TheCable

Ghali Umar Na’ Abba, former speaker of the house of representatives from 1999 to 2003, on Tuesday formally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), becoming an automatic member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT).

Speaking at the APC secretariat in Abuja, Na’ Abba stated that he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to the need to see a change in the country.

“I believe, more than any time before, that this country needs change,” he said.

“In the last 16 years, there has been misrule by different PDP presidents. I believe the momentum is for the APC to change this country and we must not allow the momentum to go down.

“APC is now a national party. It is no longer what they used to vilify it with. I am joining the party to sustain the momentum of change. Buhari is going to become the next president, and it is our desire he becomes a national leader and not a sectional one.

“We must be patient, considerate and accommodating in this country. Nigerians are the easiest to govern. Once you carry them along, they will support you. The leaders are not carrying Nigerians along; that is why we have all these problems.”

Welcoming Na’ Abba to the party, John Oyegun, national chairman of the APC, described the former speaker as “a personality of indisputable quality.”

He went on to announce that Na’ Abba had become an automatic member of one of the highest organs of the party – the board of trustees.

“Every one of Na’ Abba we get, we celebrate because there is work to be done,” Oyegun said.

He also criticised the PDP, saying: “The PDP is at war with the entire nation, they are at war with Jega and they are at war with themselves.

“The PDP is tired; it is disoriented and confused. The party should be sent to the recovery bin. Nigeria is not a difficult country to govern. What it needs is leadership. But the PDP is leaving behind a nation divided like never before.”