The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Oye, on Wednesday, said his party has grown to a level where the welfare of its members should be the top priority.

Speaking on his four years leadership as the party’s national in his country home in Amawbia, Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Oye said that plans are underway to sponsor the party’s state chairmen in the 36 states of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, abroad for leadership training.

He said the chairman will be the first batch for the training while others will follow simultaneously.

He called on aggrieved members to bury their hatchet saying that everybody is needed for the political wagon to be sweeter.

The chairman said: “Let us work together. We need everybody, and in fact, APGA is sweeter when we are more. Some of the people who felt aggrieved have their reasons, but I use this medium to ask them to sheathe their sword and let’s work together because the future is very rosy.

“We are going to look at the welfare of our members. We believe that this party has reached a level where it should be able to take care of its members, not politics, politics, politics all the time.

“We are working with some agencies on how we can send our 36 state chairmen and others abroad for leadership programmes, so that they get developed intellectually and even administratively, so that they acquire more skills on how to administer the party.

”This is something we have been doing silently, without announcing it, but this time we are going to promote it, so that it would reflect our overall vision.

“We are also looking at the intellectual capacity of the members. I believe that as you are giving to the party, the party should also give to you, by ensuring that our members get the opportunity to go for intellectual development abroad, and the party will sponsor them.

“We have a whole lot of things we set out to do, which I cannot espouse in this interview. We have very big plans for this party.”

While stressing that the expansion plan will continue, Oye said the party is working out modalities on how to begin to win elections in Nigeria in a more concrete form.

He explained that one of the ways to achieve that goal is by building confidence in the people of the party; build cohesion and synergy here and there.

He said the party had plans to start a scheme for indigent members of the party as its social corporate responsibility as a welfarist party adding that such programme would instil discipline amongst members so that when instruction or directive is given, it will be carried out religiously.

“It will also help the people to own the party,” he said.

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