Still smarting from the confusion created within the Action Congress (AC) over the issue of the all-inclusive government proposed by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the thirty-six state chairmen of the party met in Lagos on Sunday and denied that there were cracks within AC.
They pledged to continue with the talks with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the proposed all-inclusive government.
The chairmen, who are believed to be loyal to Senator Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos, said the talks with PDP were ongoing but stated that AC had no intention of dropping any of its petitions at the electoral tribunal.
Speaking at the occasion, National Legal Adviser of the party, Dr. (Mrs.) Ego Ezuma, debunked allegations that the talks with PDP had collapsed and divided the party into factions.
She recalled that the National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, had issued a statement to that effect at the weekend that AC remained one united entity.
"The talk is on. It has not broken up. Our party's National Secretary made a statement on Friday on our matters at the tribunal - we are not joking with them. We are pursuing them. Even market woman in the country today believes in the judiciary. If the judiciary says the elections are free, fair and credible, then we can go on. We are still one united family," she said.
But newsmen learnt that there were indeed divisions within the party over the proposed Government of National Unity. While a faction of the party loyal to the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is opposed to the idea of AC participating in the Yar’Adua government, another faction controlled Tinubu is well disposed to the idea.
In his address to the AC meeting, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, represented by Rev. Tunji Adebiyi, a former Special Assistant to ex-Governor Tinubu said the gathering of the chairmen from the six geo-political zones of the country was a further confirmation that the AC remained a united platform, which could by no means be broken.
"Looking at the beautiful faces, I can see that many of you have come from different parts of the country, from dry and wet lands, from the North, the East and the South: many of us here are from varying ancestral backgrounds, with different languages, culture, mores and values. But one thing unites us: strong liberty and democracy and the rule of law for the people of Nigeria and Africa as a whole. With this most cherished philosophy, we in the AC are one family. We are like a cobweb in which no single thread can be drawn without affecting the whole network," he said.
He further told the chairmen that, as they began the meeting, what should be of utmost importance to them should be the drive to reclaim their allegedly stolen mandates across the country.
"What should be paramount in our mind is that we desire to reclaim our stolen mandates and to restore the dignity of the people of Nigeria that has been put to shame in the various states by the PDP government through the callous rigging of the elections," he said.
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