APC will rule beyond 2023, says Oshiomhole

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he is confident the party will rule beyond 2023.

He spoke in Abuja during a meeting with governors elected under the platform of the party.

The national chairman urged party members to work together, adding that there is a lot more to be done in order to sustain the “progress made so far”.

“We also want to congratulate you for having being reelected. Sometimes it is easier to be elected the first time. But to be reelected implies a huge vote of confidence by the people of your respective states,” he said.

“And Looking at things from here, I know a lot went into trying to seize the deliberate attempt by the opposition to discredit the good ones.

“Like, we have said during the retreat, we believed our party has made a lot of progress in the three key areas that were reflected in our manifesto.

“But, there is a lot to be done. And I am sure working together at both the executive, state and federal by the special grace of God, we will do better in this second time. As to merit, our party will continue to govern the country post 2023.”

He said his position as the national chairman of the ruling party is challenging.

“It is quite a challenging experience for me. I try to compare myself as a governor and now as chairman of a party, coming in at the eve of primaries and dealing with fall outs of the previous congresses. And then proceeding to conduct elections, “he said.

“Then conduct primaries and campaigns across the 36 states and the FCT. And, working hard to ensure that we secure as many votes we can for our president.

“As, well as support our states particularly where we didn’t have state governors to ensure that we are able to lend a helping hand.

“I am happy to say that at the end of the day even though we lost some states we also gained some states. We gained Kwara, which for us is extremely important. And, we also gained Gombe state which is also very strategic among others.

“Of course, we have a clear majority in the national assembly. We have more senators elected on our platform. We also have more of house representatives elected on our platform.

“As it stands there are many cases in court. And until those cases are resolved, we won’t be able to say for sure where we stand. It is our prayer because we believed that a lot of our cases in court have merit. We hope that there will be justice and they are resolve in our favor.”

John Oyegun, Oshiomhole’s predecessor, had said the ruling party would have issues in the next general election.

He had said the issues will arise because President Muhammadu Buhari, on whom the party had tailored its change agenda, will not be qualified to contest.