Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State have met in Lafia, Nasarawa State for a reconciliation engagement as they reposition the party for greater successes ahead.
At the opening of the meeting, Leader of the party and former Governor of Plateau State Senator Simon Bako Lalong said the gathering became very important in order to address various issues including grievances of some members which need to be addressed.
He explained that the need to iron out the issues led to the setting up of the reconciliation committee headed by the former Deputy Speaker House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Idris Wase which went round to hold engagements with various stakeholders of the party who felt aggrieved over one issue or the other.
Lalong expressed joy that the Idris Wase-led reconciliation Committee has done a great job by reaching critical stakeholders and aggregating their concerns which led to the meeting.
He said as leader of the party, he was willing to take responsibility for any mistakes he made and equally ready to apologise so as to create the path to genuine reconciliation that will give the party the strength to recover from its losses during the last elections.
Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule represented by his Deputy Dr. Emmanuel Akabe said they accepted to host the reconciliation meeting because of the brotherhood that exists between the two States and as part of the responsibility of the APC in Nasarawa State to contribute towards strengthening its Plateau counterpart.
He said the Governor and Nasarawa APC family were not happy with the loss of Plateau State to the PDP and will give every support to ensure the APC reclaims the State in 2027.
Akabe appealed to the stakeholders to sheath their swords, forgive and work towards the unity of the party.
While welcoming the stakeholders, Chairman of the Reconciliation Committee Rt. Hon. Idris Wase expressed appreciation for the support he received from all the party members who opened up and spoke about issues bothering them.
He said the Committee created a free atmosphere for all party members and groups to freely and frankly talk about the issues bothering them.
Wase said the full report will be presented at the closed door session to the stakeholders for further deliberation and consideration.
In separate goodwill messages, Governor Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye, former Deputy Governor Prof. Sonni Tyoden, former Minister Dame Pauline Tallen among others, called for true reconciliation and urged the stakeholders to be open and true about things that are causing discord among party members.
Party Chairman Hon. Rufus Bature appealed to members of the party to close ranks and put aside their differences for a more cohesive party which will take over power in a short time.
The meeting later went into a closed session for a technical session.
A communique is expected to be issued on the decisions reached at the reconciliation meeting.
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