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Tag: APGA

  • Council chair to APGA Assembly candidate: your allegation a ruse

    The Chairman of Umunneochi Local Government in Abia State, Mr. Jasper Uche, has described the allegation levelled against him by the House of Assembly candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prince Ikedi Ezekwesiri, as a ruse.

    He said he felt obliged to respond to the allegations and distortion of facts by Ezekwesiri, the APGA candidate for Umunneochi State Constituency, which he said was an embarrassment.

    The council chairman, who reacted to the allegation by Ezekwesiri that he and a federal lawmaker, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, committed malpractices during the last elections, said there were no such thing.

    Ezekwesiri alleged that in his local government, the federal legislator used security agents to intimidate members of other parties.

    The state lawmaker alleged that the federal lawmaker used security agents attached to her to intimidate APGA and their agents and in some cases allegedly snatched ballot boxes in collaboration with the council chairman.

    Uche in a statement said there was no case of ballot box snatching that “I am aware of. With the use of card reading machine for accreditation, it will be nonsensical to attempt to snatch ballot boxes, as only the votes of the accredited voters will be counted and recorded.

    “The distribution of electoral materials is not within the purview of the local government chairman. So, if there are logistic challenges in the distribution of electoral materials in some areas as alleged, common sense and civility demand that the matter should be taken up with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not to resort to cheap blackmail against the electoral umpire.”

    “I’m aware that Onyejeocha did not move about on the election day. She only went and voted in her polling unit and later reported at the INEC office, after the election, to receive her result.

    “Those who saw her knew that her security aides were left in her home, in compliance with the guidelines for the election.”

  • APGA candidate’s allegation as ruse

    SIR: I feel obliged to respond to the spurious allegations and deliberate distortion of facts by the APGA House of Assembly candidate for Umunneochi state constituency, Prince Ikedi Ezekwesiri; whose alleged congenital mouth diarrhea is an embarrassment.  First, there was no case of ballot box snatching that I am aware of. With the use of card reading machine for accreditation, it would be ridiculous to attempt to snatch ballot boxes, as only the votes of the accredited voters would be counted and recorded.

    Second, the distribution of electoral materials is not within the purview of the Local Government Chairman. So, if there are logistic challenges in the distribution of electoral materials in some areas as alleged, common sense and civility, demands that the matter should be taken up with INEC and not to resort to cheap blackmail against the electoral umpire.

    Third, I am aware that Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha did not move about on that Election Day. She only went and voted in her polling unit and later reported to INEC office, after the election, to receive her result. Those who saw her knew that her security aides were left in her house, in compliance with the guidelines for the election.

    So, Ezekwesiri’s ploy as a punch-drunk man is to contrive a scenario of a skewed play ground, in order to extract greater funding from power desperadoes who masquerade as democrats.

    • Jasper Uche is the Chairman of Umunneochi  LGA, Abia State

     

  • APC, APGA, others seek REC’s redeployment

    Stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Chidi Ibe, have canvassed the redeployment of the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), George Ada, for allegedly conniving with security agents to compromise last weekend’s elections.

    Ibe, who recalled how he was manhandled by soldiers at the alleged instruction of the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, accused the REC of compromising the process by handing over sensitive electoral materials to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates.

    He said the purported results released by the commission did not represent the figure obtained by party agents.

     “We demand the redeployment of the REC and the overhaul of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and ad hoc workers before the governorship election, to forestall a repeat of the sham, which occurred during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    “We saw how security agents and INEC officials assisted the PDP to compromise the process and we will resist any attempt to rig the governorship election by any person or group of persons.”

    The Speaker of the House of Assembly and the APC senatorial candidate for Imo North (Okigwe Senatorial Zone), Benjamin Uwajumogu, described the election as a “complete sham.”

    He said elections did not hold in majority of the local governments, including Ehime Mbano, Isiala Mbano and Okigwe, but results were released by INEC in favour of the PDP.

    Calling for the cancellation of the election, Uwajumogu alleged that “at Ehime Mbano Local Government for instance, ballot papers and other materials meant for Imo West (Owerri Senatorial Zone) were brought to Okigwe Zone. On noticing the situation, INEC quickly withdrew the ballot papers and this delayed the exercise.”

  • APC, APGA, others want Imo REC redeployed

    APC, APGA, others want Imo REC redeployed

    Major stakeholders in Imo State, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Chidi Ibe, have called for the immediate redeployment of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), George Ada, for allegedly conniving with security agents to compromise the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Ibe who recounted how he was manhandled by soldiers at the alleged instance of the Minister of State for Education, Professor Viola Onwuliri, accused the REC of compromising the process by handing over sensitive electoral materials to PDP candidates.

    According to the Commissioner, the purported results released by the Commission do not represent the figures obtained by the various party agents in the state.

    “We urgently demand the redeployment of the state REC and the overhaul of the entire INEC officials and adhoc staff in the state before the governorship election to forestall a repeat of the sham that happened during Presidential and National Assembly election.

    “We saw how security agents and INEC staff assisted the PDP to compromise the process and we will resist any attempt to rig the governorship election by any person or group of persons”.

    Also rejecting the results of the National Assembly elections in the state, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and the APC Senatorial candidate for Imo North (Okigwe senatorial zone), Hon.Benjamin Uwajumogu, described the election as a “complete sham”.

    The Speaker held that elections did not hold in the majority of the Local Government Areas, including Ehime Mbano, Isiala Mbano, and Okigwe Council Areas but results were released in the Council Areas by INEC in favour of the PDP.

    Calling for the cancelation of the entire election, Uwajumogu alleged that “at Ehime Mbano LGA for instance, ballot papers and other election materials meant for Imo West (Owerri senatorial zone) were brought to Okigwe zone. On noticing the situation INEC quickly withdrew the ballot papers and this delayed the exercise.

    “At about 7 pm the Electoral Officer announced that it was already late and the election was shifted to the following day and we all agreed to hold the election the following morning but the moment we left the Electoral Officer and the PDP candidate wrote the results of the election and took it to INEC and it was announced as the result from the zone”.

    According to him, “the results that emanated in the purported Senatorial election in Imo North especially in the polling units of Ehime Mbano, Isiala Mbano, Onuimo, Okigwe and Ihitte/Uboma did not reflect the actual results with the party agents.

    “I reject the entire results being circulated to have emanated from the said March 28th 2015 Senatorial election in the affected LGAs in Imo North. And we will not accept the result until a fresh election is conducted”.

    In a similar vein, the APGA state Chairman, Barrister Peter Ezeobi, also called for the cancellation of the National Assembly elections alleging that the result announced did not correspond with the votes casted.

    Addressing journalists, Ezeobi pointed out that election never took place in some wards in Orlu Local zone such as Isu, Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema, agwa, Asa Obirie and Obiti where he alleged that ballot boxes were snatched by some PDP thugs.

    Ezeobi while calling for a fresh election to be conducted in the three senatorial zones in the state urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on the performance of the card readers and check the high incidence of thuggery, violence and ballot snatching that marred the National Assembly elections.

  • APC, APGA, LP, PPA reject National Assembly poll in Ebonyi

    Four opposition parties in Ebonyi State yesterday rejected last Saturday’s National Assembly election. They urged its cancellation.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the poll.

    The parties are the All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and Progressives People’s Alliance (PPA).

    The parties, in a statement, accused PDP of colluding with the military and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to rig the legislative election.

    The statement was signed by the Chairman of APC, Mr. Ben Nwobashi; the Chairman of LP, Comrade Obiya Sebastine; the Chairman of APGA, Comrade Jerry Obasi and the Chairman of PPA, Mr. Stephen Ezeali.

    They said: “The most tragic aspect of the monumental show of shame in Ebonyi during the National Assembly election was that the military was involved in the attack on the civic functions of citizens on the order of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who was all over the place panting in desperation over the loss of his boss at the polls.

    “Cases include Izzi, Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Ohaukwu, Ezza North, Ishielu, Ikwo and Ohaozara local governments where elections were not conducted.

    “In Ohazara Local Government, it was difficult to differentiate between thugs, soldiers and INEC officials because all were engaged in a despicable bazaar of vote stealing.”

    The parties urged the removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Lawrence Azubuike, accusing him of aiding rigging.

    The Nation learnt that the  parties had begun moves to form an alliance against the PDP for the governorship election.

    The APC governorship candidate, Senator Julius Ucha; his APGA and LP counterparts, Senator Anthony Agbo and Edward Nkwegu, it was gathered, are meeting to perfect plans to defeat PDP in the poll.

    The three standard-bearers reportedly met Governor Martin Elechi yesterday morning.

  • APGA candidate laments declared result

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for Abia North, Chief David Ogba Onuoha, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release results of the district.

    He alleged that there were malpractices during the elections.

    Addressing reporters at the INEC headquarters in Umuahia, Onuoha alleged that the polls were marred by fraud by agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He alleged that the PDP candidate, Chief Mao Ohuabunwa, aided by Transition Committee chairmen, falsified result in most units.

    Onuoha enjoined INEC not to accept the purported declaration of the PDP candidate as the winner of the poll, saying it was illegal for Collation officers to declare the winner of the election instead of the Returning officer.

    But at a news conference, Ohuabunwa dismissed the allegation, saying the results declared at the councils showed that he won the election.

    He said Onuoha only expressed his annoyance, following his defeat at the polls.

     

     

     

     

  • APGA threatens to withdraw support for PDP

    The national leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has condemned the attack on its candidates in Abia State and other parts of the South-East.

    Recall that the governorship candidate of APGA in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, the Abia South Senatorial candidate, Sir Chris Nkwonta, and the National Chairman of the party, have been victims of attacks from their opponents, especially the ruling Peoples Democratic Party recently, an incident the National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Okwukwwe Ibiam, in a press conference described as not only unfortunate but condemnable and undemocratic.

    Ibiam also expressed dissatisfaction over the abuse of their support by the PDP and warned that members of the PDP should not take their endorsement for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office, for granted.

    The Publicity Secretary, who described the South-East as the stronghold of APGA, said “Common sense would have prevailed on the PDP, especially in the South-East that APGA’s goodwill and co-option of the PDP presidential candidate would have engendered a co-operative, coordinated APGA and PDP campaign on behalf of the Presidency on APGA’s turf”.

    Ibiam regretted that despite their support for the candidacy of Jonathan, the PDP had paid them back badly even when they had rode on their support for Jonathan to penetrate the South-East.

  • APGA candidate Otti assesses INEC’s readiness for polls

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has visited the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) office in the state, to ascertain its level of preparedness for the elections.

    Otti, after the visit, said he was satisfied with the explanations by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Selina Oko.

    He urged her not to be intimidated by any party.

    The APGA standard-bearer enjoined politicians to respect the peace accord signed with the police and other security agents so that the elections would be peaceful.

    Addressing reporters after the visit, Otti said he was at INEC’s office as a stakeholder to ensure that the elections were free and fair.

    He said: “We have election on Saturday and I needed to come and assess the level of preparedness by INEC, to be sure that things will go on well. I can say I am satisfied.”

     

  • ‘Don’t underrate APGA in Ogun’

    ‘Don’t underrate APGA in Ogun’

    Ogun State All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate Prof. David Bamgbose, spoke with SEYI ODEWALE on his plans for the state and other issues that he and his new party will direct the affairs of Ogun State come May 29. 

    How has your campaign been?

    Our campaign journey has been so wonderful. I’m the candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) The whole idea is that we are looking for a party that will match our vision. A party that will not just think of the money bags, a party that will look at programmes and individuals; a party that loves justice. You know one of the banes of the political parties in Nigeria is the consideration of presentation of candidates not based on the generality of interest or antecedents or things an individual has done in the past. Our experience is that two predominant factors played roles in the emergence of candidates, especially in the dominant parties. Of course APGA is the third dominant party in the country. But in all these dominant parties there is a lot of consideration on the emergence of candidates. It depends on how much can you spend? I can speak authoritatively that the processes of emerging as candidates of some parties have been monetised.

    And APGA to you is not monetised?

    No, definitely, it is not.

    You are now speaking glowingly of APGA, but I remember when you were with Accord Party, you spoke in like manner…

    No, no, no. You see our movement from Accord to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was a kind of national action. The whole idea was that everyone in the opposition, especially in our state, must come together against the ruling party. So, everybody moved, even from the Labour Party into the PDP. Accord is a party that was not that monetised even though the idea was that the candidate would have to do a lot on his own. So, when we decided to come to the PDP, my focus was on the dominant party and the emergence of people from this party. Apart from the fact that there is a whole load of factors that may not necessary be because of the people when they are doing the consideration. My experience with APGA has been a little bit different on the strength of the fact that what you have and how much you can spend are not some of the predominant reasons for the emergence of candidates. If that was part of the requirements, someone like me may not get the party’s ticket.

    Are you saying that the party is supporting your campaign financially?

    Even if I’m not talking of serious financial support to me, they do it on programmes and the media. The other time we had a flag-off the national leadership of the party put it on the broadcast media and the newspapers without taking a kobo from me. They did that to promote the project. Not necessarily that they are the ones to do that, but they did it to support us. They have also given buses for campaigns.

    Following your political progression of late, one may ask this question, what exactly are you looking for moving from one party to another. You have moved from Accord Party to the PDP and later to APGA and you may probably move from APGA to another party tomorrow, why this?

    APGA is very definitive for us; we have berthed. I’m the party’s governorship candidate in Ogun State and after the elections it will still be my party.

    Did you join APGA simply because you were robbed of the ticket in the PDP?

    I want to go into its full explanation. My focus has been on a national party; a party that has a very big connection with the Federal Government, even though the manifestoes of parties are almost the same. So, that is why you would see that we were running around the PDP and its related political organisations. The movement to the PDP is basically because of the need to come together to confront the incumbent governor and make a change in our state, but the process of the emergence of the candidate of the PDP was not properly managed. If things had been done in a more transparent manner, some of us will still stay in the party. There was a primary election that was not authorised and quite a number of us boycotted the election on the instruction of the national executive of the party. Not only me, but nine of us boycotted the said election. They now turned around to uphold that same election, which they said was not monitored by them. What they told us initially was that the primaries were not monitored by them.

    Did that amount to double standards by you?

    Yes, that is why things felt apart and the centre could not hold. Quite a number of our people had to find their way out of the party. It was not only in Ogun State, it also happened in other states like Oyo. That is why people like Seyi Makinde and Alao Akala moved out. APGA is a party that was ready to give justice and I was approached…

    Were you approached or you approached APGA?

    I was approached. Definitely, when we looked at the party’s constitution and manifesto, we realised that it is a party we can move to, to actualise our dreams and aspirations. The change in Nigeria today needs passion and somebody with the drive. Things are at a level where every Nigerian must do the unusual.

    Which is?

    We must go out of our cocoon; our comfort zone in a way everybody would be motivated to contribute in changing the system. So, whatever opportunity and platform that we have in contributing to political space in making the required change, we must seize it. Apart from the fact that things are not done in transparent manner, one of the drive that I have was the urgency and the need to make sure that we contribute to making a difference in Ogun State and Nigeria at large. That is the drive for moving to APGA.

    Since you moved to APGA, what has been the experience?

    The response has been tremendous. I want to inform you authoritatively that APGA is in serious reckoning for the race.

    You mean you can give the incumbent a run for his money?

    Yes, the incumbent acknowledged it.

    Is it the shift in the date of election that is giving you this confidence?

    Of course, it gives us more time and gives more time to INEC to get its acts right. If you look at the percentage of collection of PVC in my state, it is worrisome. As at last Monday, it was 40 per cent and as at last Thursday, it was about 50.8 per cent of the actual registered voters. If the election had held, a lot of eligible voters would have been disenfranchised. So, apart from that larger opportunity, our campaign has more time to run its full course. But much more than that, is the response of the people. My candid experience is that people are looking for credible alternative. And if you refuse to give to them, you cannot blame them, because they must choose from what has been presented to them. If good people with good intention refused to do something, then wrong choice may be taken. We observed that from Ipokia to Ijebu Waterside, from Imeko to Ifo, all the four corners of the state, people are a yearning for a change.

    You mean subscribe to the excuse given for the shift in polls, which some see as a way of helping someone’s ambition?

    It was obvious and clear why the polls were shifted. I don’t know why insecurity was cited as the reason for shifting the polls. Like I told you, as sophisticated as this state is, less than 40 per cent of registered voters have collected their PVCs. How can you justify that? I wonder, what is the rocket science in the production and distribution of PVCs?

    Was it because the cards were not produced or the people were not coming out to collect their PVCs?

    If you look at it categorically, the first challenge was the production of those cards. As at the time that we were to have the election, quite a number of the cards were yet to be produced.

    And you felt it was deliberate?

    To me, the first question I’m going to ask is that what is the rocket science about card production and distribution? The second question is why must we wait till six months to the elections before starting the production of the cards?

  • APGA has no alliance with PDP in Anambra –Umeh

    APGA has no alliance with PDP in Anambra –Umeh

    Chief Victor Chukwunonyelum Umeh, is the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and currently, aspiring to represent his Anambra Central Zone at the Senate. But he has Senator Chris. Nwabueze Ngige of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Iyom Uche Lilian Ekwunife of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and also House Committee Chairman on Environment at the House of Representatives to contend with. In this interview with reporters in Awka, Umeh threw light on the attack in Peter Obi’s community recently, his visit to the traditional ruler of Nri Kingdom, the alliance between PDP and APGA in the state and the recent postponement of election by INEC. NWANOSIKE ONU was there. Excerpts…

    WHAT are your chances now that the court has affirmed Iyom Uche Ekwunife as the authentic PDP candidate for the Anambra Central Senatorial Zone?

    I have campaigned across the seven local government areas of the state and I can tell you that Uche Ekwunife is not a threat to my election.

    The way people came out to support me and the way they acknowledged me showed that I stayed quite above my other contenders. Ekwunife does not feature in their consideration. What she is doing is that she is only busy with her noise making and bringing in violence into the electoral process which further diminishes her.

    Without being immodest, I don’t see how the people of Anambra Central Senatorial Zone will prefer her to me, I don’t know the bases. So, that will tell you that, despite her grandstanding, she is nowhere in this election.

    Clearly, she has demonstrated her frustration by the level of violence she has introduced into the process and I have carefully managed her, knowing that when the election comes, she will fail and go.

    In fact, I am not afraid of any candidate from any party in this election. What I want is decency and decorum, let people go and campaign.

    Recently, the Court of Appeal ruled that the other group in Anambra PDP prevailed, while the other group has also gone to the Supreme Court. So, it is a ding- dong affair in PDP and that has compounded their problem in the state.

    For me, I am somebody who is very civilized in my approach to politics. I never used violence all my days and now that it has become a feature of the politics in Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, well, it is a sign that those behind the violence have lost the election. When you are no longer sure of yourselves, you may decide to cause disorder.

    Talking about violence; your campaign train was recently attacked at Agulu, the home town of the former governor of the state, Mr. Peter Obi, who has now defected to PDP. What actually happened?

    It was not my campaign train as such; rather it was after a successful visit made by the State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano to Agulu community. People have been deceived for too long with lies and it requires that a governor that is responsible would want to clear certain issues for people who have been misdirected. We went to Agulu and finished our mission and left, of course, it is no longer news that the former governor, Mr. Peter Obi, is working against APGA. They hired thugs and harassed people at the venue of the town hall meeting. That was a cheap and disgraceful conduct to incite the villagers.

    It would have been more responsible to keep his peace, when election comes, you direct them on what to do, and they will obey you. But this is a sign that Peter Obi has also lost the confidence of Agulu people and he told them that it will be a tragedy if he loses his own town and his local government area Anaocha, to APGA. Obi is not contesting any election and it is something that is too bad.

    The alliance between APGA and PDP in Anambra State, how strong is it, because some people are already singing discordant tones over it.

     We don’t have alliance with PDP in Anambra State. APGA is unequivocally in support of the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan for the presidency. That is the beginning and the end of our relationship with PDP. And we have made it clear that we are supporting Jonathan for some obvious reasons.

    We believe that the implementation of the report of the National Conference will be the only way to guarantee sustainable development in Nigeria and also the only way to ensure equity and fairness in our national life. Jonathan pledged that he will implement the report of the National Conference.

    Someone asked me in the past that don’t you think your support for Jonathan, if he wins, that Peter Obi, who is fighting APGA that made him who he is, will benefit from it. I laughed and told him that Obi is pursuing an appointment, he wants appointment in Jonathan’s next government but we are interested in the substance of the issue which is how to make Igbo people re-integrated into the Nigerian nation by way of ensuring that they regain their full rights.

    APGA is supporting Jonathan for these essential and critical reasons while Obi is supporting Jonathan for appointment. We are fighting for the group interest of the Igbo; this is support for Jonathan that is based on something that is very critical to the survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

     How has the endorsement of traditional rulers,  especially that of Nri Kingdom and other endorsements boosted your senatorial campaign for Anambra Central Senatorial Zone?

    Well, I feel very happy. What I received at Nri is the same thing I have been receiving all over the senatorial zone. More than anything, it reinforces my belief in the ability of our people to rate people according to the capacities they possess to deliver promises they made to them.

    Since I started my campaigns, every community has received me with the Igwe in council and  stakeholders pledging their total support to my mission. I have a mission and it is the mission that I have that all the communities and their leaders are identifying with. I am not a stranger in this process. I have been doing this all the years and they are convinced that I am somebody they can trust, that I will not betray the cause of Igbo people. That is the critical thing today. It is not about vague promises people make.

    The Igbo people are at a crossroads in Nigeria. And the only thing that will make way for the Igbo is to strive hard to get them back to reckoning in all spheres of national life. If you do not do that, our children will suffer the way we are suffering today. I have been at the vanguard of this struggle over time. I worked under Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. The focus under Odumegwu Ojukwu’s leadership was how to give the Igbo their due rights in Nigeria due to the accident of history of the war that our people were engaged in.

    The outcome of that war has been used to punish the Igbo beyond redemption. The structural imbalances skewed against the Igbo people in Nigeria remain our albatross in anything we are doing in Nigeria today. That is why at the National Conference, we championed the agenda for the restructuring of Nigeria, political restructuring  and that is why when I was at the National Conference, there  was an eloquent and boisterous voice in campaigning for a redress of  the structural marginalisation of  Ndigbo.

    A situation, where before the war, the Igbo always  had a third, one third of  what was available in Nigeria cannot be reduced to the present insignificance, Igbo have been  consigned to,  the way Igbo have been  balkanised by the successive military regimes, headed by people who fought the civil war, starting from Gowon, Obasanjo, Murtala Mohammed, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, all the previous Heads of State under the military dispensation were officers during the war against the Igbos between 1967 and 1970. Through this balkanisation of Nigeria into 36 states and 774 local governments, the Igbos of Nigeria were reduced to intolerable minority, that has been the lots of our people. So, having been like this, having seen the consequences of this on our people, we have been working very hard to see how our people, what can be done to see us back to Nigeria. That is why at the National Conference, I was everywhere canvassing for an additional state for the South-East, that is, the Igbos. These were sought with everything available to us in the conference and we achieved good result.

    The performance I put in the National Conference gave the Igbos the confidence that any opportunity I have I will defend and fight for their rights. Apart from that, I have been the chairman of this party, the only party the Igbos have as the only political party that can represent their interest in Nigeria, that is the APGA. So, my struggle towards Igbo renaissance has been consistent, both youth, traditional rulers all of them are of the common agreement that Chief Sir Victor Umeh is somebody who can defend their interest.

     There is ominous sign in Nigeria today. Any part of Nigeria had to prepare .The challenges are not for people to come and answer senator. Nigeria is moving towards a time it will be renegotiated again. All the things we are seeing in politics today are clear signs that danger lies ahead. The Igbos must not be caught napping; we must send our first eleven to the National Assembly. Too many things will come up very soon. We need people who can stand up to speak for the Igbos in the ensuing new Nigeria. Nigeria of today is no longer sustainable. It is no longer sustainable and that is what I told them at the National Conference that there is no way anybody can wish Nigeria greatness, with the level of injustices that pervade this nation. The Igbos have been so messed up over the years and Nigeria cannot continue with this forever; it is not possible. The injustices done to the Igbos must be addressed and ‘timeously’ too for this country to move forward.