Echoes and Pretences of APGA’s mega rally in Awka By Chukwujekwu Ilozue

There was no pretence about it. Since former Governor of Anambra State, Chief Peter Obi, moved on to People’s Democratic Party (PDP), all eyes have been on his former party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), not for any positive expectation but to see the fulfilment of their expectation: the dismemberment of the party.

Fortunately for the party, Obi left quietly, obviously not intending to be blamed if any ills befall the party. This is some observers’ interpretation of the nature of his departure even though some party members may argue that by leaving the house he helped to build, he did not wish it to stand anymore.

But much credit will go to the indefatigable National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, and the newly crowned leader and chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT), Governor Willie Obiano, who took the situation in their strides by rallying round APGA members to be resolute and move on as if nothing had happened.

And the test of their hard work came on Saturday, December 20, when the party held a mega rally during which it flagged-off its campaign and showcased its candidates for the 2015 election. It was also the occasion when Obiano handed over the party flags to the candidates. The rally had earlier been shifted from December 18, ostensibly to enable party leaders have a breathing space after a successful Special Conference two days earlier in which Obiano was elevated to the status of party leader and Chairman of BoT.

The party may have surpassed expectations when it eventually held the rally. Some people had imagined that the rally would be low-keyed. How wrong they were. Since the rally was fixed for 10am, they took it for granted that a rally of that magnitude could never start before 12 noon. How wrong they were! As at 11 am, there was no space to place one’s feet at the Alex Ekwueme square, venue of the event.

The organizers must have anticipated the crowd before hand because unlike before, the back-stage of the square were turned into a parking lot. That was not the situation this time. That whole area was cleared to accommodate the anticipated crowd and when the crowd came surging in, that decision was justified. There were so many people at the square that if one throws up grains of sand, literally, they will not find the place on the ground.

The situation was much helped by the candidates who turned out with their supporters in thousands. One after the other they filed past the chairman of Board of Trustees, who handed APGA flag first, to Senatorial candidates, then House of Representatives candidates and then House of Assembly candidates. They all chanted party slogans and campaign slogans of their candidates. The BoT chairman usually gave his words of exhortation and change the candidates to go on and win the election. In all they were 30 candidates for the House of Assembly election, 11 for House of Representatives election, and 3 senatorial candidates.

Obiano said the party is set to sweep the polls in 2015 because of the performance of the party in the last eight years and the prospect the party has for the state. He said the candidates should win because APGA has done well. Outlining the achievements of his administration, he said the party is doing well in all the enablers and has attracted foreign investment worth more than $1.7 billion in the past seven months; created over 4000 jobs and so on. He said his administration has created conducive environment for investment having driven away criminals from the state and the state is now investment friendly. Obiano said his administration has performed well in all sectors and that is good indication that

He asked voters to vote for the party not only in Anambra state but in all the states where the party is fielding candidates.

Umeh in his own speech told thousands of party supporters who filled Ekwueme Square to the brim: “We will not let you down. APGA is a party nobody can challenge in Anambra state. We are together and united. The reason for our being in governance for the past eight years and has transformed the state the mandate of Anambra people is very clear. We won the gubernatorial election and Governor Obiano has started performing wonders”.

He educated them that what Obiano needs now is to be surrounded by law makers from APGA both the State House of Assembly and National Assembly who will always brief him and work in synergy without discordant tunes. Besides, Umeh said, the party’s nomination was largely without a hitch. “APGA is the only political party that conducted proper nomination and those who did not win should work for the party because they will be catered for when we win”.

Umeh once again warned that the party will take legal action against any political party which will attempt to field more than one candidate for one position in the election. If that happens, he warned APGA will asked the courts to disqualify such candidates.

He took time to educate party supporters on how President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the party’s candidate in the election should be voted for stressing that there will be separate ballot boxes for the Presidential election different from the ones for the national assembly election.