The All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA Abia state has inaugurated it’s contacts and mobilisation committee ahead of the 2023 general election.
State chairman of APGA in Abia, Reverend Augustine Ehimere, while performing the ceremony at the party’s secretariat, in Umuahia captioned Valentine unity and peace, charged the committee members to go into the grassroots to convince new people to join APGA.
On behalf of the state working committee, Ehimere appreciated APGA faithful including Chief Barrister Ahamdi Nweke for their support, peace, unity and love. While urging them not to relent, Ehimere also warned the party faithful to be upright in their dealings.
He enjoined them to remain united as they celebrate Valentine in peace and further tasked them to be committed. He asked them to complaint with love. APGA chairman charged people who have attain the age of eighteen to go to register and get their permanent voters card to arm themselves ahead of 2023, as the time of liberating Abia has come.
In a lecture titled “Celebration of Unity and Peace”, a Board of Trustees member, Chief Ahamdi Nweke said APGA presents the only hope for the masses to salvage Abia State from the downward spiral in it’s socio-economic fortunes. According to Barrister Nweke, the indices which led to the protest vote of 2015 have not abated with huge amount owed to pensions and gratuities, multiple taxation, dilapidated infrastructures, promotion of mediocrity in the political class among others ills facing Abians.
In his words “I am very excited that our great party APGA has returned to it’s potential winning ways of 2015 when we had a sunami landslide victory over the ruling party, with me trouncing a seating Governor for the Abia central senatorial seat, when we won 18 House of Assembly seats declared for although half of those were stolen through the election tribunals”, “we won 14 out of 17 LGA results for the Governorship election and won the seat at the Court of Appeal”.
“Unfortunately as a result of undemocratic practices the party in the state imploded before the 2019 general elections with avoidable abysmal performance in the elections”. “The party has worked very hard in the state to reinvent itself and has vowed to sustain internal democracy”.
Barrister Nweke warned that “Never again will undemocratic forces successfully hijack our party in the state without free and fair primary elections”.
He continued “There is no gainsaying the fact that today in Abia State that APGA presents the only hope for the masses to salvage Abia State from the downward spiral in its socio- economic fortunes. The indices which led to the protest vote of 2015 have not abated, on the contrary the lot of Abians have gone progressively worse, with huge arrears of , pensions and gratuities, Teachers’ salaries, health workers salaries, multiple taxation of citizens decayed and dilapidated infrastructures, promotion of mediocrity in the political class, a situation where political and elective positions are awarded not on the basis of competence but on the recipients’ propensity for brigandage and thuggery during the electioneering process, where the Same incompetent and clueless individuals have been recycled in public office since 1999 till date denying our youths an opportunity to showcase their skills and Abians an amelioration of their suffering”.
Speaking inline with Valentine celebration, the APGA BOT said, “without love you can not unite to achieve your goals, without unity you can not have peace and without peace you can not achieve sustainable development. “I urge each and every one of us to hold these virtues as sacrosanct in our dealings with each other as party members. And of all three love is the catalyst. Together We Can achieve good governance and sustained development when we take over the reigns of leadership in Abia State next year”.
In another lecture delivered by APGA state legal Adviser, Barrister Chukwuemeka Nwaokoro on the topic “True party Leadership and the Constitution” described a real party leader as somebody that is responsible to manage the relationship of it’s political party and the general public. He identified that every political leader is an authomatic image maker, hence, they have the mandate to rebuild the image of the party.
According to him, a good party leader is someone that builds not someone that destroys and cannot present the party in bad perspective.
He encouraged them not to allow personal interest to override the party’s interest and as well have a copy of the constitution to guide their actions.
Other personalities from APGA gave lectures, as the state secretary of APGA, Sunday Onukwubiri moderated during the event.