The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, said with hard work and unity, the party would win the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State.
He stated this on Thursday, September 28, 2017 in Abuja at a reconciliation meeting with the party´s former aspirants for the governorship position.
The chairman urged the former aspirants to support Tony Nwoye, the party’s candidate and the leadership to ensure victory at the election.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mr. Nwoye contested for the APC governorship ticket with 11 other aspirants, comprising 10 males and one female.
He scored 2,146 votes to defeat Andy Uba, his closest rival, who got 931 votes at the primary election conducted on Aug. 27 in Awka.
“There is an incumbent governor in Anambra; we have all been through most exciting period of campaigning for the primaries, which is over now,” Mr. Odigie-Oyegun said.
“And, by divine mercy, we have a candidate, but a tree does not make a forest.
“We are in politics and we recognise that each and every one of those who aspired for the office of the governor of Anambra, has a constituency.”
He added that each of the aspirants had something significant to contribute if the party must win the Anambra governorship seat.
While expressing optimism that the meeting with the aspirants would ensure a stronger fighting force, the chairman said that the party was very serious about winning the election.
He maintained that Anambra was very significant to the party as the gateway to the South-East.
He said, “It is important that we do everything we can, fair and square, to bring Anambra into the fold of the progressives for a lot of reasons.
“Until we manage to bring few states into the mainstream of progressives’ politics, we may not see the end of this continued cry of marginalisation.
“It is important that we work and work very hard to win Anambra, being a critical state in the South-East.”
He, however, admitted that it would not be a small political struggle, but could be surmounted with hard work and unity of purpose.
In his remarks, a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, charged the people of Anambra to vote the APC as the ruling party, in their interest.
“Unless you go into the ruling party and make meaningful contributions, you will then have moral standing to ask `why don’t we have this or that?’’ he said.
Bart Nwibe, who spoke on behalf of the aspirants, expressed optimism that the meeting would help to build the necessary synergy that would make APC to win in Anambra.
He, however, said that there was need for the party leadership to do the needful to ensure its victory at the election.
“We are optimistic that we will do our very best, we are on ground and if we do the needful, there is no reason we cannot win our state.
“I think our party and the presidency will have to step in to help us achieve this,” Mr. Nwibe said.
Apart from Messrs. Nwoye and Nwibe, former aspirants present at the meeting were George Moghalu, Madu Nonso, Patrick Nwike, Chike Obidigbo, Johnbosco Onunkwo, and Obinna Uzor.
Those absent were Andy Uba, Paul Chukwuma and Adaobi Uchegbu.
