3rd August, 2015
Daniels Ekugo
Former aspirants to the Lagos State House of Assembly under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have called for support for the party and expressed their loyalty to the the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The aspirants under aegis of Lagos State House of Assembly Aspirants 2015 (LAHA 2015), urged Nigerians to support APC and Tinubu to bring about the desired change that ushered the party into office.
At a media parley hjeld in Lagos recently, the Public Relations Officer of the group, Mutiu Olakunle Alimi and its 206 members across Lagos State who lost the ticket to the Lagos State House Assembly said: ”The change we (Nigerians) desire as promised by the APC requires our collective effort to make it a reality. We must, individually and collectively, make sacrifices where necessary to help the APC leadership move Nigeria on the right path of development and growth.”
The group further stated that “we were compelled to come with an innovation in Nigerian politics, to the effect that even while we were denied or not given the ticket to the House of Assembly, we came together to move the party forward, agitating for justice and not threatening to leave the party. We are not rebels. We are here to give the party the support it needs because we believe in the leadership of the party.”
According to Alimi, “as the ruling party, APC is strongly committed to ensuring the implementation of the party’s manifesto to improve the lives of the citizenry. To do this properly and successfully, the party believes that there should be strong support from party members, especially our legislators, to assist the APC-led administration to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
“The APC came with a vision and mission to change the situation in the country, to improve the lives of the citizenry regardless of political differences, religious and cultural affiliations or sentiments. The party will remain committed to this mission with utmost sense of commitment. Therefore, discipline and loyalty is key ingredients to achieve this vision and mission successfully.”
Answering questions on the recent crisis that engulfed the National Assembly, Alimi said: “You see, in constitutional democracies, the party is the rallying point for politicians who share similar political opinions and ideas. The party develops a manifesto with a view to implementing it to improve the lives of the people. Therefore, as the ruling party, the importance of the APC in the affairs of the National Assembly and governance in general cannot be over-emphasised, nor its supremacy questioned.”