BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
The former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress and former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, on Wednesday, submitted the report of the APC South-South reconciliation committee to the party’s Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.
Odigie-Oyegun, Chairman of the reconciliation committee, represented by the former Deputy Governor of Edo State and Secretary of the committee, Lucky Imasuen, and other members of the committee, submitted the report to the CECPC National Secretary, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, at the APC National Secretariat.
Odigie-Oyegun said the committee met with a majority of party leaders in the South-South, notably the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; and Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, among others.
“We have examined issues confronting the states comprising the zones in all the states. That is the purpose of this report. It is our hope that the party will take time out to study, critically, the content of this report and apply the recommendations,” Odigie-Oyegun said.
Remarking, the CECPC Secretary said the reconciliation committee did not pursue any agenda against any party leader in the South-South but came as a child of necessity to resolve issues amongst APC members in the region.
Akpanudoedehe said the report will be forwarded to the National Chairman, Governor Mai Mala Buni, and the entire CECPC for advancement and consideration.
“Sometime in December, last year, we decided to leverage on your collective personality and integrity to sow peace into our party in our region. We recognised the fact that all politics is local and we set up this reconciliation committee in that wise. We saw that there was unnecessary strife within the party in our region. Most of our leaders were not at peace with one another. We also saw the need for us as a people to have a united front, to enable us build a consensus on issues affecting us as a people.
“The reconciliation committee came as a child of necessity to enable our people talk to themselves and resolve issues amongst our party members in the region.
“We trust that you have deployed your experience into the task. We will forward the report to the National Chairman and the entire CECPC. The recommendations in the report will be taken under advisement.
“May I state in conclusion that conflicts are part of everyday life and will always exist in organisations. Conflict is one of the most inevitable things in life and occurs at all levels of human society – at home, school, groups, etc. It is caused by the struggle by diverse individuals seeking access to limited resources or the control of political power, identity, value or ideology. This is a fact. Therefore, avenues and channels must always exist for persons to talk and express their grievances.
“We may not achieve 100 per cent peace in the process, but like Winston Churchill said, it is better to jaw-jaw, than to war-war.”
