President Muhammadu Buhari, other leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to find the resolution to crisis that rocking the party over the National Assembly leadership.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC, which met in Abuja on July 3, had mandated the party’s 22 governors to meet with the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in an attempt to resolve the difference between the party’s contestant groups.
The Rochas Okorocha-led PGF met for the first time with conflict party members in the National Assembly in Abuja on Friday.
The NASS leadership alongside with Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila, APC’s favored candidates for the positions of the Senate President and Speaker respectively, attended the meeting.
The peace moves of the governors was unsuccessful because the opposite groups could not accept the peace offers of some APC leaders as of the time the meeting was postponed till July (today).
It was gathered that the governors had told the party’s leadership that the crisis should be left for them to resolve.
The NASS official said that on the request of the party’s governors, the NEC did not bother to discuss the issue at its meeting on Friday.
He said: “The crisis on the sharing of leadership seats at the National Assembly did not receive any frontal attention at the NEC against expectations. What happened was that, on the request of the governors, the issue was referred to them to discuss and resolve.”
Analyses showed that the governors and the APC legislators at their meeting discussed proposals by some party leaders on ways to end the crisis.
The proposals comprised a plan that those who lost out in the contest for the National Assembly leadership should be permitted to chair their desirable committees.
“Also under consideration is another proposal to ask Dogara and Saraki to share the leadership positions between ‘party loyalists’ and those who defied it,” one of the top members, who was at the meeting, said.
However, the rival groups had not agreed on terms for peace as of the time the meeting was postponed.
But another member said that there were optimistic indications that the matters would soon be resolved.
He said: “The party leadership took cognizance of the role some of the governors played to get us to where we are.
“We thought it wise to throw the matter back to them to let them find a solution to it. In politics, you don’t ignore anyone and for a party like ours, you have to accommodate as many of the power blocks as you can in order to have peace.”
On his own turn, Okorocha, who spoke to journalists after the meeting, said efforts were being made to resolve the crisis to enable the APC to work ahead with its promise to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
Okorocha said: “You will not see more disagreements as against the past, peace has come to our party.
“Both Senate President (Bukola Saraki), and the Speaker; (Yakubu Dogara), Senator Ahmed Lawan and Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, will work together for the unity and progress of our party.
“By next week, we will give you people the details of the outcome of this peace meeting, but so far so good, all things being equal.
“The party has accepted the leadership of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. To God be the glory.”
It should be noted that President Buhari, at the NEC meeting, had asked fighting factions within the APC to sheathe their swords in the interest of the party and Nigerians.