Anambra 2021: APGA must open merger talks with APC ― Okechukwu, VON DG

Osita Okechukwu

Ahead of next month governorship election in Anambra State, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has again restated his call on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to consider a merger with the APC.

Speaking with newsmen at the weekend, Okechukwu declared that the ruling party in Anambra State was about to lose its grip on the South-East state in sixteen years.

Nigerian Tribune checks revealed that certain federal and state lawmakers in Anambra State have since defected from the APGA and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

Further checks revealed that the APC has also opened the discussion with the Anambra State Deputy Governor, Nkem Okeke, to dump the APGA.

The DG of VON maintained that a merger with APC would be a pragmatic step for APGA to save itself from losing relevance after November 6 election as he expressed confidence that the APC candidate, Senator Andy Uba would win the election.

He said: “It is for this reason that I wish to appeal once more to APGA leaders to explore a Zikist Model merger with APC for a guaranteed seamless victory in the November 6 polls. In saying this, I know for sure that APC can win without APGA, but would enjoy the seamless victory with a Zikist Model merger.”

He further claimed that the merger would afford chieftains of APGA to join the mainstream and by extension, guarantee the emergence of Nigeria president of Igbo extraction.

On speculations that APC was plotting a forceful takeover of Anambra through the institution of the state of emergency, Mr Okechukwu explained that a merger of the two parties would not only cool the political temperature but will also moderate the environment and end up as a political masterstroke.

He recalled the history of political understanding between President Muhammadu Buhari and the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, stressing that it was in that spirit that President Buhari assured Governor Willie Obiano recently last week, that there was no cause for alarm as a declaration of a state of emergency was not on the cards.

“Whereas I have my sympathy for the families of victims of banditry in Anambra and by extension Nigeria in general; however it is my considered opinion that we should repeat the cordial relationship between with Ikemba, Odumegwu Ojukwu and President Buhari when he led APGA to a political understanding with the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) led by Buhari. We can repeat this Zikist feat again, for it is better to be late than the late.”

Okechukwu further recalled a similar political fraternity between a faction of APGA in 2013 when it joined the merger of APC, adding that President Buhari more or less saved Governor Obiano from opponents of his re-election bid in 2017.

“So, as I said two months ago, the suggestion flows from the prism of pragmatic Zikist political model, which joins us with APGA. Pragmatism is the best strategy for Ndigbo to kill two birds with one stone because if APGA fuses into APC, that will give APC three states in the South-East geopolitical zone – a milestone,” he said.

Okechukwu insisted that APGA was missing the point by seeking to remain as a big fish in a small pond of regional politics that has only earned it just one state in the entire federation.

“A merger will not only more than any other factor guarantee Ndigbo the presidential ticket of the APC; but it will save APGA from the likelihood of withering away, without tangible dividends of democracy for its followership. Anybody who watched His Excellency Willy Obiano in the State House, Aso Rock, closely will notice palpable panic. APC and APGA merger will stop this panic as a win-win scenario,” he added.

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