From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The National Auditor of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. George Moghalu, has expressed confidence that incumbency factor will not decide the outcome of the Anambra State governorship election, insisting that the factor has been demystified in Nigeria.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja yesterday, Moghalu, one of the APC aspirants for the November 18 Anambra State poll, argued that if the incumbent could be defeated in Ekiti, Ondo states, in the 2015 Presidential election and now in Osun Senatorial rerun election, where the incumbent governor lost, it could also happen in Anambra.
Asked how he intends to defeat Governor Willie Obiano, he replied: “incumbency has been demystified and l don’t think we should be talking about it anymore. In Ekiti, an incumbent governor lost election; in Ondo, an incumbent governor lost election; in Nigeria, an incumbent president lost election and in Osun an incumbent governor lost election.
“So, why wouldn’t Anambra incumbent governor lose election. It is about the candidate; it is about the message. I keep telling any incumbent governor or even incumbent president that your campaign is no more I will, it is about I have.
“Any incumbent governor or president who tells you please re-elect me, I will do this or I will do that when you re-elect him, please ignore the person. Every incumbent should be saying I promised I would do this three year ago and I have done that. I did this, I did that and judge me based on what I said and what I have delivered and that is the only way you can align with that kind of person.” he said.
While assuring that what happened to the APC in the Osun West Senatorial rerun election will not happen in Anambra, Chief Moghalu said: “I keep telling people and let me emphasise it again, for every election, apart from the party, the individual candidate that you present has a very strong role to play.
“For APC as a party, we are acceptable in Anambra State. Very acceptable because when they are looking at APC as political, they look at individuals that represent APC. For me, I know that I have credible record that Anambra State people can trust. Today, I am seen as a credible politician; I am seen as somebody who is consistent; I am seen as somebody who says something and stick to it.”
Whenever I enter into a commitment, I do everything humanly possible to keep to it.
“So, it is about the person apart from the party and when you join the credibility of the person with that of the party, then you have a candidate that can be easily be sold to the people. But, if you chose the wrong candidate believing that because of one reason or the other it becomes a party name issue, you might run into difficulty situation.
“But when you have a credible candidate with a strong party, there is likelihood that the people would now put their trust and confidence on that candidate and that is what I am selling,” he said.