All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman Chief Victor Umeh spoke with reporters on preparations for the November 16 poll, shortly after the party’s rally in Onitsha. AUGUSTINE AVWODE reports.
Your party was involved in a protracted crisis. Will that not affect its chance at the governorship poll in Anambra State?
There are bound to be disagreements one way or another, but the important thing is the ability of the people that are involved to close ranks and reconcile. I can tell you that the APGA came out of the disagreement much stronger in the sense that the things many people wished should never be possible again have become possible and became the tonic, which the party needed to defend itself against the opponents.
So, I can tell you that there is a new spirit within the APGA that can best be described as wonderful. We were the original people that made the APGA what it was, what it still is, and there is no way people who laboured together to build an organisation, and along the line, some issues that were not well managed can be allowed to cause the organisation to disintegrate. It was a situation of rekindled hope in the party and everybody is ready to work for the party. Everybody is desperate to ensure that the party survives and the only way the party can prove that it can survive is by winning the election. So, we are very strong now and everywhere in the state, you can see it for yourself. From the rally that we have had today, it is the second in about nine days or so. The first one was wonderful and today’s rally was superb.
There is the insinuation in some quarters that the candidate of the party is a green horn, politically. Don’t you think that can affect the chance of the party?
There is nothing called green horn in a business like this. The people that are described as green horns may be very difficult to beat. I have said it before that, when you are a part of a society and have carried yourself very responsibly, at anytime, you can seek public office and the people will welcome you. Those who considered themselves as strong horses in the state have been losing elections. That some one has been part of a process for 20 years by being involved in the process will not guarantee you preference in the eyes of the people. If that were to be the situation, some people that have been in politics for 20 to 30 years must have become Presidents or governors. But that is not always the case.
In the present case, we have capable people, who are also known in their communities and the careers they have had. Nobody is faulting them that they are not competent or knowledgeable or that they can not deliver the goods. The only thing they are saying is that they are not politicians. By that, they mean not being the itinerant type of politicians. They will say they are strangers in politics and so they should not be supported. Well, that is not a good argument. The people in question here are urbane, well educated, people who have had experience and exposure in their careers to run the affairs of the state. So, there is nothing like green horn in this exercise. Then, you have to also consider our platform in the election. Our party is entrenched in the Anambra State. We have been here, we have fought difficult battles and stood against tough opponents in the past and overcame them. So, that platform is still the platform of choice in Anambra State. Once we have people, who are found to be worthy, both in character and in learning, they can stand on the platform and overwhelm those who are old horses. Our candidates will defeat them in the coming election.
Critics say that your candidates are cronies of the governor, who were propped up to hide his misdeeds in office?
What I have always heard is that they were imposed; I have never heard this angle you mentioned. But those who are champions of the claim that our candidates are imposed are actually the ones that were imposed on others. People don’t accept their own limitations, but spin things around against people who are honest and hardworking. As for people who are saying that they are cronies, I don’t know how you can describe somebody who has worked in the bank for 23 years. Governor Obi never had any interest in the bank that is up to 12 years; so, you cannot call him his crony. This is a man who excelled in his career, retired without blemish. Is it the running mate that you will call his crony? Somebody who is a senior lecturer in a university, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and holds a PhD in Monetary Economics. How can he be a crony to Governor Obi? And for the allegation that they have been brought to cover his misdeeds, don’t they have access to information? Why are they not unmasking Obi’s misdeeds on the pages of newspapers, instead of threatening every time that it will be terrible when Obi leaves, they will expose this or that? That is just fishing in the bush to cover their shortcomings with propaganda. There is no such thing. They only exist within the figment of their imagination. In Nigeria, Obi is known to be the most prudent governor in this country. He is the only governor that has been adjudged to have managed resources very prudently and deploying them to the development of the state. So, what is he going to cover? Somebody ignorantly declared that Obi is spending N15billion local government fund every month. The whole of Anambra State gets about N3billion every month on local government; and the person spoke publicly, talking out of ignorance. Our people have appreciated Obi in the past seven and a half years, in the areas of infrastructure development, revamping our educational sector, our health sector and so on and so forth. So, where is the money that he is stealing? You cannot pursue development without money, anyway. If our people are surprised at the level of achievements Obi has recorded and they have been hailing him everywhere, where are those misdeeds that he is hiding? Many state governments are broke now. They cannot pay salaries. Yet, at the twilight of Obi Administration, he is injecting about N40billion in a final push to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) projects. Instead of saying the man has performed, they keep living in the illusion that he has something to protect and that is why he is sponsoring A or B. There is no such thing. Obi is not afraid of anything.
What about the issue of your candidate’s alleged double registration?
I have read this story in the papers and I was amazed. The reason being that, those propagating the rumour are those who are afraid of the green horn in the election. They described him as green horn, yet they insinuate that he should be disqualified. If he were a green horn, why is his participation in the election a problem to them? Why do they want him disqualified at all cost? The people saying this thing are not officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral body is the custodian of the voters register in Nigeria. They are the ones who will indicate whether Willie Obiano registered once or twice. What I heard was that Obiano was said to have registered in Lagos and that he also registered in Anambra State. The governorship election is taking place in Anambra State on November 16, not Lagos. The law is that nobody should vote twice in a constituency. Is Obiano going to vote in Lagos on November 16? The voters register has just been released; the soft copy to parties. Go and print it and see, if his name will appear twice in his ward. If his name appears twice, then, he can be said to have violated the laws. I can tell you authoritatively that his name will appear only once in the voter’s register that has just been released today. So, all this stories are peddled to create confusion by people who are afraid. They know he is the candidate to beat in the election and they will continue to look for straws to clutch onto to smear his name. Let them go and prepare because Obiano will defeat them at the election.
You have often described the campaign as ‘Operation Osmosis’. What is Biology doing in politics?
Of course, we have done two campaigns and you see people defecting into APGA. It is the strongest party in the state. In Biology, the stronger solution draws the weaker one. Last week, on October 7, we were overwhelmed by defectors from other parties. Our people, once they know where the prospect of somebody winning election is highest, they go there. That is the Osmosis in the campaign. We are drawing the people from the weaker parties. There are those who have been in the PDP for the past eifght years, idle and they say they cannot continue like that again. Today they are with APGA, because they know that their candidates stand no chance. And we are happy to receive them because they are all Anambra people. Not propaganda, today, the former Speaker of Old Anambra State House of Assembly, defected to APGA. He has been a very strong member of PDP. But he has changed his mind.
