Chairman of Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Anselm Ojezua, in this interview with JETHRO IBILEKE says Ikimi was unwise to have jumped ship
As the newly elected Edo State Chairman of APC, what strategies have you put in place to take the party to the next level?
APC is yet new now, we are just building a strong party but one is confident that we have very experienced and intelligent people of integrity, which will make it easy for us to constitute a very strong party. As it is these past two months or so, we’ve been able to establish all the structures of the party and they are now all functioning. You can see a lot of activities around the state. Rallies are taking place at different parts of the state at the same time, and we are already in the period when preparations for the general elections are already at play. Already, things are taking place.
What we want to achieve is a party that has rules and has the spirit to obey its own rules. We want to be able to establish a process by which whatever candidates we come up with will be candidates that are products of a process of integrity. So we will emphasise on the process rather than the personalities.
With the gale of defections hitting Edo APC in recent times, do you think APC still stands the chance of sweeping all elections in the state like it did in the past?
You are the one who calls it a gale?. I admit that we have lost some people, but what we have lost is not sufficient for me to believe that it will affect the fortunes of the party. From my own assessment having gone round the state, I’m satisfied that we have lost not much. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that what others would have seen as a loss for us may be what we will gain in terms of reduction of hostilities and animosity in the process of primaries. We will have less of that. And may I just add that wherever those people are going, they will either meet with hostility or their entry will create hostility within that party. So I wish them luck.
Some people are expressing worry that imposition of candidates will tear Edo APC apart in the forthcoming elections. How would you allay their worries?
Well, we have developed guidelines, and the guidelines are clear that there will be no opportunity for imposition. Rather, there will be election. And that’s why I told you that what we want to do is to come up with a process that will obey the rules, and it will be transparent in such a manner that everybody concerned, including the onlookers, will agree that the process has integrity.
You can see that the Adamawa State governorship primary election of the APC is adjudged to be very transparent and credible. That is a reflection of what you will expect across the country. You see, APC is anchoring its entry on the word ‘Change’. Change in terms of the way in which things are done.
One of those fundamental things that have actually been the bane of our society is the inability of political parties to obey their rules with respect to internal democracy. So I believe that this is the first opportunity we are going to have to convince Nigerians that we indeed are introducing change, and I’m happy with the way it went in Adamawa.
Before Adamawa, we had primaries in Anambra as well as in Ekiti. So what happened in Adamawa is just a reflection of the kind of culture that we are trying to introduce to Nigeria.
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