Newscenter Media News National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Sly Ezeokenwa, in this interview with LAWRENCE NJOKU, spoke on the current political climate, why APGA’s influence has been limited to Anambra State, and the leadership crisis that has rocked the party for over a decade.
Why is APGA finding it difficult to expand beyond Anambra State?
APGA as a party has done all that it can to expand beyond Anambra State. If you recall that at a point in time we had a governor in Imo State – Owelle Rochas Okorocha. Barely two years into office, he jumped ship.
Apart from that, APGA has won elections all over the country. In 2019 we had three House of Representatives seats in the National Assembly. Unfortunately within the first year of their inauguration, they all defected to other parties. We also had one House of Representatives member in Taraba State, who also defected within a year. We won state Assembly seats in Taraba, Abia, Benue, and Imo states. So, one would ask about what seems to be the problem.
We can remember that in the last FCT, Abuja council election, we won the Gwagwalada council chairmanship and some councillor seats. But today, where are they? These members unfortunately make it look like APGA is just a grooming ground and political incubator. At the same time, while trying to analyse issues to at least understand the underlying cause of the challenges we have and why politicians don’t stay in one party for long.
I have always advocated for us to build strong institutions. I say so because many of the reasons why these things happen were perhaps because those elected on the platform of a political party believe that belonging to the main party would confer some advantages on them. This is because the institutions of governance in most states at times tend to discharge their responsibilities in preference of members of the ruling or principal political parties in the country. This does not augur well for democracy. Irrespective of the party you belong to, you must have equal access.
So, in APGA, we are trying to rejig our party. Consequently we are currently putting together a very small but high caliber committee to look into many things concerning the party – the ideology, the manifesto, what the party stands for and how the party thinks that if Nigerians entrust APGA with the mandate to lead the affairs of this country that this is what to expect.
As a country we must have a measure of introspection to look at the problems why the country from independence till today has not been able to live up to expectations; not minding huge human, material, mineral deposits. That’s what APGA is doing right now.
The first thing we have done, of course that primarily played out during the last convention of the party was to study the trend during the 2023 general election. Then we discovered that Nigeria appears to be ready to accept young people into the fold. Though, we eventually ended up again with this very President, but then we witnessed a lot of participation from young persons across party lines. APGA therefore is leading the way in putting forward our young people into leadership positions; after all they have more to offer.
APGA is a political party that cuts across all geopolitical zones, all states of the federation, all social classes, all tribes and tongues. There is no reason anyone would call us an Anambra party simply because we have been strongest here.
What will you say to the claim of leadership by Edozie Njoku, which is polarising the party?
That matter is part of the problem the party has had to battle in the past. It’s just negative publicity. It’s one thing I said I am not going to indulge in.
You may recall that the leadership tussle and its smear campaign kept reoccurring in the past. You read accusations and counter accusations. That’s what kept key members of the party, including some pretending members on national television. I promised that I am not going to do that. I have been invited over time but have to politely decline once it’s on Edozie Njoku. If you want to hear the gospel of APGA, then call me any time.
To answer your question, I was the Legal Adviser of the party before my election as the party’s national chairman. The Supreme Court did not at any time pronounce Njoku as the national chairman of APGA. Incidentally, I am not just a lawyer, I am a very active practicing litigation lawyer. It’s my job and that’s what I do. The Supreme Court has said, I think it was in Sheriff vs. Makarfi, that the court does not coronate national chairmen. They rather emerge through national conventions of political parties. I challenged him one day, I said ‘if you say you are a nation chairman, can we leave the courts, tell us the national convention you emerged from?’ He said it was in Owerri, and I asked to have a copy of the INEC report. Till date he has not produced one. Any time important election draws near you see him making these wild claims and noise.
They are what I call political merchants. The time you see him and his co-travellers start their noise is once any election draws nearer, like the coming Anambra governorship election. That’s why he’s coming out.
We are having elections also in Edo State, why is he not nominating a candidate if he’s the national chairman of APGA? We are having an election in Ondo State, why is he not nominating candidates in that state? Why is it only Anambra State that he is always interested in?
The endpoint of all these is that there are people who believe that the only way to destabilise the steady progress recorded in Anambra State over the years is to sponsor some faceless individuals to foment trouble within APGA.
APC recently appears to be making strong footing in Anambra State with the entrance of notable politicians. How prepared are you for the coming big challenge?
I like how you started, ‘that it appears’. I think it’s a mirage. Are we to be worried because you assembled some young fellows whom you give N10,000 monthly to be making noise in social media? Is that how a reasonable party makes a statement anywhere?
Ok, funny enough in the South-East, apart from Imo State where else has APC won any governorship election? What happened in Ebonyi was a governor who was elected on the platform of another party suddenly jumped ship. The case of Imo was well known to all.
Is it that a baby Senator, who got elected on a different platform jumped ship instead of him to resign? I can tell you today that I know much about YPP, after all its national chairman, Bishop Amachree, is my colleague in the Inter-Party Advisory Council, (IPAC). So, the hallmark of jumping ship from a party without any crisis to another one that also has no crisis is for you to resign first. That’s what the constitution stipulated.
This is part of the issues we have in the country. I keep saying that we have strong individuals, not strong institutions. The National Assembly should be a strong institution. The Senate President should declare his seat vacant but his party is the beneficiary. This shows that laws are made for certain individuals and that’s Nigeria’s biggest problem.
I can willingly tell you that any appearance of progress you see is just noise on social media. Simple noise! When the election comes they will settle with their fourth position. There’s no two ways about it.
How did you arrive at that prediction?
Ok, see it thus; APGA is the main political party in the state controlling the government of the state, controlling the legislature. Then you have the PDP with about two or three seats. Then there’s the Labour Party (LP) and YPP. It means the APC will even come fifth, not fourth as I early imagined. APC, after all, has no elected official in the state, so how will they come in and win the election?
2025 is around the corner. How would you convince Anambra voters to still support Governor Soludo and APGA?
I am personally convinced that the electorates are not blind or insensitive. They are not and would not want the sweet music to stop. One basic nature of Prof. Soludo’s administration is its distinctive achievements. There’s something remarkable about all that the governor has done in the state so far.
First of all, at the core of our ideology as a party is that we are committed to pulling Nigerians out of poverty. And that template that we intend to instill in the country is what the governor is doing in Anambra presently. That’s why I said that he is our greatest asset because his significant and remarkable achievements within just two years in office would propel APGA to greater heights.
When he came in, being a professor of economics, he understood the economy, coming from a background of decay. Yes some people would say the decay was caused by an APGA government. Yes, it was an APGA government but everyone understands the economic quagmire that Nigeria has been grappling with. A situation where about thirty-two out of thirty-six states in the country cannot comfortably pay salaries, was no fault of anybody.
One day, I was discussing with the governor I told him that his colleagues would actually be wondering how he’s doing what he’s doing in Anambra. Soludo is doing the unthinkable whereas others are doing their best within their ability and understanding.
That’s why I told him that his colleagues would be wondering how he pays salaries when they have not been able to pay; how he has been paying pensioners when they couldn’t. And you are paying gratuities and the attendant backlog and other governors were full of excuses.
We have records of what each governor was able to do. Under Peter Obi, in his first four years he was able to construct above two hundred kilometers of roads, Obiano did about one hundred kilometers while in two years Soludo did above four hundred kilometers. What else can you call magic? In the education sector where for the first time we are having true value. We will soon have a massive renovation of all public schools across the state. While others are struggling to pay salaries, Anambra has 10,000 teachers. Is it healthcare?
The statistics show an increase of over 300 expectant mothers who migrated from other states – Enugu, Delta, Imo, Abia to benefit from the free Medicare. This policy has brought down the maternal mortality rate of the state to zero. So, the waiving of the usual small payments to see a doctor has given living hope to many citizens, including non-residents of the state.
The APGA government under Prof. Soludo is giving value where it is needed most, from areas the successive governments have for so long neglected. That’s why the people of the state are happy.
The post ‘How APGA beneficiaries reduced it to a grooming ground, political incubator’ appeared first on Guardian Nigeria News.