The State chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Delta State, whose position was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeal in Benin, yesterday, Prophet Jones Ode Erue has waved the Olive branch calling on all party members who have been involved in leadership litigation to come together and join to rebuild the party in the state.
Prophet Erue who made this call while addressing a press conference in Warri today, stressed that there was no victor nor vanquished following the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Benin yesterday.
Flanked by the State Vice chairman of the party for Delta Central, Chief Adelabu Bodjor, his counterpart from Delta North and the State Legal adviser, E.V. Onojevwo, Prophet Jones said that they were not purely celebrating the victory of the Court of Appeal judgment, rather it was a celebration of a reunuion of all party members in the state urging all party members to bury the hatchet and join hands to move the party forward in the state.
He said: “We are here today to celebrate a return to a peaceful coexistence of our political party, not purely to celebrate the victory of yesterday.
“The victory is a victory of the people, the victory of the party. It is a return to normalcy. That is what any party member should celebrate; that is what we the state working committee and the entire exco of the party are celebrating and forging ahead to have a healthy political party that can perform her primary assignment, that of winning election.
The chairman lamented that the lingering intra-party bickerings have caused the party in the state so much losses, adding that it caused the party the governorship, senatorial, House of Reps and House of Assembly seats.
“You will recall that this protracted bickering and crisis in our political party has caused us so much. It caused us the governorship election and so many seats in the senatorial, House of Reps and House of Assembly”, he said.
Erue further explained that the purpose of the press conference was to beckon on all members who have the interest of the party at heart to come together and rebuild the party.
He said: “This press conference is to act as an anchor of hope to beckon on all who have the interest of the party to come together.
” After the judgment of yesterday that confirmed me and my exco as the authentic exco to run the affairs of the party in the state, we are saying that there is no victor there is no vanquished. It is a victory for all people.
“I’m stretching my hand of fellowship and an Olive branch to all those who are in court with me and in court with me that it is time to rebuild the party. Rebuilding is a necessity that takes a group of people forward.”
He advised that a continuation of the internal bickering can only confirm the speculation that people have infiltrated the rank and file of the leadership of the party.
“I’m using the opportunity of this press conference to say that the state working committee and the entire exco of the party in Delta State, under my able leadership is beckoning on all that they should come to the round table to discuss. There may be issues and differences, we can iron them out”, he said.
Reacting to the other party threatening to go on appeal to Supreme Court, Erue advised that it will amount to a waste of time and resources, adding that such money could be used to rebuild the party.
According to him, everybody has a right to seek redress through litigation, but, “there is always an end to litigation”, adding that even after the Supreme Court, everybody will still “come to round table to find a political solution.
He acknowledged that the national exco did it’s best to resolve the intra-party differences before now, adding that what fueled the crisis was power game orchestrated by external forces who were not even members of the party.
