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 will do higher. Truly, over the past 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 carried out. We had a number of inner points. Most of those that were aggrieved didn’t go away the occasion, they stayed inside the occasion and labored in opposition to the occasion. That was how we misplaced. We had conditions the place our members were campaigning for the opposition occasion. We are comfortable that a number of our members are again. Most members of PDP who were with me once I was the chairman there have come to us, and I can inform you that anybody who remains to be in PDP isn’t in any occasion at present.
Then the Labour Party, a few of them are with us. Most members of that occasion have understood that the feelings of the Labour motion doesn’t look like 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 now have 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 individuals of Anambra nonetheless consider in APGA and we’re getting extra assured daily, and the governor is working way more than we anticipated and generally we are likely to overlook 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 simple 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 effectively, 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 neighborhood. He had 103 votes and APGA received 1,188 votes. Those days we are going to say that he misplaced his deposit in Ogidi, his personal neighborhood. Many individuals can say it occurred as a result of he ran below the flawed occasion, which was Zenith Labour Party, however what occurred within the final presidential and nationwide meeting election is what’s 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 all of a sudden he’s now castigating our governor. I don’t take him critically. He has loads to restore and he has to come back again dwelling 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, though he’s from the central zone. His occasion gave it to the south senatorial zone and he left for Zenith Labour Party. We have a practice of zoning, and it have to be sustained. That custom can’t be stopped as a result of we now have 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 once we will start to take heed to individuals 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, will probably 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 effectively. For Anambra individuals, we’d fairly he completes his 4 years, in order that the rotation is sustained with out interruption. It could be a threat to provide it to a different individual 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 counseled Soludo, saying that he’s doing very effectively. He even stated he want to be Soludo’s marketing campaign supervisor. I do not forget that by going into APC, Senator Ubah has gotten his debt cleared and his court docket circumstances eliminated. I admire the transfer, however it’s a private transfer and never for Anambra individuals.
Beyond that, the approaching race could be primarily based on the efficiency of Soludo. In two years we’re all actually impressed. We have loads to speak about these initiatives the governor is doing when the time comes. Dr Okonkwo doesn’t see the 400 kilometres of roads the governor is doing in numerous elements of Anambra, he didn’t see the employment of 5,000 lecturers and the second part so as to add further 3,000, he received’t see free natal and antenatal take care of Anambra ladies, he received’t see the free training. You don’t simply sit in your consolation in Abuja and criticise. Let him come dwelling and reconcile with the individuals 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 have 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 stated to be the very best for APGA in latest occasions. 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-occasion grievances arising from the primaries, which had its personal unfavorable impact.
We discovered that fairly a variety of our occasion members labored in opposition to us, arising from the poor conduct of the primaries. We additionally had challenges arising from the mindset of the occasion members, so we wanted to work on the mindset of the occasion 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 occasion to satisfy the imaginative and prescient that the brand new govt wanted. It was not simple. We began by going round and visiting main stakeholders who had deserted us or not displaying curiosity any longer. Some of the issues were from primaries, so we wanted to persuade them that issues could be performed another way below my watch. So we introduced again the boldness of the individuals.
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 associates to associates, girlfriends to politicians, some lived in London, US, Abuja and lots of locations within the diaspora.
But the present regime has a brand new imaginative and prescient for political appointees. The current regime below Governor Soludo believes it’s higher to show individuals learn how to fish fairly than giving them fish. The previous political appointees felt they’d been shortchanged. The promise was that they were going to be re-engaged, and all these were the crises we met and we wanted to carry 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’re 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 occasion. Again, we now have additionally began inaugurating varied constructions in a brand new method, and among the issues we now have discovered is that it’s not simply the occasion executives that it’s a must to belief to ship. We normal out a course of the place the grassroot people who find themselves not the daily occasion officers can operate within the affairs of the occasion.
We have conditions the place palliatives come, and elements of the issue we had up to now was that those that are the leaders hold this stuff, so past the executives, we now have damaged wards into kindreds, and when we now have issues to share, we guarantee that each kindred will get it. So these are among the issues we now have been doing.
One good factor is that we now have been capable of carry again self-discipline. We misplaced it up to now, so once we got here in, we determined to instil self-discipline, and that is from the highest. I stated 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 should not members of our occasion, however it is extremely necessary that they exist. So you will need to enable them to run their organisation and maintain their help.
So, all collectively, we stated we are going to rebrand the operational modus, so that we are going to have higher concord and technique within the operations inside the occasion and the help teams, with the complete data the occasion stays supreme.
While we’re working to attain the identical objective, the occasion should maintain its supremacy. It has not been simple, it has not been what we’re used to. Before, we had help teams that were stronger than the occasion and higher funded than the occasion, however now we’re working collectively as a household. I all the time inform them, you’re employed as a help group, however we don’t need city guerillas, those that simply gown up and are available to Awka and present themselves as help teams, however haven’t any constructions, all the way down to the ward degree. So we now have requirements by which we will acknowledge you as a help group. If there’s something we now have been capable of do inside this era, it’s the truth that we now have been capable of carry the occasion again to life, make it seen as one political household, working for one goal and imaginative and prescient, below a revered chief.
By subsequent yr, electioneering for the governorship election would start, and with the labour motion, and the Ifeanyi Ubah’s defection to APC, Soludo might have issue in returning as governor. What do you assume?
By Labour you imply Valentine Ozigbo, is it not? Unfortunately, that title has turn out to be synonymous with dropping elections. If he contests, he will likely be contesting in opposition to his homeboy from Aguata (Soludo). As for the ‘Obidient’ man (Peter Obi), APGA has crushed 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, once we went into struggle with Nigeria with out preparation. It isn’t prone to occur to Ndigbo once more. There will likely be no Obidient motion within the governorship election as a result of that motion was tied round an emotion to turn out to be president of Nigeria. It had nothing to do with Peter Obi as an individual.
At that time limit, 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 instructed 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 direction of the top of subsequent yr, most of what he has began will crystallise.
When we start to see the community of roads that may transfer from Amansea, come by means of Okpuno, and a flyover, which might be coming earlier than the election, once we see the dualisation from Amawbia all the way down to Uga, with a flyover, which turns to Isuofia in direction of Nnobi, the individuals would know who to vote.
Like my governor all the time says, simply wait and see. See what is going on in Onitsha south and the variety of roads arising. We have sat down with him (Soludo) and requested him how he intends to attain sure issues and he has instructed us that by this time subsequent yr, no one in APGA may have the boldness to come back out and contest for the ticket in opposition to him.
