Tinubu, Buhari will never let APC die – Akande

Former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has described those leaving the party ahead
of the 2019 general elections as opportunists.

He said that the party will never die.

Akande insisted that despite the crisis, himself, the national leader,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari would salvage
the party.

The former Osun State governor stated this in a statement in Osogbo, yesterday.

He disclosed that the party succeeded in unseating the People's
Democratic Party (PDP) and must not be allowed to be cut off in its
prime.

"To avoid the journey to the undertakers, we all agreed that
prevention is often a wise counsel. Moreso for the APC, a party borne
out of necessity, at a time Nigerianeeded a life boat, a new lease of
life.

"For the purpose for which it was birthed, it succeeded in unseating
an incumbent government. And, for a higher purpose it is working hard
to succeed at good governance. Nobody watches the child he birthed to
die just like that.

"The responsibility to save the child comes suddenly upon the father.
The APC cannot be allowed to wither away because of omissions and
commissions. Times like this call for sacrifice and service. Of note
is the saying that a real man, a hero, is known by where he stands in
the time of adversity.

"Bola Tinubu, myself and President Buhari stand together in this
effort to save APC from itself. Serving the nation has complex colours
which constantly dazzle distant onlookers. The job at hand is not
about Buhari. It is not about position-sharing. It is not about ethnic
nationalism. It is about the strength and the beauty of one's deeds at
one time or the other. It is about our party, the APC, Buhari or no
Buhari.

"Tinubu was a major participant in the emergence of APC. He must never
be happy seeing it destroyed. Let APC be, no matter who may be lucky
using it to gain power, make money, get famous, be such lucky ones
born by Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa-Fulani. For as long as APC remains
relevant, so long shall Bola Tinubu's contributions to nation-building
be magnified in Nigerian history."

"Guess those who are problematic or now crossing away from APC were
not part of its initial making. They must have joined after wrecking
their old parties and, after the merger, became recognised and
approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission, with a view
to merely using APC as a platform for positions," he noted.