Protocols.
Permit me to start by thanking God almighty for the gift of life and for the successful inauguration of the State Executive Committee of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) here in Benue State today, with the responsibility of piloting the affairs of the party in the state for the next four years.
I wish to most profoundly thank our dear Leader, the Pillar and the foundation of APC in Benue state, His Excellency, Senator Dr George Akume, the Minister of Special Duties & Inter-governmental Affairs, for labouring day and night in ensuring that the APC family in Benue state remains united and strong despite all the turbulent experiences of the past.
We thank God that APC is still standing strong in the state and getting ready to take over the reins of power.
I must thank all our gallant members in Benue state for keeping faith with the party despite crass intimidation and enticement from the PDP-controlled state government. You are gallant indeed and I want to assure you that it is our time to shine henceforth because the new state EXCO under my leadership shall leave no stone unturned until we achieve total triumph in 2023.
My dear brothers & sisters, distinguished elders of our party, I want to, at this point, thank you all for considering us worthy to be elected as members of the state Executive Council of our party, APC, Benue state chapter with my humble self as the Chairman. No doubt, we are not the best qualified persons for the positions into which we have been elected and duly inaugurated today; our election has been made possible by the wish of the members and leaders of our party at the various levels to have an EXCO that understands and appreciates the rich assets of interpersonal relationship across the ethnic divides in the state and the political complexities that have hitherto been the defining factors in the successes and failures of political parties in the state. By the grace of God, my team and I will leverage on such interpersonal connect which has been established over the years and our long experiences in the murky waters of Benue politics to reposition our party for victory in future elections.
In the course of the state congress that gave birth to this new leadership, many members of our party expressed their interests to occupy one position or the other in the State Executive Committee. It is quite commendable and encouraging to see people demonstrating passion to participate in piloting the affairs of a political party in the kind of environment in which we have found ourselves in Benue state as an opposition party. I believe it is about service, it is about sacrifice.
In every contest, one person must emerge and today we have individually emerged as the members of the State Executive Committee of our great party, APC. Those who aspired to occupy different offices through the congress but did not succeed are our invaluable partners in progress because we are only elected as EXCO members to hold the various offices in trust for all our members.
The State Executive Committee under my leadership will be clothed with humility and our doors will be open to all members of the party for any suggestions, engagements and collaborations that will move the party forward.
After every contest, there are bound to be grievances, therefore, one of our first priorities as state EXCO will be to conduct a reconciliation exercise. We shall attempt to reconcile with all aggrieved members of our party and do all that is possible to bring back to our fold all those who have left the party for different reasons. By the grace of God APC will take over Benue state in 2023.
As a team, we shall critically look into the postmortem evaluation of the 2019 elections in Benue state so as to deal with all the factors that led to our unimpressive outing in that election. This will enable us to strategize better.
I want to strongly assure all our members that our tenure as State Executive Committee shall be committed to treating all party members fairly. We shall provide a level plain ground for everybody at all times. We shall build on the foundations laid so far by our predecessors while avoiding any mistakes of the past.
We are not oblivious of the vexed agitation for power rotation among the two major ethnic blocs as being championed by some interest groups here in the state and outside the state. The issue of power rotation is based on equity. We need to approach it in a friendly manner using round table negotiation as brothers and sisters. Regardless how we feel, Benue state is one family. We can best achieve what we want by brotherly engagements and not by fighting one another. We as an EXCO shall not be opposed to any of such brotherly parley among the political elite in the state, even if on the platform of the party. We are here to promote oneness, justice, equity, peace, growth, and the general wellbeing of our people as contained in the manifesto of our party. We shall always stick to those tenets that make APC a progressive party.
Now that the state EXCO has been inaugurated, the next in line is the National Convention in which our own dear Leader, Senator Dr George Akume, the live wire of APC in North Central, is contesting for the position of National Chairman. I urge all of you to use your connections nationwide to mobilize massively for our own Daddy GSM, the Jugu Dajo of Africa. It can only take a man like our father, George, with the kind of his experience, capacity, national connection and understanding of party politics to lead a big party like APC. With your support and the support of our party members across the country, our Leader will emerge victorious.
We must all continue to support our president, Gen Mohammadu Buhari and his administration to do his best for the nation. We must not, for any reason, be carried away by the daily propaganda and blackmail being dished out by the opposition party, PDP. We can always do better for our country.
I earnestly crave for your support and I covet your prayers always. We must all join our hands together to make APC succeed in Benue state. I want to also use this opportunity to beg all members of the party who are aggrieved for one reason or the other, to please forgive whosoever might have caused such grievances and work together to build this party.
I hereby tender my unreserved apology to all those I might have offended, consciously or unconsciously. Please forgive me, it couldn’t have been intentional. My office will always be open to receive you and my phones are also opened for friendly chats. We are one family, we are APC Benue State, together we shall win all the elective positions in 2023, that is my assurance and bond with you. Let us work together and enjoy the benefits of working together,
Finally, I want to use this opportunity to formally announced that every adhoc/standing committee, special group or campaign organization existing under the auspices of the Benue state chapter of APC before now is hereby suspend. We shall reconstituted or established after an interface as the case may be after due clearance from the party's Directorate of Organisation and approval from the state Secretariat.
All polling unit chairmen are to take instructions on party's operations at their levels from the ward chairmen of their respective wards. Ward chairmen are also to take instructions from their respective Local Government Chairmen, while Local Government Chairmen take instructions from the Zonal Chairmen and Zonal Chairmen take instructions from State.
No Organ/Group in the party is allowed to organize programmes or events for the purpose of soliciting for fund from stakeholders, Aspirants, leaders or elected persons under our party's platform. Clearance must be given by the appropriate authorities for any of such events and any money approved for such purpose must be accounted for.
The party will welcome ideas that will strengthen our ground in the State to deliver on our mandate.
We, want to also use this opportunity to direct full activation of the Broom Revolution. The Broom is our symbol and identity
We will do everything to ensure that we are fair to every party member. We have no excuse but to deliver the state, so help us God..
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