By Joy Odor
The National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has assured former members of the National Assembly of inclusion in the affairs of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Tye APC Chairman gave the assurance on Thursday while receiving a delegation of former NASS members who paid him a courtesy visit at the APC National Secretariat Abuja led by Hon Ibrahim Zailani.
He said the National Assembly is a veritable symbol of democracy whose removal and suppression under military rule signalled the death of democracy.
Ganduje informed that the grassroots demanded as much from lawmakers as from members of the Executive in terms of physical infrastructure despite the fact that this is not the primary purview of legislators.
“I’m aware some people asked: Why do you do constituency projects?. The answer is that the ordinary voter does not know how legislating is affecting his life. He doesn’t know how oversight function is affecting his life. But he can easily see constituency projects whether it is borehole or a public building and the rest. And for you how do you feel when you see your constituency projects in the various constituencies where you were elected? Of course you feel good; you feel accomplished.”
“Like you requested we shall involve you in what we are doing because you have institutional memory, be it party administration or campaign and how to manage our diversities. You are very qualified than many to handle these.
“We view you as very important institution of our national diversity. We are aware our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, used national diversity to move Lagos forward when he was governor. He will use the same national diversity to move Nigeria forward” he said.
Earlier in his address, the leader of the delegation, Hon. Ibrahim Zailani, said they are at APC basically and fundamentally to congratulate the Chairmsn.
“We know you. We have been following you. We know your antecedents. We know what you have done in Kano State and we are very positive that you will do the same thing here as the national chairman of our party,
“We have no doubt in our mind that you will lead this party to continuously form governments in the Federal Republic of Nigeria for years to come. We know you can do it and we have absolute confidence that you can do it.
“As you can see, we are representing the country because all the six geopolitical zones are adequately represented here.
“We may not be in the House of Representatives or Senate now, but we want to tell you that all of us have the energy, the vision and the interest of the party and Nigeria at heart. So we are offering ourselves for any party or national assignments.”
