Real reason Peter Obi left APGA –Obienyem

LATEST UPDATE: Real reason Peter Obi left APGA –Obienyem

BY CHIKA ABANOBI

Since the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progres­sives Grand Alliance (APGA), the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, has not relented in ac­cusing him of abandoning the party. In this interview with Saturday Sun, Obi’s Media Assistant, Valentine Obienyem, addresses what he says are falsehoods that Chief Umeh has been feeding Nigerians, concerning Obi’s exit.

Your boss, ex-governor Peter Obi, has been vilified in recent times for dumping APGA for PDP. What re­ally informed his exit from APGA?

I think, in the first place, the exit of Mr. Peter Obi from APGA to the PDP was in­formed by the consciousness that he was exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right to associate freely with any law-abiding group of his choice. Perhaps, you are interested in knowing why he became tired of APGA. It is not only Obi, every­body is tired of APGA because its leaders are more of men that think about today rather than the future. There is something organic about nurturing a party but for the current chairman of APGA, party is about using it to leverage for personal gain. If he cared for APGA’s growth, how would he remain the chairman of the party and yet be vying for senatorial seat? If this is not the highest exemplification of greed and selfishness, I wonder what is? To be hon­est to ourselves, how can a party that is so mightily derided by its leadership ever hope to survive? The irony of it is that he does this with the party people, remain­ing supine because once one raises one’s voice, one is either suspended or expelled. This means that from the beginning, APGA has never been a political party and those like Obi, who struggled to turn that monster into a human being were, in the long run, driven out of the party.

Asking me what informed the exit of my boss from APGA, you are invari­ably asking me what informed the exit of people like Chief Martin Agbaso, Ugo­chukwu Agbala and other big names from the party. You are asking me what some people like Sen. Uche Chukwumerije, Sen. Joy Emordi, Sen. Ben Obi, Hon. Uche Ekwkunife, Hon. Chris Azubogu, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu and many big names saw and refrained themselves from either joining APGA or leaving the party as soon as they joined. The fact is: The way APGA is being run, it is not a political party. My boss tried to make it one but it was difficult for him for, as the saying goes: “One cannot be a sane man in the midst of madmen.” Those madmen will believe they are normal while yourself is the mad one. Did you not witness what happened in Imo State? Ask followers of Agbaso and they will tell you how a few wads were considered above a man, who carried for years the storm and stress of Imo APGA.

Look at what is happening in APGA today, one man, Chief Victor Umeh, is the beginning and end of the party. The deci­sion of my boss to leave the party was a great one. We note with happiness that he fulfilled his promise to Ojukwu and hand­ed over to an APGA government. Besides the fact that Victor actually demanded that he should leave, the PDP has also widened his horizon and placed him on a vantage platform where he would serve the people of Anambra State, Ndigbo and Nigerians from the centre, as he has been doing and dreaming on expanding.

But all the same, his defection attracted criticisms, not only from Chief Victor Umeh, surprisingly, from Ojukwu’s wife, Bianca. What do you have to say on this?

If you have been following develop­ment, you would have noticed that amidst cacophony of voices, even those from the lunatic fringes, Mr. Obi only responded to Bianca because she was the only one who spoke with sincerity and was genuinely concerned by the development. Obi ex­plained to her that he had to leave because the party had derailed from its original ideals. If you read Bianca’s interview carefully, you would have noticed that she rested the entire crisis in the party on Victor Umeh. She said APGA rejoiced in chasing the cat (Chekwas) away, only to be saddled with a tiger (Umeh). That view agrees with what Ezeigbo (the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu) always said about him.

What Nigerians should be looking at are the reactions of Nigerians, which are com­ing in torrents, showing how important Obi is in Nigeria and her politics. Most of those reactions are positive, in fact, they are more of congratulatory notes for him on leaving APGA for a platform that will allow him serve majority of Nigerians.

Is it true that Obi and Umeh parted ways because of Umeh’s insistence that the former governor must hold local government elec­tion in Anambra?

Citing local government election as the reason he fell out with Obi is not true. I would rather prefer if you ask him if it was Obi that made him to sell party nomination forms to candidates for local government election in many cases and refuse to balance them the money when elections did not hold.

The fact is that anybody who tolerated Umeh for even a year must be a saint. How many months did he get on with Gov. Rochas Okorocha before he declared him a persona non grata at Imo State Government House? During Obi’s time, he nominated many commissioners but Rochas would have none of that.

Umeh’s aide, Stanley Okeke, accused the former governor of col­lecting 10 per cent from contractors on all the contracts awarded by the Obi administration. What is your take on this?

All Victor made were from 2003 or thereabout when he met Obi. Obi changed his life. Under Obi, Anambra State built the most impressive network of roads. Un­der him Anambra State got first of every­thing: Secretariat, teaching hospital, lab for testing construction materials, among others. When he handed over, he left bil­lions of naira in the treasury. The debate in Ekiti, as in other states in Nigeria, is on how much unpaid debt from money borrowed from banks or through bonds that was left by former governors but in Anambra, it is about how much money was left. Is this an evidence of a man that collected 10 per cent? Everybody in APGA knows that most contracts meant for APGA party faithful were hijacked by greedy party officials.

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