Before now, APGA used to have as many as 25 seats within the House of Assembly out of 30, however within the final election, you had solely 16. What is your confidence that you’ll carry out higher within the subsequent election?
I’ve confidence that we are able to do higher. Truly, over the last administration, we received as much as 27 seats at some extent, however this time round, we received 16, earlier than the present speaker joined us. Part of why we misplaced a few of these seats were the issues I had recognized earlier than. The sham primaries we performed. We had plenty of inside points. Most of those that were aggrieved didn’t depart the celebration, they stayed inside the celebration and labored towards the celebration. That was how we misplaced. We had conditions the place our members were campaigning for the opposition celebration. We are completely happy that plenty of our members are again. Most members of PDP who were with me after I was the chairman there have come to us, and I can inform you that anybody who remains to be in PDP will not be in any celebration right now.
Then the Labour Party, a few of them are with us. Most members of that celebration have understood that the feelings of the Labour motion doesn’t appear to be one thing that can final lengthy. I can inform you that issues can by no means be worse than they were earlier than. As lengthy as we’ve credible primaries, the election in Anambra received’t be an issue for APGA, and I can guarantee you on that.
Anambra is really APGA and the folks of Anambra nonetheless consider in APGA and we’re getting extra assured daily, and the governor is working far more than we anticipated and generally we are likely to neglect that he’s lower than two years in workplace. His achievements are already competing with these of people who find themselves 4 years. So his achievements will make the election very straightforward for us to win.
Two former governorship candidates within the final election have rated your governor very low. One is Obiora Okonkwo and the opposite is Ifeanyi Ubah. So what have you ever to say about this?
Let me begin with my brother, Obiora Okonkwo. I’m beginning with him as a result of I do know him too nicely, and I do know with each kindness to him that he must rebuild his political profession. He ran for governorship and misplaced very woefully in my group. He had 103 votes and APGA received 1,188 votes. Those days we’ll say that he misplaced his deposit in Ogidi, his personal group. Many folks can say it occurred as a result of he ran beneath the fallacious celebration, which was Zenith Labour Party, however what occurred within the final presidential and nationwide meeting election is what is going to retire any critical politician. He was the DG of PDP presidential candidate, and PDP didn’t win even one polling unit in Ogidi ward one and two, together with his polling unit. After that, he disappeared and abruptly he’s now castigating our governor. I don’t take him severely. He has quite a bit to restore and he has to come back again house to restore the injury he has performed to his political profession.
Again, if he is considering governorship, it means he has learnt nothing from the previous errors. Part of the previous mistake was that governorship was zoned to the south, however he insisted on operating, although he’s from the central zone. His celebration gave it to the south senatorial zone and he left for Zenith Labour Party. We have a practice of zoning, and it should be sustained. That custom can’t be stopped as a result of we’ve the likes of Obiora Okonkwo. He is a younger man, he might be affected person and his time will come. The South will rule for eight years, earlier than it involves the Central and that’s after we will start to take heed to folks like Obiora Okonkwo. For now, it’s not the flip of Central, we’re ready for the South to finish their tenure.
Back to the South the place the likes of Ifeanyi Ubah is coming from. Still on the premise of zoning, it is going to be dishonest for him to say he’s coming in to finish the 4 years of south earlier than the rotation continues. We have a governor from the south already, and he’s doing very nicely. For Anambra folks, we’d quite he completes his 4 years, in order that the rotation is sustained with out interruption. It could be a threat to present it to a different particular person from the south, as a result of he would need a second time period.
But once more, the identical Ubah you talked about was at a city corridor assembly in Abuja and he recommended Soludo, saying that he’s doing very nicely. He even mentioned he wish to be Soludo’s marketing campaign supervisor. I keep in mind that by going into APC, Senator Ubah has gotten his debt cleared and his courtroom circumstances eliminated. I recognize the transfer, however it’s a private transfer and never for Anambra folks.
Beyond that, the approaching race could be primarily based on the efficiency of Soludo. In two years we’re all actually impressed. We have quite a bit to speak about these tasks the governor is doing when the time comes. Dr Okonkwo doesn’t see the 400 kilometres of roads the governor is doing in several components of Anambra, he didn’t see the employment of 5,000 lecturers and the second section so as to add further 3,000, he received’t see free natal and antenatal look after Anambra ladies, he received’t see the free training. You don’t simply sit in your consolation in Abuja and criticise. Let him come house and reconcile with the folks of Ogidi who’ve rejected him. He is a failed politician.
You have been six months on this saddle because the chairman of APGA in Anambra State. Let us know what you’ve got been doing inside this time period?
Thanks for reminding me that I’ve been right here for six months. It has been an attention-grabbing interval and likewise difficult. I’ll inform you why it has been difficult. We got here in at a time when the spirit of APGA members was fairly low. We were battling with many issues. We are simply coming in when the results of the final election can’t be mentioned to be the perfect for APGA in current instances. We by no means had it so low. We received solely 16 seats within the House of Assembly, 4 within the House of Representatives, and we were additionally battling with intra-celebration grievances arising from the primaries, which had its personal unfavourable impact.
We came upon that fairly various our celebration members labored towards us, arising from the poor conduct of the primaries. We additionally had challenges arising from the mindset of the celebration members, so we would have liked to work on the mindset of the celebration members, particularly on not opening as much as new members. There were challenges arising from disunity within the operational construction.
So we began rebuilding, rebranding, repositioning the celebration to fulfill the imaginative and prescient that the brand new govt wanted. It was not straightforward. We began by going round and visiting main stakeholders who had deserted us or not exhibiting curiosity any longer. Some of the issues were from primaries, so we would have liked to persuade them that issues could be performed another way beneath my watch. So we introduced again the boldness of the folks.
There were additionally the grievances of previous political appointees, of greater than 3,000, consisting of all types of individuals. Some were not gainfully employed, some were buddies to buddies, girlfriends to politicians, some lived in London, US, Abuja and plenty of locations within the diaspora.
But the present regime has a brand new imaginative and prescient for political appointees. The current regime beneath Governor Soludo believes it’s higher to show folks find out how to fish quite than giving them fish. The previous political appointees felt that they had been shortchanged. The promise was that they were going to be re-engaged, and all these were the crises we met and we would have liked to deliver again their confidence and make them perceive that the coverage drive of Governor Soludo is best than what they used to have earlier than.
We gave them examples that Soludo has employed 5,000 lecturers and that counted for us electorally. The governor additionally began the one youth two expertise programme. So they noticed that this mannequin is best. People received cheques for N250,000, N500,000 and extra to go and begin their very own commerce. So you see that it’s higher than incomes salaries because the appointees used to and on the finish of that regime, you might be thrown again into the labour market.
So, that’s a part of the rebuilding course of and other people have begun to point out curiosity within the issues of the celebration. Again, we’ve additionally began inaugurating varied constructions in a brand new method, and a number of the issues we’ve came upon is that it’s not simply the celebration executives that you need to belief to ship. We common out a course of the place the grassroot people who find themselves not the daily celebration officers can operate within the affairs of the celebration.
We have conditions the place palliatives come, and components of the issue we had up to now was that those that are the leaders preserve these items, so past the executives, we’ve damaged wards into kindreds, and when we’ve issues to share, we guarantee that each kindred will get it. So these are a number of the issues we’ve been doing.
One good factor is that we’ve been in a position to deliver again self-discipline. We misplaced it up to now, so after we got here in, we determined to instil self-discipline, and that is from the highest. I mentioned one thing in regards to the operational construction, sure. We additionally suffered that earlier than, however now it’s our coverage that individuals who come up as help teams, a few of them usually are not members of our celebration, however it is vitally essential that they exist. So you need to permit them to run their organisation and maintain their help.
So, all collectively, we mentioned we’ll rebrand the operational modus, so that we are going to have higher concord and technique within the operations inside the celebration and the help teams, with the total data the celebration stays supreme.
While we’re working to realize the identical purpose, the celebration should maintain its supremacy. It has not been straightforward, it has not been what we’re used to. Before, we had help teams that were stronger than the celebration and higher funded than the celebration, however now we’re working collectively as a household. I at all times inform them, you’re employed as a help group, however we don’t need city guerillas, those that simply costume up and are available to Awka and present themselves as help teams, however don’t have any constructions, right down to the ward degree. So we’ve requirements by which we are able to acknowledge you as a help group. If there’s something we’ve been in a position to do inside this era, it’s the truth that we’ve been in a position to deliver the celebration again to life, make it seen as one political household, working for one objective and imaginative and prescient, beneath a revered chief.
By subsequent 12 months, electioneering for the governorship election would start, and with the labour motion, and the Ifeanyi Ubah’s defection to APC, Soludo could have issue in returning as governor. What do you suppose?
By Labour you imply Valentine Ozigbo, is it not? Unfortunately, that identify has turn into synonymous with dropping elections. If he contests, he can be contesting towards his homeboy from Aguata (Soludo). As for the ‘Obidient’ man (Peter Obi), APGA has overwhelmed him twice. We beat him when he introduced a person from Ogbaru, Oseloka Obaze, and we beat him once more when he introduced Val Ozigbo. What occurred within the final Obidient Movement is a lesson to Ndigbo and shouldn’t repeat itself. It was like what occurred in 1967, after we went into warfare with Nigeria with out preparation. It will not be more likely to occur to Ndigbo once more. There can be no Obidient motion within the governorship election as a result of that motion was tied round an emotion to turn into president of Nigeria. It had nothing to do with Peter Obi as an individual.
At that cut-off date, the Igbos felt it was their flip, rightly or wrongly. It has come and it has gone, and that issue can by no means come into play once more within the subsequent governorship election. Whether Governor Soludo will contest or not, we is not going to put him within the radar but, till that point comes. We have additionally advised him as a celebration to please focus on his good governance. His authorities is lower than two years, and it’s not a time to evaluate anyone, however we’re positive from his programmes that when it’s time for campaigning, in the direction of the top of subsequent 12 months, most of what he has began will crystallise.
When we start to see the community of roads that will transfer from Amansea, come by means of Okpuno, and a flyover, which might be coming earlier than the election, after we see the dualisation from Amawbia right down to Uga, with a flyover, which turns to Isuofia in the direction of Nnobi, the folks would know who to vote.
