Immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye at the weekend, said it has become increasingly difficult to sell the party in the South East zone, stressing that the situation was compounded by feelings of marginalisation.
He also stated that the party lost the November 6, 2021 Anambra State governorship election due to lack of focus and insincerity on the part of APC leaders in the region.
Nwoye, who made the assertion while speaking to journalists in Enugu, said: “It has become difficult to sell the APC in the South East region since 2015 when the party started because they don’t believe in the political platform.
His words: “When you talk about the APC and failure in the South East, the truth is that APC is not popular in the South East. It is an uphill task to make people accept APC in the region, because it has a dark image.
“Since 2015 when we started running national elections under APC, it has been an uphill battle for the party. So, I commend anyone who took up the chance of flying the flag at any level in the zone.
“Agitations by separatist groups; economic challenges; feeling of marginalisation of the Southeast by the ruling party; the allegation that Nnamdi Kanu is unlawfully being detained by APC, all make it expedient to commend anyone who summoned the courage and the guts to fly the party’s flag of the APC. These factors have continued to hinder the growth of APC in the zone.”
On why the party failed in the Anambra governorship election, Nwoye stated that though the aforementioned factors contributed to it, the insincerity of the party’s leadership in the zone led by former President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, added to its predicament.
Besides, Chairman of Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Rev. Augustine Ehiemere, has stated that the party’s victory in the Anambra gubernatorial election underscored its wide acceptance in the South East zone.
He, therefore, urged all progressive-minded future elective political office seekers and lovers of good governance to join and grow the party into a more formidable political platform to take over governance from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023 for a better Abia State.
In a statement issued in Umuahia, he faulted the newly appointed Commissioner for Information, Eze Chikamnayo, who he said, contradicted himself at different times on issues of governance and development in the state.
Ehiemere said instead of the commissioner to react to bad governance, several months unpaid workers salary, pensions and bad roads among others, for which APGA faulted the PDP-led state government, Eze chose to attack him (Ehiemere) and representative of Aba South Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Obinna Ichita.