Governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have finally reacted to the unceremonious exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as national chairman of the party and Senator Iyiola Omisore as national secretary, saying the duonserved APC well and resigned voluntarily.
They also absolved the duo of any wrong doing during their tenure in office, noting instead that they served the party meritoriously.
Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, gave the governors’ position while addressing journalists after a meeting of the APC Governors in Abuja on Wednesday night.
The meeting, which held behind closed-doors at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, started at about 9.54pm and ended at 11.12 pm.
Uzodinma debunked reports suggesting that there was crisis in the party, just as he said the APC governors were in support of Adamu and Omisore’s resignations.
He stated that both Adamu and Omisore served the governing party to the best of their abilities while APC enjoyed increased fortune under their administration.
He said, “I am aware some of you are anxious to know what is going on in our party and the country. We deliberated on so many issues that have to do with our party, the APC. You must have heard of the resignation of the National Chairman of our party and the National Secretary of the party. Those are voluntary actions that have been taken with due respect to our national chairman and our secretary.
“We commend the wisdom in what they have done and they served us well in the party, we are happy with the services and the party is united, there is no crisis in the party. They are happy; we also are happy. So, we are in support of their actions and they would continue to be commended, respected, and recognised for the services they have rendered to our great party.
“Their resignations have also been accepted by the leadership of the party. There is now an acting chairman and acting Secretary,” he stated.
Uzodinma further said the APC governors were conscientiously working with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the current hardship Nigerians are going through as a result of removal of fuel subsidy.
He apologised for the recent adjustment in the pump price of petrol from the previous N550 to N617, assuring that the current hardship occasioned by the skyrocketing cost of food, petroleum products and cost of living will soon be addressed.
He also refuted reports that the governors were silent on the plight of the citizens because the increase in the cost of fuel means more money to them through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
He continued: “I decided to deal with the controversial social media posting of our upcoming FAAC. We are aware that the result of the removal of the fuel subsidy will increase the volume of money that would be received by us during the Federation Allocation Account meeting.
“We are working with the Federal government to ensure that the proceeds of that FAAC will be utilised in a manner that the citizens of the country are happy, the Labour happy and we also the practitioners happy. The economy of the country would be protected. So what has happened is something that we should be happy about.
“The current hardship occasioned by the price increase on both food, Petroleum products, and cost of living is being addressed. The sub-national government is working with the Federal Government and tomorrow (Thursday), there would be National Executive Council to discuss further that.”
