The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday clarified that it does not have discriminatory practices which preclude new members from to the advantage of founding members, saying all leaders of the party have equal rights in the affairs of the party.

The interim national publicity secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this yesterday while reacting to insinuations in certain quarters that the five PDP governors who defected to the APC have been denied the leadership of the party in their respective states.

According to Mohammed, the defecting G-5 governors' status in the new party is same with other governors, especially former governors of the parties that coalesced to form the APC.

Lately, there have been reports of crisis of confidence among leaders of the APC in the former G-5 states controlled by the former PDP governors who defected in November last year. The PDP governors who defected are Rabi'u Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).

But Mohammed in a statement yesterday re-iterated the readiness of the APC to synergise efforts to rescue Nigeria.

He said "For the avoidance of doubt, please quote me that I said that the party insists that APC governors whether new or old will drive the party in their various states until we have state congresses and for this purpose, there will be no discrimination between old or new APC governors or those who defected from the PDP.

"As a new party that is determined to rescue Nigeria from decadence imposed on the country by the troubled PDP, there is no doubt that there might be challenges; but these challenges are not as significant as our opponents might want to magnify them. This of course, is one of such.

"The PDP said we will not be able to merge; we did. They said we not be registered, but we scaled the hurdle; now they are looking for non-existent issues within our ranks to mislead unsuspecting party members. Even in this regard, they will fail.

"Like we have always said, the coming of the former PDP governors means a lot to us in the APC; their coming is a source of strength which we all cherish and there has always been mutual respect among leaders of the APC, whether new or old governors, founding members or new members. Our goal remains unshaken and unwavering- to rescue Nigeria, deepen Nigeria's democracy and bring back the nation's lost glory occasioned by the misrule of the PDP."