Imo must surpass other states – Mascot Uzor Kalu
From Chidi Nnadi, Enugu and George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The five-man committee sent to Enugu State for the registration and revalidation of All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the South-East, yesterday, explained the need for the exercise, saying the membership data for the zone had crashed.
A member of the committee and an APC stalwart from Imo State, Prince Azu Uwandu told Daily Sun that unknown to them, a virus attacked the data for the South-East, which crashed their system.
“There was a little problem with the previous registration in the South-East, you know the sensitive nature of these new technologies. Anything is possible, we were told there was a virus that crashed our database for South-East zone, so, along the line, it was suggested that we do a re-registration for the South-East, and that is why we are here. The registration is going on well and there is a lot of enlightenment for the zone to be captured in the national APC data.”
The re-registration and revalidation exercise of the party started on January 21 and is expected to last for one week.
According to Prince Uwandu, immediately the exercise is concluded, the new record of the party members in the region would be sent to the national database in Abuja to forestall another crashing.
He also noted that “the exercise is a call for the Igbo to come out so they will be part of the government at the centre because we are talking of marginalisation; this is an opportunity for us to be part of the ruling party and government.”
Uwandu noted that the response to the exercise had been quite impressive. He said they had registered former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani and re-registered former governor of old Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo in Enugu on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Imo State APC membership Registration and Revalidation Committee, Mascot Uzor Kalu said the state must surpass other states in the South East in the number of registered members.
He said the state, being the only APC ruling state in the entire zone has an edge.
Kalu, who stated this yesterday in Owerri, the Imo State capital during training of 54 members of the Registration and Revalidation Officers from the 27 council areas of the state, said as the only APC-controlled state in the South east, it must ensure that it has more registered members.
He said the purpose of the exercise was to ensure that those interested in joining the party, irrespective of their former political affiliations, must be registered.
“Fifty four of you have been chosen for the training exercise for the purpose of the registration and revalidation of members in the state and your major duty as coordinators is to also train the registration officers at the ward levels and to liaise with other stakeholders to ensure that the registration exercise is successful.”
“As the only state with an APC government in the entire zone, we have the edge over other states in the South East to register more members and already, the state governor has set a target of 1million new members.”
Kalu urged the registration officers to take their assignments seriously as only the South East zone is yet to complete her own registration and revalidation of members. He assured that the committee would provide the needed assistance for the success of the exercise.
Mascot Kalu has expressed the committee’s gratitude to the state governor for his hospitality since their arrival in the state.