- Simon Lalong justified the decision to pick Ganduje as the national chairman of the party
A section of opposition political parties would soon merge with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), according to Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
This is as Minister-designate and former Governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong justified the decision to pick Ganduje as the national chairman of the party in spite of protestations by some members of the party.
Ganduje who spoke to reporters at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja assured that he would soon come up with a blueprint to achieve the objective.
Ganduje also offered an insight into his deliberation with Minister-designate and former Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike at his Abuja residence earlier in the week.
He said: “You know Wike is a honourable Minister designate so he came, we discussed it because I was looking for him to congratulate him for that and also he came to congratulate me.
“And we discussed that when he becomes minister fully he will work very hard in order to move the ministry he would be given forward and he is ready to cooperate. But we didn’t discuss the issue of his coming to APC or not coming to APC. That issue will arise later.”
On the support base of the party, he said: “It will certainly improve the chances of this our party, especially in 2027 and not only that we are coming out with a new blueprint to increase the followership of the party and this we include all stratas of officials; those who are in APC and those who are in other political parties.
” I assure you very soon some of the political parties will even merge with the APC. We are doing that underground.”
Lalong argued that the decision to settle for Ganduje as the national chairman of the party was a well thought out one.
He noted: “As the National Chairman, Ganduje was Governor, as the matter of fact when we look at his antecedents we always say he is the longest experienced politician that we have within us. Because he is somebody who was very long in Civil Service, he became Permanent Secretary, Commissioner, longest serving Deputy Governor and became Governor.
“So with this kind of experience what else do you need in party matters. So we have confidence in him as he is now here and it is not an issue of one man, anytime he has opportunity he does a lot consultation and we are always available.
“His colleagues who were Governors with him are always available for this kind of work. That is why we are rallying around to give him every help so that the party can also succeed.”