The Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has said his call for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to fuse ahead of the November 6 Anambra State governorship election, is to position Southeast in the mainstream of politics.

He said the call would also enhance a Southeast presidency in 2023.

Okechukwu, a founding member of the APC, urged APGA leaders to fuse into APC as a pragmatic step towards successful and seamless prosecution of the election.

Okechukwu’s call was, however, opposed by Chindedu Obidigwe, the national coordinator of APGA Media Warriors.

He slammed the VON boss for asking APGA to integrate into APC and join the mainstream of Nigerian politics, in order to help the Igbo pick the presidential ticket in 2023.

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But Okechukwu maintained that his call was not misplaced, as APGA and APC had a history of political understanding dating back to 2013 when a faction of APGA joined the merger of APC.

He said in 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari more or less saved Governor Willie Obiano from his traducers, hence his re-election.

“That suggestion was made from the prism of the pragmatic Zikist political model, which joins us with APGA. Pragmatism is the best strategy for Ndigbo to kill two birds with one stone, because if APGA fuses into APC that will gift APC three states in the Southeast – a milestone.

“With three strategic states of the Southeast in APC’s kitty, that is a halfway stroke to Ndigbo’s ambition of achieving Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023. Therefore, I implore you to kindly consider the fruit in APGA joining APC to win the Anambra governorship. Other details will be cordially harmonised.”

“My take is that if the two parties-APGA and APC-come together under one bloc, it will be possible for us to weigh the two standard-bearers, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Senator Andy Uba, on the scale of which of them could better win the election in terms of acceptability, integrity, public service record, capacity and vision for good governance,” the VON DG said.

He faulted Obidigwe’s claim that APC was plotting a forceful takeover of Anambra State, insisting that the feasibility of his suggestion could be seen from the political understanding between the All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999.

Okechukwu said:  “We must recall that in 1999, based on strategic thinking, AD and APP were merged for the presidential election. But, although the powers that be wanted Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), every stakeholder in APP and AD, and indeed all progressive Nigerians saw the political understanding as a win-win offer on the ballot. So, with the benefit of hindsight, I am seeing the same opportunity for APGA and APC in Anambra State.”

He said APGA was missing the point by seeking to remain as a big fish in a small pond of regional politics that had only earned itself just one state in the entire federation.

Okechukwu said: “APGA can, apart from solving its intractable myriad of post-governorship primary litigations, join its old ally, APC, to win the governorship election.”