‘ACN’s rigging machine will fail in 2015’ ‘ACN’s rigging machine will fail in 2015’ Posted by: webmaster on June 16, 2013 in Politics Leave a comment share Victor Chigozie Eneh is the Special Assistant to the National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Maxi Okwu, on News/Social Media. A young, political firebrand, he ran for the 2011 House of Assembly elections in Lagos State under APGA. Though he lost, Eneh believes that despite the upheavals the party is going through at the moment, APGA would be the party to beat, come 2015. In this interview with State Correspondent, ONUKWUBE OFOELUE, Eneh explains why he thinks the party will find a strong footing at the federal level come 2015. He also explains how he hopes to strengthen its chances through the social media. How many factions are presently in APGA and what effort are you making to unify the party? Well, there are no factions in APGA. The convention of April 8, 2013 which produced the Chief Okwu-led national leadership has been validated by an Awka High Court ruling of May 27, 2013. So, what happens to the likes of Chief Umeh who has been parading himself as the National Chairman? You know the Enugu High Court sacked him and he went for appeal and order of stay of execution was granted to him. But the order came after we had peacefully conducted our elective national convention. Remember that the Enugu High Court ruling was a declaratory one which, in law, can’t be stayed. We have gone to challenge the stay of execution at the Supreme Court. It is worthy to be noted that the appeal court summons were not served to Jude Okuli. Can you imagine that the defendant of the appeal was served in the court room even when the date of ruling has been fixed by the panel of the appeal judges? Hopefully, the Supreme Court will look at merits of our appeal and upturn the stay of execution order. Mr. Jude Okuli has petitioned the NJC on the conduct of the members of the appeal panel. It was as a result of the petition that the appeal panel adjourned it indefinitely, pending the outcome of the petition before NJC. Sometime ago, Chief Okorie was quoted to have said that he founded APGA and that the party was snatched from him. Why is APGA not making efforts to bring him back, or do you prefer him out? Our National Chairman, Chief Okwu, has paid him a visit in order to bring him back to APGA. Their discussions were fruitful and hopefully, Chief Chekwas will rejoin the party. There is this story that Okorie cursed APGA when he was wrongly shown the way out. What is your reaction to this, in the light of the crisis rocking the party at the moment? APGA is a public institution bedded in democratic principles. Okwu has recognized the need to bring back the founding fathers. Chief Okorie is welcome back to APGA. He should accept the hands of fellowship extended to him by the Okwu leadership. Peter Obi, who remains the only APGA faithful governor till date, has never hidden his fondness of the president, who is a member of the PDP. The body language of the president is that he is most likely to run in 2015. Does this mean that the party does not plan to run for presidency come 2015? You should remember we adopted the President in 2011 as our presidential candidate. We supported him through the general elections. Our leader and the Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has been a loyal party leader. GEJ has shown quality leadership despite challenges. I believe that the national leadership of our party will meet and give direction on the likely position of the party when we move into the 2015 election year. What is the position of APGA today concerning Igbo presidency? APGA is a national party with huge support base in the South East. The party will not shy away from some national issues as they affect the south east. Our party will always take decisions that will be of benefit to its numerous supporters. Igbo presidency will be one of those decisions as we approach 2015. How do you evaluate people who win elections on an APGA platform and cross carpet later, like Governor Rochas Okorocha and his predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim? The way our democracy is structured, politicians have formed the habit of cross carpeting. But we shall find a way of making sure they don’t use our platform for election and dump it later. The issue of Governor Rochas is a sad case for APGA. But we can’t stop him. I wish the National Assembly will enact a law forbidding unnecessary cross carpeting, except on serious grounds where a party is in a deep crisis or near collapse. If he decides to use the APGA platform to run for another election, what is your party going to do about it? APGA has ethics. I strongly don’t think he would. But in such a case, we shall look at what the party constitution stipulates. You should recall that APGA is the first party to give Rochas electoral victory. Until he came to APGA and used our structure, beating PDP incumbent Ohakim, no party did it for him. Our platform should be a destination and not a bus stop for political travellers. You ran for a legislative position in Lagos State in 2011 and lost under APGA. Do you think APGA can win an election in a state like Lagos where ACN is the dominant party? Yes, I ran for Lagos State House of Assembly in Surulere Constituency 11 under APGA. I lost the election due to irregularities. APGA will win elections in Lagos State. We have our strongholds. We only need zero tolerance to rigging. In one-man, one-vote, APGA will shock many people in Lagos elections. Though ACN has a powerful rigging machine, it won’t work again in 2015. We will mobilize our people to prove our strength in Lagos State. The ACN government has failed and should be ready to vacate Alausa Round House in 2015. Are you saying that APGA is going to win the governorship election in Lagos State in 2015? It is not a mission impossible. In 2013, APGA won election in most areas, even without candidates. It was just the love of people for our party. With proper mobilization, political awareness and alliance, where necessary, APGA will win the next Lagos governorship election. Remember there are many Yoruba and Hausa, as well as other ethnic nationalities in APGA, so with proper coordination, APGA will beat ACN. How do you intend to use the social media to reposition APGA? Social media today, is one of the huge and fastest information dissemination medium. We have over 30 million Nigerians already connected to the internet. We intend to use the social media to reach out to our members and the general public. We shall equally use it to mobilize Nigerians into APGA. Most people rely on internet news these days. This is a good opportunity for our releases to get to the grassroots, especially the youths and those in the rural communities. It is a new dawn in APGA, and our social media platform will effectively be used to inform our people on the true position of things in our party. How does the Okwu-led APGA plan to move the party to the next level? The Maxi Okwu-led national leadership of APGA, God willing, will take APGA to the desired destination. This is the first time APGA membership is open to everybody. He is a leader that believes in politics of inclusion. He has welcomed everyone on board, including Umeh, if he repents. He is positioning APGA for effective political delivery. His major drive is to make APGA the third leg in the tripod political setting in Nigeria. Most people who left are already returning to APGA. He has returned the party to the people, and our electoral victory shall have no bou
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 05:24:22 +0000
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