The founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has declared that it is the duty of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to obey the clear judgment of the Supreme Court in line with its consequential orders as clearly spelt out in its enrolled order to recognize Chief Edozie Njoku as the authentic subsisting national chairman of the APGA.
Chief Okorie in an interview declared APGA as the second oldest political party in Nigeria as it stands today, saying that the party has immense unexplored potential to expand democracy in Nigeria.
He insisted that the INEC has the responsibility to bring to an end the 19-year-old leadership tussle in the party by doing what is expected of the Commission.
He said he founded the party, which was officially registered by the INEC on June 22, 2002 after two previous failed attempts in 1996 and 1998, to found a truly progressive national political party that would mainly address, promote and protect the welfare and interests of Nigeria’s diverse ethnic nationalities.
Okorie said that for sure that the party has a lot to offer in Nigeria’s democratic space.
“The party’s first participation in a general election in Nigeria in 2003 was phenomenal, in spite of the massive manipulation of the electoral process of that year by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government, APGA came third out of 30 political parties that participated in that election. The party formed government in Anambra State. It won three Federal constituency seats in Anambra, Imo and Bayelsa states and States Assembly seats across the country. APGA was poised to consolidate its gains and record substantial victories in subsequent elections,” Okorie said.
He said that with the Supreme Court judgment recognizing Chief Njoku as the national chairman of the APGA that it is a misnomer for the INEC to act otherwise.
He gave full assurance that those already elected under Chief Victor Oye chairmanship before the Supreme Court judgment should entertain no fear, including Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, as they would not be thrown away.
So now the Supreme Court has declared Edozie Njoku as the authentic chairman of APGA, what will happen to those elected under Victor Oye chairmanship?
When I speak now not being the national chairman, I may be a bit circumspect so that they will not see me as if I’m the one calling the shot. But the truth is that Chief Edozie Njoku and I are all of one voice that what we need more than anything else is to reconcile the party. So, going after those who have already won their election, including Soludo the governor of Anambra State will not be the best way to go. And if we are not going after them, any other person from any other party going after them may not succeed because the party would have devised means of resolving the matter as a family affair like the PDP would call their own family affair and the All Progressives Congress (APC) too. And I have always advocated this family affair approach to solving internal disputes. I believe I speak the mind of the national chairman when I say no person who has been elected to the office needs to entertain any fear, including the governor of Anambra State. We want to move forward, we don’t want to misuse our victory. There is no wisdom in going after any person who has laboured to win election on the platform of APGA. What we would be looking at is how to increase our stake in Nigerian democratic space.
But it appears that INEC is refusing to obey the Supreme Court judgment?
There is no doubt about that. INEC really surprised many people and many people intervened, very prominent people who know what were going on. Those interventions were made, but it may not be for me now to say much of what I know because if we are going to work on reconciliation we will leave certain things. But there is no doubt that INEC has contributed to the problem in APGA right from 2005 when INEC recognized the treasurer of the party. It was in 2005 that INEC wrote a letter recognizing Victor Umeh who is a treasurer as an acting chairman whereas under no circumstance will a treasurer who is not in the line of succession assume office even if the chairman is either dead or removed. But we saw that misnomer. And that’s what I continued to fight in APGA, this impunity. Sometime even those in INEC make mockery of people. Top persons in the legal department of INEC have called Edozie Njoku names. However, now that we are at this point, we hope the damage they have done is enough. If they continue to sit along that line, we will not hesitate to take the appropriate steps. When they fought me I didn’t have a Supreme Court judgment, but now Edozie has one. So, there is no reason we will not have what belongs to us. I know the Supreme Court will be thoroughly angry to see that it had gone a long way to issue a 42-page judgment on a matter that could have just been dealt with in one line correction of an error. But they did that (42 pages) in order to leave nobody in doubt as to what they have done. I really give kudos to the senior jurists for their patience. This kind of role order is almost like judgment within a judgment just to make sure there is no iota of doubt because they have all the controversies. I believe that if we have to return to court to say that these people have refused to obey, I can imagine the level of anger that will elicit. I just hope INEC doesn’t allow us to go that far.
So, what is next for APGA?
First of all, we have already agreed and that’s one of the conditions I gave before rejoining because everybody who follows APGA will know that out of anger I made a pronouncement which people regarded as a curse. And APGA was a party that passed through some spiritual process, including interdenominational service at Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium to dedicate the party to God. Prior to that time, there were other thanksgiving services. No political party to the best of my knowledge has ever followed that spiritual approach to begin a journey and I think it is by the grace of God that APGA remains alive, even if it is in life support. So, we have agreed that the first thing we will do once we are done with the INEC angle now is to return to our interdenominational service and call everybody, including Moslems who will also take prayer request to their mosque and we will call God to intervene, to forgive anybody who has done wrong to us and we get the party rededicated to God. When that is done, obviously there will be fear of God and we will bring the party back to Nigerian people. APGA is not an Igbo party. When it was founded, it was never founded as an Igbo party. And I’m the founder and vision bearer saying this. We set up national political party to principally hear the voice of all the marginalized nationalities in Nigeria. Who are the marginalized and minority people? This is a country we don’t have an absolute majority and absolute minority. You may be majority in the Southeast of Igbo, but the moment you leave the Southeast you are already minority elsewhere. The same thing applies to Hausa, Yoruba and every other ethnic group. So, APGA is not an Igbo party. When you aggregate all these minorities, you have an absolute majority, that was the vision. But it’s unfortunate that the people who didn’t share in the vision reduced APGA to a cash cow where they will just be milking it and when they feel they are done with it, they will abandon it and go elsewhere. So, we are going to bring APGA back on track. Starting with Imo election, nothing will be left to chance. The idea that people will pay nomination fee and you will not allow them to participate in primary and you now return to your bedroom and give the ticket to the highest bidder was never the way APGA started. Mr Peter Obi and other candidates, name them, are all living witnesses. All of them didn’t really pay nomination fees. And we waved it because the party was new and we needed anybody who wanted to run to come and contest. And so we started on the note of even not having the money we ought to have had. We simply encouraged people to contest. But then luckily with the presence of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who joined us six months after the party was founded, the moment was triggered off and that was what brought in the likes of Peter Obi to office and those initial successes were recorded. We are going to recover all lost grounds and that is the leadership I will provide as a father and I will continue to guide them.
You said you people will be returning the spirit of APGA you said left the party long ago?
Yes. That is why I have talked about interdenominational service to rededicate the party to God. You see, spirit is very powerful. It’s only God that directs the spirit to move one way or the other because when we pray out of a heavy heart, God answers immediately, He answered me because he saw my heart. But now it’s not within my power to command the Holy Spirit to come back. So, all of us have to return to God. Even when you curse your child out of anger, you will, like our people say, beat your child with one hand and bring him back with another. We shall ask God for forgiveness and then rededicate our party to the original noble cause. So, the spirit will come back. If the spirit doesn’t come back, we are not going to make any success. The spirit definitely will come back once we ask God because He said “knock, and He will open”. This is exactly the whole essence of returning the party to God. In the interdenominational service we will ask God to forgive and restore both the soul and spirit of APGA.
