Tejiru Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
The All Progressives Congress Registration Supervisor for Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Bony Akunna has said that the party was going to take over Government House, Asaba, noting that with the turn out at the just concluded APC registration exercise conducted in the State, the party will have an upper hand come 2015.
Mr. Akunna stated this at Ekpan, when he visited the ward chairmen of the council to have a chit-chat with them on their experiences during the just concluded APC registration.
He said; “So far with the kind of registration I have witnessed in Delta State, I have the believe that APC will take over government in Delta State because I have gone round this local government that I am supervising in Uvwie and I have observed that about 80% of them are APC members and the 20% who are still in PDP, 10% are thinking of coming back to APC because that is where they belong.”
Mr. Akunna however, said that despite the challenges encountered during the registration the party has been able to come out stronger, adding that “A lot of PDP and DPP members are now coming out to join us.”
While speaking to newsmen, the APC registration supervisor explained that though they have received information that PDP members have infiltrated their party, the party will succeed in dragging those PDP members to its fold, adding that APC has come to change Nigeria for the better.
“So far the registration has been wonderful and I really like how the people of Uvwie turned out to participate in the exercise. It has been a wonderful experience for APC. And that shows that APC in the state is one family. I am happy for the turn out. I thank the people of Uvwei for coming out en mass to register. I also thank the Interim Chairman, the supervisors and the Executive members that made these things to be possible here,” he added.
Also speaking to newsmen at the occasion, former Delta State Commissioner for Education under the administration of Former Governor James Ibori, Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu, has warned that it is no longer going to be business as usual in the 2015 elections
She described Delta State as a mini Nigeria where a lot of things happen, adding that if APC can thrive in the state then they will have no problem at the national level.
She advised the National Leadership of APC not to impose any candidate on the people, urging them to support only candidates that are rugged and sale-able and have the ability to match PDP “fire for fire.”
She said; “Looking at the National Leadership of the party and the caliber of people there, they are wise, experienced and intelligent and I do not think they will want to impose anybody on the people. And that is the song they have been singing. But if they do at the end of the day and the candidate is not a sale-able candidate, a rugged candidate then they will be at a loss.”
Dr. Ogbuagu also lamented that it may appear that the party was going through some internal wrangling at the moment but that the party will come out strong at the end of the day, saying that the people want leaders that would listen to the people.
She added that the party will only progress if they had access to INEC offices all over the federation, calling on the national leadership to ensure that its members have full access to all INEC offices in the country.
Describing the just concluded APC registration in Delta State as a success, Dr. Ogbuagu who is also the proprietress of Chinkelly Group of Schools, said that though they had challenges in Uvwie, the party was able to come out strong from all the challenges.
She said; “You will find out that politicians in Nigeria are defined as people who are able to think bad things, do bad things and disorganize the society because they are fast at thinking negative things. So even inside the APC family you have such people like that who have hidden agenda. It should not happen like that. We should not see this exercise as a group work but as a party work. But people try to exhibit loyalty to a certain group and it will not work at all. The day is just beginning to set and there are other people that will come into the party with time. So when you say you are working for this person or that person, instead of working for the progress of the party, then I think something is wrong somewhere.”
“We have overcome this and we hope to overcome the next stage which has to do with the congress. My only problem is that some people may have registered people who are hell-bent on making trouble during the congress. But I want to assure every one of them that it will not be business as usual, because that element of madness is in every human being. It depends on how you are able to control it and manage yourself. If there is going to be anything that will go contrary to the success of the congress, I think we are man enough to handle this,” she added
She also added that APC will win more people in the next few coming months, believing that some people are still watching the party to see whether they will join them or not.
She said; “And again, many people are still watching to see how APC is going to thrive in Delta State. And I assure you that from now till mid-June you will seep flocking to the party. That is how Nigerians are. They want the food to be cooked and when it is ready they will come and eat. But they do not want to buy the ingredients, supervise the cooking until it gets done.”
