By Michael Nnebife
As the buildup to the November 8 Gubernatorial Election in Anambra State continues to gather momentum, a group known as Anambra Patriots for Soludo, APS, has appealed to aggrieved members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who have left the party to return for the common interest of the state.
The Convener of the APS, Arc Okey Ezeobi, made the appeal in Awka, recently during a meeting organized by the leadership of the group as part of efforts to reconcile all the aggrieved APGA members who left the party since 2022.
‘We observed that there are a lot of aggrieved APGA members who said they are not interested in the system anymore with the feeling that they had done so much but nothing has come in.
‘In the spirit of Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya, our APGA Mantra, it is important for us to reach out to everybody to reconcile the differences to see a bigger picture ahead of us instead of looking at it on a personal level.
‘APS has gone on that mission to search every nook and cranny of Anambra State for all our old APGA faithful who are hibernating because of what had happened in the past,’ Arc Ezeobi told newsmen.
‘This is one phase; it is something we are going to be doing consistently through the election period to make sure that we capture them and have a database of all of them in the 326 wards in Anambra State so that we can adequately address their situation,’ Ezeobi said.
He expressed the belief that with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s achievements, the aggrieved members would have no point staying in other political parties.
‘This time, there will be a strategic plan to make sure that everybody is engaged and recognized,’ he pledged.
While addressing the aggrieved members, Ezeobi, who is also the Managing Director, Anambra State Bureau for Public Procurement, recalled how the APS began and explained that it had come up with a publication that contained Governor Soludo’s achievements so far.
According to the Managing Director, who said that the publication would soon be made public, the APS would storm the entire markets in Anambra State for aggressive grassroots mobilization movement to tell people the gospel of Governor Soludo and his achievements.
He stressed that Anambra was APGA land and Soludo had no rival as far as the November 8 gubernatorial election in the state was concerned.
‘We want Anambra to be APGAnized and Soludonized; that is the bottom line.
‘APGA is your own, please, come back home, let us reconcile to bring back the glory of APGA,’ Ezeobi appealed.
‘We will not allow young people who do not know the root of the party to take the glory,’ he said.
Arc Ezeobi, who consistently emphasized that the APS gossiped and showcased what he called the good work that Governor Soludo was doing for Anambra People, maintained that the group was not talking about winning an election this time.
‘We are looking towards having a 100% votes. It is on record that the former Governor, Chief Willie Obiano won 21/21.
‘We are not talking about this now, we are talking about 326/326, winning in every polling booth in Anambra State,’ Ezeobi said.
According to him, the strategy to realize this was good governance, which he said his Principal, Governor Soludo, had been giving to Anambra People.
‘We have delivered it; we have a record nobody can beat, even tomorrow, except another governor from APGA.
‘There is something strategic Soludo is doing that people are not seeing. He is building institutions, setting out policies that will live beyond him so that even when he left, the person he will hand over will have no option than to continue from the same track. At the end of day, Nigerians will see that the solution is in Anambra.
‘What do I mean by this? I mean that Nigerians everywhere, every state, will be coming to Anambra State to copy the Anambra model,’ Ezeobi noted.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the APS, Chief Ejiamatu Damian Enekwechi, appealed to the aggrieved members to bury the hatchet, return to APGA, and join hands in supporting Governor Soludo for the overall interest of Anambra.
Speaking with newsmen, one of the top ranking members of the group and an APGA chieftain, High Chief Ben Obi, expressed appreciation to God for the cooperation of the aggrieved members.
Some other top ranking members of the group who included the member representing Njikoka II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Jude Akpua; an Adviser to Governor Soludo, Air Vice Marshall Ben Chiobi, Rtd; the Director, Anambra State Project Monitoring Office, Obumneme Akunyili; and a former National President, Anambra State Association of Town Unions, Barr Titus Akpudo, took turns to appreciate the aggrieved members for answering the call of the group, harping on the need for them to join hands in returning Governor Soludo for continuity and sustenance of his legacies across the state.
Responding, some of the aggrieved members, Lady Njide Anusi; Dame Theresa Udemezue Okoye; Hon Friday Udensi; Mr Kneeth Emenike; among others, could not hide their grievances, but expressed readiness to rejoin the party.
