Ahead of Saturday’s convention of the All Progressives Congress, a women leader aspirant, Hon Betta Edu, has reiterated and affirmed her loyalty to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the party, and all its members.
Assuring that her loyalty is complete and total, Edu expressed confidence in her ability to rally women’s vote and Mobilise their support across the country.
The aspirant gave the assurance in a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja titled, “Let’s Move Forward and Unite Round Our Shared Objectives as Progressives’.
The statement reads in part: ‘My loyalty to the All Progressives Congress and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is complete and total.
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“I am one of you, and I seek to lead our women because I believe in my ability to rally women’s votes and mobilize their support across the country based on well-developed policies and strategies to facilitate their membership of the party, and to spur and guide our leadership across all levels on impactful ways to prioritize women-focused issues that will hasten the growth of the country and significantly improve our chances at the polls.
“Since my entry into the party, I have focused on and made significant progress in the mission to deepen the acceptance of the APC in Cross River state and across the South-South region. This is even more so amongst women with whom I have built decades-long relationships based on my advocacy and championing of their inclusion and empowerment.
“I am convinced that this goal of expanding the reach and influence of the party in a region still considered the stronghold of the opposition is one that we all share, considering its grave importance to our chance of retaining political power, especially at the center.
“I appeal to you all for your understanding in the request to unite around these shared objectives and continue with the all-important integration process and consensus-building that will help grow the party and win more converts.”
However, against the backdrop of the attack on her person as a result of her posts and tweets during the Endsars protest, the aspirant begged for understanding and insisted that she had never endorsed violence in any of its crudest forms as it is been spread in the social media.
On her role during the protest, she said, “I am aware of the fact that some of my previous actions as a member of the opposition party, notably my stance during the nationwide EndSARS protests that gripped the nation in the year 2020, have generated confusion and caused some to question both my loyalty to the APC and my fitness to serve in its leadership structure.
“While I admire the courage and devotion of our party members whose scrutiny of my profile unearthed past comments and positions, I wish to set the records straight and offer a contextual understanding of these isolated comments at issue today by stating clearly and fully the motivations that guided my actions during what was a pivotal moment in the country’s recent history.
“When the EndSARS protest first broke out in the year 2020 as a civil agitation against the very real problem of police brutality, like most Nigerians, I was sympathetic to the cause, more so because I have equally been subjected to a most traumatic experience by policemen who violated the ethics of their profession and my basic rights as a Nigerian.
“My sense at the time was also that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration indeed acknowledged the existence of the problem and reiterated its commitment to tackling it with promised reforms and other institutional changes, hence the acceptance of the ‘five for five’ demands outlined by the recognized leadership of the protest movement.
“However, contrary to insinuations making the rounds, I did not at any point endorse the use of violence as a way to express these concerns or call the attention of the government. In actual fact, I have evidence of media appearances and interviews that I granted to condemn the sad and most unfortunate degeneration of the movement to widespread violence, arson, and damaging vandalism.”
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