.

“He won because the voters believed in him and believed that he has the capacity to heal the wounds of the nation and set the path of unity and prosperity.

“The people have entrusted their welfare and well-being in the hands of the elected president and the vice-president they can elect,” the national chairman said.

He added that Mr. Tinubu’s victory was attributed to the less previlaged people and the security agencies who sacrificed their lives and ensured the peaceful conduct of the election at all levels.

He said the victory also belongs to all Nigerians who have collectively shown their determination to give birth to a new national leadership.

“This is especially for the chairman and members of INEC, they are working hard in the daytime sabotage. Their offices have been burnt in some states, their personnel have also been attacked.

“But the chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, a man who has done more than anyone else in that difficult office, refuses to be intimidated and deterred from doing his duty to his country and his colleagues,” Mr. Adamu said.

This, he said, is because the INEC chairman and members of the commission are committed to ensuring free, fair, transparent and credible elections.

Mr. Adamu said he found sustenance by courageously serving the nation and the people and helping the people to form an elected government, adding that Nigerians should remain grateful to the commission.

He thanked the mass media for their role in holding the election, saying that they too ran a good race and deserved to win.

Mr. Adamu congratulated the candidates of the opposition political parties, saying their defeat was not a rejection of what the people stood for.

“This is a competition between political parties, from many who offer themselves to serve the people, only one is chosen at a time,” he said.

(IN)