By Cross Udo and Nathaniel Zacchaeus
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday joined the efforts to save the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from losing its majority hold on the National Assembly by meeting with some aggrieved senators at the Presidential Villa.

There were fears of imminent departure, following the outcome of the ruling party’s primaries for National Assembly seats, in which many of the incumbent representatives and senators lost out.

But yesterday, no fewer than 22 aggrieved members of the APC in the senate who had planned a massive defection on the floor of the Red Chamber this week, agreed to simmer their threat following the intervention of the president.

The senators decided on Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, who led them to a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

*Meets 22 aggrieved senators who lost APC senatorial tickets

However, President Buhari, at the meeting, assured that the leadership of the party would sustain the hearing and healing process it started to ensure fairness, justice, and oneness, before the 2023 general elections.

The president, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, noted that complaints were received by some members and that machinery had been put in place by the National Working Committee to address their concerns.

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“In keeping with our ethos, therefore, I shall continue to address the ensuing challenges and grievances through the party machinery while paying keen attention to the outcomes. I must also remind you of the primacy of justice in all our actions. If justice is denied, the outcome is usually unpleasant,” Adesina said.

He added, “This is because you are the members who keep the party running. I should add that as part of the policy of using the party machinery for effective resolution of conflict, the chairman and some members of the National Working Committee visited the National Assembly recently to dialogue with our legislators.

“The leadership of the party is currently addressing the outcomes, as part of the way forward. I am encouraging all the party functionaries to adhere to the truth and to be fair to all parties in any dispute,’’ he said.

Buhari told the APC senators that the strength and victory of the party in the election would depend on the unity of members and the ability to prevent injustice or heal them, perceived or real.

He said, “As the leader of the party, one of my primary roles is to ensure that our culture of internal democracy and dispute resolution is strengthened by creating the opportunity for members to vent their opinions, views, and grievances at different levels.

“Even though we have accomplished 23 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, our journey is still in a nascent stage, and we continue to learn from our challenges and mistakes.”

Buhari urged party members to exercise restraint and continue to demonstrate commitment to the ideals, while the leadership continues to build and develop the APC and the country.

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He added, “I must acknowledge that in every contest, there must be a level-playing ground, just as there would be grievances at the end. That is the test of our democratic credentials, systems, and practices. I have since the conclusion of the processes been inundated with various reports and complaints,” Buhari stressed.

The President assured that “justice shall prevail, aggrieved members shall be assuaged, and the interest of the party and the nation shall be protected.”

He thanked the senators for suggesting a meeting on the issues, which include the future of the party, and pursuing solutions to the challenges thrown up by the recent election-related activities, particularly, the primaries.

In his remarks, Kalu, said no fewer than 22 senators and members of the party were unhappy with the outcome of the primaries in their states, noting that they felt disenfranchised by the process.

He said the legislators had made sacrifices for the growth of the party and democracy in the country, asking for the president’s kind intervention.

“Mr President, in the senate, we have worked hard and consistently sold your programmes beyond party lines. Be assured always of our support,” he added.

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After the meeting, Kalu said the aggrieved senators would no longer pursue defection from the APC.

The senators had threatened to defect at a plenary to protest the alleged injustice against them at the just concluded primary of the APC which prevented them from getting the tickets of the party.

Kalu, in a statement after the meeting, said the lawmakers told Buhari that they were disenfranchised by the process of the primary.

The Abia North Senator explained that Buhari urged the Senators to exercise restraint and change their decision to defect from the party.

Kalu added that Buhari expressed the fears that the defection could affect the APC’s majority in the National Assembly.

He said, “The aggrieved senators would no longer pursue their defection plans from the APC. Our meeting with Mr President was successful and the issue of defection from our party has been laid to rest.”

No fewer than six APC senators including the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, had dumped the party citing poor internal politics during its just-concluded primary.

Meanwhile, one of the aggrieved senators who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, confirmed the meeting with President Buhari at the Villa yesterday.

He said the President was very frank in appealing to them to shelve their planned massive defection as their matter would be looked into.

Kalu said, “Our colleagues told the President about how delegates’ lists were changed overnight by the governors in connivance with the APC committees that handled the primaries.

“The National Chairman of the party was not at the meeting but the Chief of Staff and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation were present.

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“The President was not happy after listening to the complaints of my colleagues and expressed his sympathy with the situation. He then promised that he would hold a meeting with the leadership of the party to address our grievances.

“Specifically, the president assured us that he would ensure that we get justice before the INEC deadline for the submission of candidates’ lists.

“We have respected the promise of the President and we believe in his ability to do the right but we still have our plans to act according to our conscience in case there were no positive results.”

Besides, the seven senators earlier lost to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), fears grew more palpable last week that about 18 more senators might be firming up plans to defect from the ruling party, a move that would have robbed the Assembly of its majority status in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly.

To save the imminent crash of the party’s control at the National Assembly, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, had on Wednesday, rallied some other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, including the National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, to a meeting with members of the Senate’s APC caucus.

The aggrieved senators, numbering about 22, had pledged to defect from the party over the outcome of primaries in their state, ahead of the 2023 general elections.