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| Comrade Jerry Obasi |
Comrade Obasi, who spoke to
journalists against the background of the noise over the piecemeal screening of
the nominees, regretted that instead of recognising APC faithful that worked
hard for the party so as to give a sense of belonging to them in the ruling
party, the president saw the Southeast as no man’s land, where his acolytes
could impose candidates.
He added that the present
political realities in the country are enough to compel Nd’Igbo to retrace
their political steps from platforms where they are treated as outsiders,
including APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), pointing out that the
enterprising spirit and republican political ideology of Igbo find fitting
abode in APGA.
He said: “At first, against all hopes, President Buhari left out the
name of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu in the
appointment of his close aides. Then when it was time to appoint ministers, the
president found out that if he leaves out Dr. Onu and Senator Chris Ngige, the
apathy towards Igbo would be clearly pronounced. But in the second batch of his
nomination, he allowed his kitchen cabinet to favour who they please.”
While insisting that the
nomination of ministers for Enugu
and Abia States suggests that Buhari did not reckon with the APC members in
those states, Obasi reminded the president that there is no way he could discount
Igbo votes in certain states like Kano, adding that the clear interpretation is
that Nd’Igbo are not welcome in APC.
The APGA Deputy National Secretary
noted that part of the plot to downgrade PDP was to ensure that the platform
does not remain strong for an Igbo presidential candidate to contest the
presidency, adding that the political temperament of Nd’Igbo shows that they
are self-serving and indifferent of collective Igbo interest.
While stressing that he has
nothing against APGA members serving in PDP government in Ebonyi, Comrade Obasi
maintained that APGA lives in the heart of every Igbo man “not minding the fact that, sometimes, we forget our identity
as Igbo people, which has also formed part of our problem today.”
On why he did not defect
with Senator Anthony Agbo, with whom he contested the Ebonyi governorship, he
noted that “Senator Agbo is not my mentor; we only met
in the course of his political ambition in APGA and from the time he joined
APGA and before he left, it’s quite a short period.”
Comrade Obasi, who was also
Ebonyi State chairman of APGA, condemned the attempt by certain political
jobbers to use the election petition tribunals to deny APGA its hard won
electoral victories in Abia State, not, according to him, the bombing of INEC
office at Obingwa and subsequent delays, applications and counter-applications,
appeals and counter-appeals are antics to deny justice.
He said: “At every election, it is clear that Nd’Igbo have always made
APGA their choice. Otherwise, an opposition party that won 12 state Assembly
seats and one House of Reps seat in Abia are very much on ground. So, we have
taken Abia. It is also obvious that we are the government in Imo until now.
Rochas is only holding brief for APGA. I appreciate the fact that we are in
control of the Government House in Anambra, but there’s more APGA ‘fanaticism’
and followership in Abia and Imo than in Anambra.” (guardian)
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