Suleiman Anyalewechi, Aba
Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia State South East Nigeria, Chief Sylvanus Nwaji has described the election of the immediate past Governor of Kano State Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the new national chairman of APC as an eloquent testimony of the resolve by the party hierarchy to take it to the next level.
This is just as he called on the new party helmsman to move swiftly to unite and give a sense of belonging to all APC members in the country, especially in the South East region.
In an exclusive interview with the NewsCritic online on Wednesday August 9, 2023 in Aba, Nwaji expressed optimism that going by the rich political and administrative trajectories of Ganduje, the APC would break new grounds in terms of unity, cohesion and acceptability.
He assured that the APC in the South East would give Dr Ganduje the support and cooperation needed to pilot the affairs of the party.
Chief Nwaji, a four time executive chairman of the oil rich Ukwa West local council of Abia state, also called on the Ganduje led National Working Committee, NWC, of APC to work towards ensuring that all parts of the country are carried along both in the scheme of things in the country and the party in particular.
“It is my honest and fervent prayers that the new leadership of the party should take practical steps to run an all-inclusive arrangement, as well as strive to further entrench the influence of APC in the South East region.
With the faltering of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, there is the urgent need for the APC to provide a viable alternative to the people of the South East. There is a big lacuna in the political space of the South East, which only the APC has the capacity to fill”.
All the new national leadership of the party need do at the moment is to properly harness and encourage our numerous members to reposition APC, not just in the South East but in the entire country,” Nwaji stated.
The former House of Representatives contender appealed to APC members across the country to give the new National Chairman all the needed support in his bid to take the party to the next level.
“With the general elections over, there is the need to chart a new course for the party. Issues like how to bring back and or reconcile aggrieved members will certainly preoccupy the new NWC. In as much as the new National Chairman and NWC are manifestly capable, they equally need the support and encouragement of the members. This time demands that members should eschew rancour, and divisive tendencies.
The party has just been given the mandate to pilot the affairs of the country for the next four years and it cannot afford to fail,” Nwaji noted.
Chief Nwaji further noted that the APC is poised to use the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Imo State to consolidate its pre-eminence in the South East region, adding that party members across the South-East are ready to work as a united family to ensure victory for APC come November this year.
The focus is to firmly establish the APC as the dominant political platform in the South East region. We are set to prove a point to those who erroneously tend to underestimate the popularity of APC in the region. All we are asking for is the support and understanding of the national leadership of the party,”Nwaji stated.
