The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia says the party has the human and material resources to wrestle power away from the poorly performing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) come 2023.
Chairman of the state Caretaker Committee, Chief Donatus Nwankpa, vowed that the APC was poised to sweep the polls in 2023 to correct the current ills by providing good governance and infrastructure development that God’s Own State currently lacks.
Speaking through the Secretary-elect of the party, Mr Perfect Okorie, at a news conference in Umuahia on Thursday, Nwankpa, said; “In 2023, it will dawn on all Abia people that APC has come to take over the state. We have men of high calibre and proven integrity at the top level of Nigeria’s politics, who are prepared to redeem Abia from PDP’s maladministration and move the state forward.
“We have men, who are ready to wipe away the tears of the downtrodden, workers and pensioners, who are owed many months of their legitimate entitlements.”
He accused the present PDP administration in Abia of making the state a laughing stock among other states of the federation, saying; “We are all ashamed of the total dilapidation of infrastructure in the state. No sector is spared.”
According to Chief Nwankpa, with assurances from President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that votes counted in 2023, “it will not be business as usual in Abia”, adding that the president has shown with the Anambra governorship poll that he is determined to enthrone a credible electoral process in the country.
The APC Chairman, who dismissed fears that the prevailing economic difficulties and security challenges in the country would sway votes against APC in 2023, further said; “The economic downturn is a global phenomenon, which was hugely exacerbated by the economic meltdown and COVID-19 pandemic. This is not limited to Nigeria. It is a global dilemma.”
On the current state of the party in Abia state arising from the parallel congresses at the ward, local government, and state levels, Nwankpa said the national leadership of the party has put the inauguration of the newly elected executives on hold across the federation.
“That the newly elected state executive of the party had not been inaugurated after the state congress is not peculiar to Abia. So, all the interim caretaker committees, instituted in all the 36 states, are still in charge of the affairs of the party,” he said.
Nwankpa further said some party members, loyal to his leadership, obtained an interim order from an Abia High Court in Ukwa on October 21, 2021, which restrained the party and its national leadership “from receiving, accepting and/or acting on the purported list of successful candidates” for the Abia congress. – With NAN reports
