APC Lagos Appeal Committee Appealed to all Aggrieved Members Not To take Justices into there Hand

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) State Congress Appeal Committee for Lagos State on Monday appealed to all aggrieved members not 

 rock the boat because things didn't go their way.

The Chairman, State Congress Appeal Committee, Fatima Umar, made the appeal at a special meeting with stakeholders at the party's secretariat on Acme Road, Ikeja, in a bid to resolving all fallouts from the Oct. 16 state congress in the state.

Umar said that the committee was put together by the national headquarters of the party to look into any petition or complain any group might have after the last state congress.

 "We are here to right the wrongs and heal the wounds. We can always iron things out as a family. When there is unity, we can achieve great thing as a family.

 "You don't throw away your family because you are upset. You don't throw away your family because things do not go your way. We should not allow people will take power from get back into power.

"We should not allow any disagreement within the family to distract us from our noble cause. I will operate an open door policy. Please feel free to tell us what went wrong so that we can fix it," she said.

Umar, who led the five-man committee, urged all members to forgive each other so that the party could move forward. 

"Lagos is an example of of what unity in a political party  can achieve. Lagos is an example of what progressive leadership can achieve. 

"Please, we are here at your service and we look forward to hearing from you, and we look forward to interacting with you.

According to him, as progressives, members of the party should obey the rule, do the right things and follow due process and comply with guidelines to help the committee.

She said that the stay of the committee in the state depended on the volume of the petitions received, saying the committee would not be a hurry nor do shoddy work.

Umar said that the committee would start collecting petitions as from Tuesday from 10 till 3pm, saying the submission of petitions might likely close on Wednesday.

Umar said that the committee would make recommendations to the APC National Caretaker Committee, which would take final decision.

Speaking, Mr Fouad Oki of the Democrats Group, one of the aggrieved groups, said that if nothing was done on the grievances and fallouts of various state congresses, it might have impact on the outcome of the 2023 general elections in the state.

Oki expressed hope that the committee chairperson would stand by her words of looking at the process, law guiding the process and the party constitution.

He  said all aggrieved groups were trying to exhaust all conflict resolution mechanisms before taking next actions.

Also, Mr Jimi Shobayo of the Conscience Forum, another aggrieved group within the party, told the committee that there were contending factions in the state party, calling for fairness, equity and justice.

Shobayo decried that various aggrieved groups within the party had not received results of the ward and local government areas congresses set up by the national headquarters of the party.

"Let justice and equity be the watchword. What we are contending for is that there must be inclusiveness in the Lagos APC. 

"APC in Lagos is one big family and what we are seeing today are minor issues  and I believe they can be resolved. We are opened to reconciliations," he said.

Also speaking, Mr Sunday Ajayi, of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, who is the factional chairman of APC in Lagos expressed doubt about the fairness of the committee.

Ajayi alleged that the committee appeared to be biased with the constitution of groups invited for the meeting.

 "We want the committee to sit tight and have a rethink, they should stop acting script. We have presented our petitions," Ajayi said.