The 24 members of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the 2023 Abia House of Assembly election have demanded an end to factions in the party.

Anderson Akaliro, the only elected APC lawmaker in the House of Assembly and the group’s leader, led the candidates on a reconciliation mission to Abuja, according to a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting.

This was disclosed in the group’s communiqué at the end of a reconciliation meeting tagged ‘Abia APC Crisis Peace Initiative’, anchored by Mr Akaliro, the only APC lawmaker in the Abia parliament.

Mr Akaliro, who signed the communiqué, urged the national leadership of APC to, as a matter of urgency, convene a meeting of all leaders and stakeholders of the party to resolve the impasse.

He said the meeting should include the zonal leadership and the 2023 House of Assembly, Abia APC lawmakers in the National Assembly, to obtain their commitment to a peace accord.

“All factions within the rank and file of the party should be resolved, and all factions should fall back into the party as one indivisible unit. We are aware of the forthcoming Congress, and we employ the party leadership to commit to ensuring that all interest groups are duly represented in the state, LGA, and ward party positions,” he said.

According to him, this will be a prelude to free and fair party primaries in 2026.

Therefore, he called on all gladiators in the crisis to sheath their swords and embrace peace and unity in APC in Abia.

“We want peace in the Abia APC because there are multiple factions, which is the reason why we lost the election. Twenty-four of us contested for the state assembly election and 23 lost; the faction challenge contributed to our loss. We only have one person as an APC member who won the election,” he said in the communiqué.

He said issues responsible for the factions, including the imposition of candidates, greed, and pride anchored on personality clashes of interests, were not good for the party’s progress.

He appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the party’s national chairman to call all stakeholders, including assembly candidates and Abia APC lawmakers in the two chambers of the National Assembly, for a truce.

(NAN)