A former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) bigwigs must work together and build bridges for the party to remain in power for 50 years.

Addressing newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, Sheriff, a three-time Senator who is also a contender for the APC national chairmanship, said critical stakeholders of the ruling party must unite to sustain the party at the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

Former governors and other APC stalwarts have commenced politicking; consultations and horse-trading for the party’s apex office, amid zoning controversy.

Sheriff, who has been consulting critical stakeholders, including governors, senators and founding fathers of the APC said, “Today, as a party we are only six years in government, our aspirations are for the APC to be in government in the next 50 years.

“He (Buhari) brought that to the table and what are we going to face after the exit of His Excellency, the President? It is we the APC members that will tell the world that we are capable of getting their trust even when he finished his tenure.

“Doing that, you need everybody. You need people who know the history of the party, where we are coming from, who know the history of this country, someone who has been in different aspects of life and we need to work together, we need to build bridges across the country.

“Doing that doesn’t come on the platter of gold, we need to put in hard work. Therefore, I believe it is important for me to reach out to all leaders of our party; the youths, the women, different organizations to tell them that we must come together to get our party to run for the next 30, 40, 50 years by the grace of God.”