By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

Ahead of the November 6 Governorship Election in Anambra state and in the lead up to its own primary, the ruling All Progressives Congress APC has promised to provide a level-playing ground for all its aspirants, declaring that it has no anointed candidate.

This came even as the immediate-past National Auditor of the party and Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority NIWA, Chief George Moghalu said the party must put its best foot forward as the election will not be a team party.

Moghalu, one of the 38 APC aspirants in the state disclosed this at the weekend when he submitted his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.

At the event, National Secretary, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC of the party,
Senator John James Akpanduoehehe said the party will work with whoever emerges as the primary.

He said; “The party will ensure that a level playing ground is provided for all the aspirants at the forth coming party primary.

“We have no anointed candidate. The party will work with who ever emerge at the primary.

“In line with the Gov. Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, we are committed to working with all. That is why we need all to join hands with the party by ensuring that Anambra State joins the Progressives come November 6, at the forth coming state Governorship election”.

Speaking after submitting his forms, Moghalu said; “The election of November 6 will not be a tea party. It is going to be a strong contest. Every party will come to the election with their best, with the desire to win. So, I have offered myself to my people of Anambra state.

“I am coming to the business with experience, with knowledge, with capacity, with integrity, with courage and determination to win the election”, he added.

He also expressed concerns on the level of insecurity in the zone, urging those who are aggrieved to bury their hatchet and agree to negotiations.

“To be honest with you, I feel worried, I feel concerned. Like any critical stakeholder in the Nigerian project, I feel worried especially as it concerns my zone in the South East because this people who are killed are people’s children some of them are people’s husbands.

“As for me, nothing is worth shedding any blood. It cannot be explained, it cannot be justified and one thing again I don’t know whether people realise that must of the infrastructure that has been destroyed today, to rebuild them, we must dip our hands into tax payers money because if a police station is burnt down and correctional center is burnt down; it must certainly be rebuilt and in some instances it may interest you to know from the South East where I come from, some of this structures were built by community efforts, some of these police stations and community halls were built by community efforts because I remember when the SARS protest took place in my community for example, the divisional police station was burnt down. It was we the people who are raising money to rebuild it. It is a case of cutting our nose to spite our face, so that is the challenge we face.

“It is a very sad situation. If you look at history, every disagreement, every quarrel, every war has never ended on a battle field, it usually ended on the negotiating table and the question I keep asking is why do we have to ‘war-war’ first before we ‘jaw-jaw’? Why can’t we jump that aspect of the warring, that aspect of the fighting, that aspect of disagreements and go straight to the negotiating table and then negotiate our issues?

“People said we are having this insecurity because we are having unemployment, yes I agree but is killing ourselves the solution for unemployment? The answer is no. Like I always said, government cannot employ everybody. This fact must be established. What government should do is to create enabling environment for the private sector to grow because it is the private sector that employs but when the private sector is collapsed, we have the unemployment challenge and again when I was talking, yi was talking to some people about graduates who are unemployable, though they are graduates.

“So, Why can’t we look at our curriculum to make some adjustments, what has happened to the trade centres, why can’t we create an opportunity?”, He queried.

Vanguard News Nigeria