Written By: Chinweozo Amuta

Amidst the euphoria of the recent investiture of Governor Willie Obiano as the Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the Great by Pope Francis, something very significant about the affairs of Anambra state and her ruling political party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, occurred. And that was the convergence of the national chairman of APGA, Dr. Victor Ike-Oye and his predecessor, Senator Victor Umeh, at the Vatican City, Rome, in solidarity with Governor Obiano, the Board of Trustees Chairman of APGA.

Members of the Governor’s family, made up of himself, his amiable wife, Dr. Ebelechukwu Obiano; daughter, Dr. Ogechi and son, Difu, close political aides and bosom friends of the Obianos, also attended the historic event.

Despite the vicious lies of members of the opposition that the Governor’s entourage comprised 250 delegates, pictures and video from the ceremony further laid to rest another lie that there is quarrel among the trio of Obiano, Oye and Umeh.

Naturally, there must be differences of opinions in every political party around the world. But, in order to score cheap political points, some people attempted to blow the APGA’s out of proportion.

APGA made significant inroads into some states outside the Southeast. It won seats into the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly in states like Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Niger, Bayelsa as well as Abia and Imo states. Equally, the party is today governing the Gwagwalada Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

APGA is also the only political party in Nigeria today that occupies a national Secretariat owned by it. This is clear evidence that APGA is a patriotic and nationalistic party determined to spread across Nigeria and make her a truly united country. It also has vibrant branches in many parts of the world, especially in Europe, North America and sub Saharan Africa.

In Anambra state, where the party has consistently governed since 2006, Ndi Anambra are, undoubtedly, enjoying good governance and verifiable democracy dividends. Again, unlike in some states, the votes of the Anambra electorate actually counted in the gubernatorial elections held in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Indeed, APGA’s electoral victory in 2017 was overwhelming and convincing to the extent that none of the major candidates or their political parties defeated in the poll challenged the results in the election tribunal.

The implicit confidence of Ndi Anambra in APGA in the past thirteen years stems largely from the fact that governors produced by the party in the state have acquitted themselves creditably. While the first APGA sponsored governor in the state, Sir Peter Obi, performed creditably, his successor, Chief Sir Willie Obiano, has taken socioeconomic development of the state to greater height, to the admiration of the citizenry and other Nigerians.

Anambra is indisputably the safest state in Nigeria today and ranks low in the poverty index. The state’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, has continued to rise under the Obiano administration. This is because the administration created enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

Meanwhile, the government has inaugurated a fifty-year development plan group known as Vision 2070 Committee, to ensure sustainable socioeconomic development of the state. The Committee is headed by a renowned world class economist and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

Besides, the governing party in Anambra has unanimously decided to pick its gubernatorial flag bearer in the 2021 poll from the South senatorial district. This decision is in tandem with the wishes of Ndi Anambra, who believe that it conforms with the principles of justice, equity, fairness and good conscience. They say that since Anambra Central and North Senatorial Districts have respectively governed the state for longer periods since her creation in 1991, it is the turn of the South district to produce the next governor.

Given these scenarios and conviviality among the leadership of APGA, there is no doubt that whoever the party picks as its flag bearer in the Anambra 2021 gubernatorial election would record another resounding victory.

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