TheCable

John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the very first steps of his party in office created problems that affected interactions between the arms of government.

Oyegun said this on Wednesday while speaking at an inaugural meeting with Bukola Saraki, senate president, and other principal officers of the senate.

This meeting with Oyegun was the first since Saraki defied the party to emerge senate president in June 2015.

“Unfortunately, it is clear, it is public knowledge now that our very first steps when we came in to office created problems and the very nature itself of the amalgamating parties created its own issues all of which have tended up till now to affect the mode of operations and the level of interactions between the various arms of government and the party,” he said.

“So we have a unique, God-given opportunity to take a look at ourselves, take a look at the National Assembly, take a look at the Party and take a look at the way we all interact between us and the government.

“It is my hope that we will at the end of it all be able to present to the Nigerian public, a government, a party and a National Assembly that are working all in the same direction.”

Oyegun also spoke on the importance of party unity to ameliorating the sufferings of Nigerians.

“The economy is tough. As a result, people are going through hard times and it is certainly not acceptable that the public looking up at us will not see that we are all concentrated, determined, focused on programmes, issues that will ameliorate not just the economy but the conditions of living for the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.

“What is important is that as at today, the party is at a critical juncture in its existence and we have the opportunity to take a strong look at the party, an opportunity to take a strong look at our control of the senate and our leadership of the senate, the opportunity to draw up a new basis of cooperation between the Party, its members in the senate and of course the executive because we all belong to one party.”

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Saraki reiterated the commitment of APC to the hopes and aspirations that made Nigerians vote the party into power in 2015.

“We need to work closely together and we are hopeful that a new chapter is being opened today, and we are committed to the hopes and aspirations we gave Nigerians who came out to vote a year and half ago,” Saraki said.