O fewer than 752 groups within the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress have signified interest in unifying the party’s various factions in the state.
More than four different factions emerged from the recently conducted state congresses held in the state.
However, the groups under the aegis of APC Forum of Group Heads, who converged on Uyo, on Friday, said they are worried that the disunity among the leaders of the party, if allowed to continue, may cause the party to lose the forthcoming election in the state.
The meeting, which was convened to assess the state of the party ahead of the next poll, condemned the power tussle among the leaders of the party as evidenced in the recent parallel ward, chapter and state congresses.
President of the Forum, Amb UtibeAbasi Asuquo who spoke to newsmen after the meeting said, “Contentions and divergent interests within a political party are normal. They are not peculiar to the APC in the state alone but we cannot afford to lose the 2023 elections because of disagreements among our leaders.
“We want leaders of the party to reconcile and resolve their differences in the interest of the party so that the jinx of electoral losses experienced by the party since 2001 could be broken.
“We have invited them (the party leaders) to this meeting but none of them are here. I want to believe they are busy with party or national assignments.
Read Also
“We are worried that our leaders who got political appointments at the national level have abandoned those of us who suffered and made sacrifices for the party while leaving the party in tatters because of their power tussles.
“Most of the federal programmes that are supposedly meant for the party have been unjustly sold and mismanaged by the PDP in the state.”
Some of those who attended the meeting include: The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Goodswill Akpabio and the Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang.
