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APC guber aspirant, Okwuosa |
By Madu Ezenoha
Erstwhile National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP) and now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Chekwas Okorie at the weekend declared that only a free, fair and transparent primaries where a candidate with popular mandate of the party faithful would emerge, would give the APC victory in the November 2021 governorship election in Anambra state.
The former presidential candidate of the defunct UPP and founder/pioneer national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Okorie, spoke while presenting the entire state party structure of the defunct UPP in support of a front line gubernatorial aspirant of the APC Chief Azuka Okwuosa, at his campaign office in Awka.
Okorie warned the national and state leadership of the party against imposition of a candidate during the forthcoming primaries, insisting that the APC Anambra state would resist any such attempt.
"Anambra state governorship election is important to the South East and Ndigbo in general and this is the flagship of the battle to produce a president of Igbo extraction.
"I wish to warn that we shall resist any attempt by some people to impose a candidate on the party APC and we shall ensure that the candidate of APC would emerge through a democratic process and we must ensure that internal democracy prevails in Anambra APC,” he said.
Okorie, who led more than 1000 UPP extraction of APC to the event described Okwuosa as a team player who has paid his dues in party politics adding that his emergence as governor would jump start development in Anambra state.
“Okwuosa has paid his dues at political apprenticeship, at political tutelage; and he has climbed the ladder. I came to know Azuka at Ikemba Ojukwu’s house, Ezeigbo Gburugburu. He was there and became chairman of Nnewi local government area, after he served as commissioner for Works Anambra state. In APC he has worked for other people, he has served as DG campaign, he knows Anambra terrain.
“After today’s event Okwuosa will no longer be an aspirant, he will become the presumptive candidate of APC in the coming governorship election in Anambra state,” he declared.
Speaking after receiving members of the UPP extraction of APC into his campaign structure, Sir Azuka Okwuosa assured them of seamless integration into his campaign structure, even as he announced a donation of a bus to help in their movement during campaign activities.
He decried a situation where those who worked, suffered and made sacrifice for the party are not getting commensurate rewards after election victory, especially as currently being observed in APC government where outsiders, including members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APGA in the state are major beneficiaries of the dividends of democracy from the centre, to the detriment of loyal party members.
"I believe in the reward system and when you work hard you get your reward and that is how it should be and not the other way round.”
He promised to ensure that the APC would win the Anambra election adding that the internal democracy should be respected in the process of nominating a candidate for the party.
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Okwuosa (L) and Okorie (R) after collapsing UPP-APP structure toOkwuosa campaign structure |
“Under my leadership, APC incoming government will fix Anambra state, that's why our slogan is ‘Finally it's broken, together we will fix it’”.