The Chief Whip of the Senate and Senator representing Abia North in the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, has called on the members of the party to embrace peace, unity and togetherness ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The Abia North Senator also appealed to different factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Abia State to bury the idea of defecting to another political party amidst the disagreements in the party.
Kalu’s advice followed the rumblings in the state wing of the party over the swearing in of Dr Kingsley Ononogbo, a former banker as the state chairman of APC in Abuja on Thursday, February 3, 2022. Ononogbo belongs to the High Chief Ikechi Emenike’s faction which has been in loggerhead with Donatus Nwankpa-led faction. Senator Kalu belongs to the later.
In a statement made available to journalists on Sunday, Kalu noted that disagreements are eminent in democratic settings, saying that he does not belong to any of the factions of the party.
In his capacity as a leader of the party in the state, Kalu said he is watching very keenly the developments in the party with a special call on all aggrieved members to remain strong with a view to strengthening the party, pointing out defection cannot be the solution to their grievances.
The Senator added that everyone should allow the party’s national leadership to address the grievances amicably, declaring that, “As the leader of the party, I have being neutral but that does not mean I am paying deaf ears on the grievances by individuals and groups.
“I wish to call on aggrieved members to keep confidence with the party, while we explore all peaceful means for amicable solution. “I want to state that it is very normal for any member or faction to feel some kind of way, but we must allow the national leadership to use various reconciliation strategies to make the party stronger”.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
