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Omo-Agege warns APC against repeating PDP’s mistakes

Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, Deputy President of the Senate, has cautioned the All Progressives Congress(APC) against past mistakes of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Omo-Agege, gave the charge in an address at the APC South-South Town Hall Meeting for Constitution Review in Asaba, on Sunday, March 28.

He said that the move to review the APC constitution was to make it a peoples oriented party that created equal opportunities for all members.

He noted that the decision of the national leadership of the party to review the party’s constitution was born out of the imperative of receiving contributions at the grassroots levels to make a working document that would provide equal opportunities for all.

To this end, the Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), ably led by Gov. Mai Mala Buni has underlined the sacrosanct need for reviewing the party constitution to meet the current realities of nation’s political space and increase the need for intraparty relationship and efficiency.

History beacons on our great party. It is the first ever opposition party to unseat an incumbent party in the life of our nation, Nigeria.

“Fellow party men, remember that the PDP had confidently said that it would be in power for 60 years. It took the resolve and determination of a strong-willed nation and its people to upstage that confidence.

“Now there is a lesson that we must bear in our subconscious and which should give centrality to our thoughts and deeds,” he said.

Omo-Agege added:”Nigeria has shown that it has come of age in terms of political maturity; politicians and political parties must deliver on their mandates and their promises or face removal, just as it happened in 2015.

Yet, politicians must be given the enablement to so perform. This is why we must provide a working manual (Constitution) that is fully integrative not only of the obligation and responsibilities of party men and women but also of their rights and privileges.”

He added that the party should be guided at all times by a people-oriented constitution.

“Such that as we work, the APC would be so positioned to provide an irresistible appeal to all persons desirous of inclusive and purposeful political participation,” he said.

He charged the Constitution Review Committee, to consider all areas that had been contentious in the exiting party constitution.

The first, by no order of importance is the need to strengthen the organs of the party with clear cut and non-overlapping duties amongst the organs.

“Another is that of power devolution down the grassroots. Our party today has 12 million Nigerians strong and growing, the review needs to give specific functions to the zonal structures of the party such that power trickles down to the ward levels,” he said.

Dep Senate President, Omo-Agege; APC gov candidate, Emerhor, settle dispute in Delta APC

The Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, and the Founding Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, have set aside their political differences and called for an end to the divisions in the party in the state.

Omo-Agege and Emerhor particularly called on leaders of the party in the state to close rank and work for the unity of the party ahead of the 2023 general election.

Both leaders spoke at Evwreni in Ughelli North Local Government Area at the weekend, when the deputy president of the Senate visited Emerhor at his country-home with other leaders of the party, including Hon. Francis Waive, who represents Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu at the House of Representatives.

Omo-Agege, in his remark, described the visit as a brotherly one and part of efforts toward ending the rift among leaders of the party in the state, blaming the poor performance of the party in the 2019 general election on the division.

The deputy president of the Senate said the visit was significant in putting the rivalry among the various camps in the party behind and forging a formidable unity among its members.

He said, “As both of us will say, Delta State is ripe for the taking. We have also said that can only happen if all of us are on the same page. Come to think of it, what are we fighting for? At the end of the day, we are brothers first before we became members of APC. Party will come and go but the Urhobo people will remain Urhobo. Delta State will remain Delta State.

“As from today, we should all know that we are one. The party is not just about Emerhor and me, we still have other leaders. In politics, we drag who gets what, but while doing that, we must do it with civility. We must do it with humanity. We must not play it in a way that it becomes almost impossible to reconcile yourselves at the end of the exercise.”

He commended Emerhor for committing to the peace process in the state, noting that he would work with everyone to ensure that APC wins future elections in the state through unity.

In his remark, Emerhor, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the party in the state, described the visit by Omo-Agege as historic, saying it was time for leaders and members of the party from across the state to embrace peace and unity in the interest of the party.

He agreed that the main reason why the APC has not been able to take power from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, was because of the division among its leaders.

He tasked Omo-Agege to do more by reaching out to other party leaders like Chief Great Ogboru, Festus Keyamo, and others to bring everyone together.