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 obtained as much as 27 seats at some extent, however this time round, we obtained 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 variety of inner points. Most of those that were aggrieved didn’t go away the occasion, they stayed throughout the occasion and labored towards 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 variety 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 let you know that anybody who remains to be in PDP will not be in any occasion as we speak.
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 seem to be one thing that may final lengthy. I can let you know 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 actually APGA and the folks of Anambra nonetheless imagine in APGA and we’re getting extra assured day-to-day, and the governor is working way more than we anticipated and typically 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 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 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 neighborhood. He had 103 votes and APGA obtained 1,188 votes. Those days we’ll say that he misplaced his deposit in Ogidi, his personal neighborhood. Many folks can say it occurred as a result of he ran below the unsuitable occasion, which was Zenith Labour Party, however what occurred within the final presidential and nationwide meeting election is what’s going to retire any severe 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 significantly. He has lots to restore and he has to come back again residence to restore the injury he has finished 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 working, despite the fact that 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 convention 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 may 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 folks like Obiora Okonkwo. For now, it isn’t 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 will likely 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 might moderately he completes his 4 years, in order that the rotation is sustained with out interruption. It could be a danger to offer it to a different particular person from the south, as a result of he would desire 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 nicely. He even mentioned he wish 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 courtroom instances eliminated. I respect the transfer, however it’s a private transfer and never for Anambra folks.
Beyond that, the approaching race could be based mostly on the efficiency of Soludo. In two years we’re all actually impressed. We have lots 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 academics and the second section so as to add extra 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 residence 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 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 in addition difficult. I’ll let you know 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 most effective for APGA in latest occasions. We by no means had it so low. We obtained 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 detrimental impact.
We discovered that fairly a lot of our occasion members labored towards us, arising from the poor conduct of the primaries. We additionally had challenges arising from the mindset of the occasion members, so we would have liked 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 fulfill the imaginative and prescient that the brand new government wanted. It was not simple. 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 finished differently below 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 kinds of individuals. Some were not gainfully employed, some were pals to pals, 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 below Governor Soludo believes it’s higher to show folks find out how to fish moderately 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 would have liked to deliver again their confidence and make them perceive that the coverage drive of Governor Soludo is healthier than what they used to have earlier than.
We gave them examples that Soludo has employed 5,000 academics and that counted for us electorally. The governor additionally began the one youth two abilities programme. So they noticed that this mannequin is healthier. People obtained 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 indicate curiosity within the issues of the occasion. Again, we now have additionally began inaugurating varied constructions in a brand new method, and a number of the issues we now have discovered is that it isn’t simply the occasion executives that you need to belief to ship. We usual out a course of the place the grassroot people who find themselves not the each day occasion officers can perform within the affairs of the occasion.
We have conditions the place palliatives come, and components of the issue we had prior to now was that those that are the leaders maintain these items, so past the executives, we now have damaged wards into kindreds, and when we now have issues to share, we ensure that each kindred will get it. So these are a number of the issues we now have been doing.
One good factor is that we now have been in a position to deliver again self-discipline. We misplaced it prior to now, so once 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 are usually not members of our occasion, however it is rather necessary that they exist. So it’s essential to enable them to run their organisation and maintain their help.
So, all collectively, we mentioned we’ll rebrand the operational modus, so that we’ll have higher concord and technique within the operations throughout the occasion and the help teams, with the total information the occasion stays supreme.
While we’re working to realize 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, right down to the ward stage. So we now have requirements by which we are able to acknowledge you as a help group. If there’s something we now have been in a position to do inside this era, it’s the truth that we now have been in a position to deliver 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 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 title has grow to be 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 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 mustn’t repeat itself. It was like what occurred in 1967, once we went into battle with Nigeria with out preparation. It will not be prone 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 grow 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 informed him as a celebration to please think about his good governance. His authorities is lower than two years, and it isn’t a time to evaluate anyone, however we’re positive from his programmes that when it’s time for campaigning, in the direction of the tip 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 via Okpuno, and a flyover, which might be coming earlier than the election, once 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.
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 realize sure issues and he has informed us that by this time subsequent 12 months, no one in APGA may have the boldness to come back out and contest for the ticket towards him.
