Ahead of the 2027 general election, the New National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Chief Edozie Njoku, has held  a meeting with  the party’s South-west stakeholders and members in Lagos, expressing determination to build a working structure for the party across the country.

The meeting brought together some NRM members and leaders from Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos States.

Addressing the stakeholders, Njoku, who emphasised the need for members to be committed to building structures for the party from ward level to the national level, said all politics remained local.

The England-born Nigerian politician, who traced his involvement in politics to the National Republican Convention (NRC) in 1992, said there was the need for members to focus on building the party, rather than looking for pecuniary gains.

According to him, “Politics is not the way many of us see it, politics is a grassroots thing. It is something we play from the grassroots. If you can’t mobilise the grassroots, you have no business in leadership.

“Let us build NRM as a partnership. There is no way the party can work without being organised. The most important thing in NRM is to build the structure. “Any political party that seriously goes into the grassroots will take over as a competitive party because most parties are hollow as everyone is looking for positions.

“So let us believe in ourselves that we will go and build a structure that we can use to demand for a better Nigeria,” he said.

He said that the NRM, if elected, would negotiate and talk for the people rather than looking for personal gains.

“That will not happen in NRM. Let NRM collapse at the beginning and let God stop this movement we are providing if that is the direction we are going,” the chairman added.

Promising that the party would elevate internal democracy in its dealings, Njoku encouraged best hand to come out for positions at the grassroots.

The chairman urged the members to show capacity in the swing states including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Katsina and others.

He said that his team would continue visits to other states starting from the South-east and then to the North to build a formidable structure that could win elections for the party.

Earlier, the Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Freedom Ukwuchukwu,  who applauded the national chairman’s commitment to moving the country forward, said that the meeting had become imperative to reposition the party.

According to him, the Njoku-led leadership was in the state to observe and interact with party stakeholders in the South West people to motivate members.

“In this party, we have freedom and we are committed to rescue not only the South-West but Nigeria as a whole. NRM will move Nigeria forward.”