“APC Differences Expected, Party Still Evolving”

The Deputy Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that the ruling party (APC) is still evolving and there will always be differences.

He stated this on Friday on a live national television programme monitored in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Peterside, who is also the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), maintained that the APC-led Federal Government had done well in the past three years.

He noted that what a lot of people had been seeing as internal combustion within the APC was part of its evolving process, where people with different tendencies would always struggle to realise their political ambitions, with all the issues being resolved internally.

The NIMASA chief said: “APC as a party is still evolving. There will always be differences and there is no time when all the issues can be resolved, but we are doing and have done well.”

Peterside, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, also admitted that some national leaders of the party might have some concerns, but the relevant hierarchies of the party were addressing all the issues.

On the issue of farmers/herdsmen clash, he said the Federal Government was genuinely concerned about the security of lives and property, hence identifying the problem and seriously working out measures to arrest the ugly situation.

The APC chieftain noted that since security breaches varied from one locality to another, the Federal Government decided to take multidimensional approach to identify and resolve the root cause of each challenge.

He said: “The Federal Government is concerned about insecurity in Nigeria. The government has identified the problem and it is being tackled. The government is not living in self-denial and that is very important. It did not start today and the government is looking at multidimensional approach to resolving it.”

On whether the service chiefs should not have been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari, the NIMASA chief stated that without first identifying the root causes of the various security challenges, sacking them might not solve any problem.

Peterside stressed that information at the disposal of the President would determine the kind of strategy to use and whether the service chiefs should be removed from office, pointing out that taking rash decisions because of opposition was not the best of response.