The National Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-South, Mrs. Racheal Akpabio has accused some unnamed National leaders of the Party for fueling the crisis rocking the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the party and pleaded for an immediate intervention so as not to destroy the Party in the state.
This came just as the Women leader also accused the Federal government of favouring a faction of APC in the state in the appointments made so far, thereby fueling disunity among loyal party members across the state.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, on the crisis rocking the party in the state, Mrs Akpabio stated that she had kept quiet for a long time now and persuading the women to be calm hoping that things would change for the better but decided to speak out now before “further damage is done to our party in the state”.
According to her, “new entrants into the party are being favoured in terms of appointments, while none of the pioneer members of the party have been considered for any appointment, this is a great injustice that needs to be looked into and be corrected immediately.”
“As the only National leader of the party in the state, I believe party leaders should not take sides when there is crisis, we are supposed to be umpires, and our job is to bring about solutions, it is only justice that will bring peace.”
Akpabio enjoined the party’s National Vice Chairman (South-south) Mr. Hillard Eta to play a role of an umpire and mediate a peace process, saying “the time is not on our side, 2019 general elections are around the corner and our ultimate aim is to win the state. The state is now fully APC, we should move away from all those acts that can cause disunity among us”.
“The injustice is, not being able to solve the crisis; rather, people are taking sides. It is also unjust to take people who joined that party after it had been formed and made a veritable platform being given appointments, while none of the original people have been given,” she added.
While calling on the National leadership of the party to set-up a committee of inquiry, to find out the remote and immediate cause of the crisis with a view to finding a lasting solution to it, the Women leader appealed to aggrieved party members to exercise patience and ensure survival of the party in the state.
“My plea is that our loyalists in Akwa Ibom State and any other state in my Zone as well the country in general should be calm, more appointments are on the way, survival of our party is paramount, we should continue to keep the hope alive because better days are ahead ” Akpabio pleaded.