Oye shaking hands with Gov. Obiano.

Ademola Adegbamigbe

On Friday, two congresses of the the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) held. There was one in Awka, the Anambra State capital. It produced Chief Victor Oye, as chairman.  He was reelected with delegates from all the 36 states of the country and the federal capital territory. Also, the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano emerged chairman Board of Trustees of the Party. Another convention  took place in Owerri, the Imo State capital. That day, a former First National Vice Chairman, South, of the Party, Chief Edozie Njoku, emerged the national chairman. 

Njoku

Between the two which is the real one? Not a few Nigerians asked. This sad development, according to political analysts, may not stand the party in good stead as a house divided against itself cannot stand. An African adage has it that the solo movement of a snake makes it fall prey to the farmer’s machete. Who can confront a band of snakes, led by the majestic python, anaconda, black mamba and the boar constrictor? To these analysts, it is better for the non-authentic group to, like the prodigal, return home to work in oneness with the party leadership because there is much work to be done. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. 

However, the Owerri convention has been waved off as a ruse, as those who participated only allowed themselves to be sold down the river! It goes without saying that for a party convention to have legitimacy, it must be supervised by the Nigerian electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and there must be statutory delegates.

Delegates at the Awka convention

Thus, a prominent member of APGA argued  that Njoku is claiming victory in the illegal “Convention” that happened in Owerri last Friday. “But the real APGA Convention which INEC officially supervised and approved and witnessed took place in Awka. The Njoku faction is a splinter group that staged its own “Convention” in Owerri, I repeat, and refused to be part of the authentic Awka Convention.”

Oye being congratulated by his wife

When asked if he wasn’t really worried that a parallel “Convention” happened in Owerri simultaneously with that at Awka, the Chairman Victor Oye said:

“Don’t mind the Owerri charlatans. There was no Congress in Owerri, no INEC, no statutory delegates. Ours was duly monitored by INEC team from Abuja led by a National Commissioner, Prof. Anthonia Simbine. No cause for alarm.”

In his acceptance speech after he was elected, Oye described those who wanted him stopped in the buildup to the election as ‘never-do-wells’.

He went further: “We are building a new party, and we urge all to put behind them everything that happened in the past, but there are people who will never be happy with our achievement no matter how visible.

“My business in APGA is to win election, and I have no other business as the chairman of the party than that. I urge you all to put the past behind and join hands with me. We are going to do great things in this party in the next four years. My governor, Chief Willie Obiano is here, and I am assured of his support.

“In Abuja, they are shouting next level, but in Anambra, with Obiano as the governor, they will see what next level truly is.”