Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta state have said they were not prepared for victory in the last gubernatorial elections and that indices on ground at the moment show the party may lose if the Appeal Court rules in favour of the party and declares a re-run.
Speaking at a Leaders and Stakeholders meeting convened by Operation Rescue Delta APC (ORDA) in Asaba at the weekend, Air Vice Marshal Frank Ajobena (rtd), Hon. Sam Kwoho, Chief Chris Anirah, Prince Charles Ikpama, among others, attributed APC woes to the gubernatorial candidate of the party, Chief O’tega Emerhor who they accused of hijacking the party structure in the state.
AVM Ajobena who was adopted as the leader of APC in Delta State at the occasion, said, “when I came home to vote during the elections, I did not see any APC poster in the village, as at today, let us not deceive ourselves, the PDP is in vital control of all areas in the state, APC is not in a position to win in a re-run, that is the truth, the APC that is on ground is made of people moving in different directions.”
The APC Chieftain added, “the APC in Delta State as it is today is very fragmented, the cross-carpeting we are seeing is because people are looking for appointments and not because of belief in the APC ideology, people of like minds should come together and build the APC structure.”
Prof. Kiakietie further said, “we cannot continue to follow a leader who is surrounded by sycophants, we must continue to fight to break the spell on APC in Delta State, a cabal of few persons have hijacked our party and we cannot remain like this.”
Hon. Kwoho said “I came to this meeting because, I believe the APC has to be rescued from those holding it hostage, APC is not in opposition in Delta State, we have no member in the Delta State House of Assembly, we have no member in the House of Representatives and we have no member in the Senate because one man is holding the party hostage.”
Prince Charles Ikpama, the coordinator of ORDA, disclosed that the meeting was necessary to chart a way forward for the APC, stating, “ORDA is a group of APC stalwarts, leaders and elders in the state who have come to salvage the party from sinking further, it is our desire to express, promote and extend the principles and ideologies of the party to party faithful.
“The genesis of these challenges cannot be overemphasized; the defective composition of the state executive, the subsisting court cases, the cancellation of an elders forum meeting, the marginalization of party elders and leaders in the scheme of events and the overall monopoly of the party machinery by our Governorship candidate, has subsequently led to the poor showing of the party witnessed at both the Presidential and Gubernatorial elections,” Prince Ikpama stated.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the crisis rocking the APC in Delta State, observing that “the grapevine is agog with the decision that the fact finding committee recommended the retention of the state executives, which we all know is at variance with the situation in the state.”
Chief Anirah said it was important for members of the APC in the state to speak the truth while others who spoke at the occasion linked APC’s loss in the general elections to lack of proper mobilization.
The APC members thanked President Buhari for appointing a Deltan as the Minister of Petroleum, asserting that plans are on to organize a grand reception for the Minister, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.
Source: theunion.com.ng
