By Vincent Ujumadu

AS Nigerians prepare to elect members of the state Houses of Assembly on March 11, 2023, a chieftain of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Anambra State, Comrade Silas Ụmụnna has called on the electorate in the state to vote overwhelmingly for the party to sustain political stability in the state.

In a statement in Awka yesterday, Umunna observed that Anambra State has been at the receiving end of a vastly unfair relationship with the rest of the country, adding that the people of the state have always struggled twice as hard to rise to prominence in national politics. 

According to him, the specifics of the unfair and unequal treatment must have been going through Chief Chekwas Okorie’s mind on Monday 24th June, 2002 as he received the Certificate of Registration for a new party – the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which he added, was the Igbo answer to the dominance of the national parties, and the culmination of the push for the growth and economic development of Igbo land.

Umunna said: “While we have to admit that APGA’s influence has waned due to machinations by the mega parties, we will also have to concede that the prominence of the party in Anambra State since 2003 has contributed to Anambra possessing a sense of stability and continuity that has seemed to elude the rest of Igbo land who have strayed from the Igbo-first mandate. 

“While non-APGA states in Alaigbo have struggled to reconcile the agenda of their national parties with the interests of their Igbo citizens, APGA has no such scruples because at its core is an unconditional love of the Igbo nation, and the burning desire to help Alaigbo become the best it can be.

“Following the debacle on 25th February 2023 where an illustrious son of Alaigbo and a political product of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was unfairly frustrated by the powers that be in Nigeria, the time has come for Ndị Anambra to turn their focus home and consolidate the good work that APGA has been doing in Anambra State through their participation in the March 11 House of Assembly elections in the state.

“It is no secret that Mr. Governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has injected an unprecedented lease of life into Anambra State and set the state back on course to fulfill its humongous economic potential. 

“In all sectors of the Anambra state economy, Mr. Governor has maintained an unshaken focus in maximizing Anambra State’s resources for the good of all Ndị Anambra. “After a rocky start, Soludo has managed to greatly reduce the heightened insecurity that had been plaguing the state prior to his inauguration, giving Ndị Anambra the sense of security required to go about their businesses without fear. 

“Since his accession as  governor in March 2022, the state government has flagged off over 250 kilometers of road projects in the state, with many of these projects at different stages of completion. 

“Anambra has become a huge construction site aiming to effectively connect all parts of the state in order to facilitate smooth commerce and movement.” 

He said that Governor Soludo has also shown a commitment to improving education in the state, with the renovation of primary and secondary schools across Anambra, provision and installation of educational infrastructure in these schools, as well as employment of over 5000 primary school teachers to address the dearth of teachers in the state.

He said further: “While we have noted the developmental strides made by Governor Soludo and the way Anambra State has been better for it, we also have to secure these strides by electing a State House of Assembly that will share Mr Governor’s sole desire for development of Anambra State, which is in tandem with the basic ideology of APGA as a party. 

“Voting APGA lawmakers into the Anambra State House of Assembly will be our best chance to safeguard the good work Governor Soludo has been doing, and prevent attempts to scuttle it by parties controlled by those who do not have the good of Ndigbo at heart.

“Anambra State, through the prominence of APGA remains the last bastion of Igbo resistance to anti-Igbo agenda. It is the last stronghold of the Igbo-first philosophy, and the best choice for the advancement of Ndigbo’s collective goals.

“Should we hand that over to those who would sell out at the slightest pressure? While it is good that Ndigbo are exploring the waters of national political prominence through other political movements, we also have to understand that a strong base is necessary if one is to wage political war on foreign ground. There is no political party better suited to safeguard this mandate at home other than the party brought to prominence by Igbo’s most distinguished son, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

“There is also a popular Igbo adage which says that “when a child is chased, he runs to his mother’s hut.”

“APGA represents the only party in Nigeria that takes us, Ndigbo, for who we are. We should not allow the sabotage of this last refuge for the Igbo dream in Anambra State. Therefore, vote APGA for stability and economic growth on Saturday”.