“If Ikemba could be disgraced with what they did to his wife, I can tell you that Ojukwu’s spirit has left APGA. For us, we cannot stay and be watching them.”
Magnus Eze, Enugu
Jerry Obasi is one of the foundation members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). From been the state chairman of Ebonyi; he joined the National Working Committee of the party, where he has held various positions including the Deputy National Secretary.
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Obasi, with some other aggrieved members of the party recently announced what they called “Authentic APGA.”
He speaks on the festering crisis in the party; the contentious primary elections, the perceived humiliation of Bianca Ojukwu and why the National Chairman, Chief Victor Oye must leave the party, among other issues.
Recently, you announced the formation of Authentic APGA which means outright factionalisation of APGA. What led to that?
It is very simple, in our press conference we told the whole world what was happenings in APGA; first and foremost there has been high level of injustices in APGA. A lot of extortions from candidates, like in Imo State the extortion went to as high as N2 billion. Candidates were asked to pay fees that were outside the actual fees that should be paid in APGA.
In Abia State, the same thing happened, while in Anambra State it was even the worst of all, in the sense that the only image our most revered leader, Dim Ikemba Ojukwu left which is his widow, Bianca Ojukwu, was deceived to come out and dance naked before the public in a challenge. If APGA well structured as it were, Bianca is not supposed to lose primary election.
But you saw how disorganised the primary was. Those levels of injustices have been there. The party has not been accountable, Chief Victor Oye runs the party like a private company.
The party already has candidates for various elections in 2019, when you say you have formed Authentic APGA, what do you intend to achieve with that?
We intend to achieve justice with that, we intend to achieve certain corrections with that, we intend to use this platform to force or compel Oye to leave our party alone for us. Oye as we speak today doesn’t have APGA membership card. He is still parading the old card he has from the party where he came from and the way he behaves; he has shown you very clearly that he is not a part of APGA. This has to come to an end at this crucial time in the country because if you don’t say anything, if you keep quiet, it now implies that all those things Oye and co are doing, they are in cahoots with us. But we the authentic members of APGA are saying no to all those things.
As you pursue justice, is the Authentic APGA working for the presidential candidate of the party?
It is unfortunate that APGA stands not to have a presidential candidate as it were. Obiano had in another forum announced that he is supporting President Muhammadu Buhari as our candidate then how will I be more Catholic than the Pope in Rome. It is not possible, already it is clear they’re just using Gen. John Gbor as bait to defraud Nigerians and the entire Igbo people and the Igbo people are not finding it funny. So, the question whether we have a candidate or not is long gone because you cannot say you have a presidential candidate in Gbor and you are going everywhere now raising funds for Buhari; telling everybody that the entire Anambra and the entire APGA, that you are with Muhammadu Buhari.
So, the issue of Gbor is unfortunate. It is just quite unfortunate that Gbor allowed himself to be part of this conspiracy, the highest political fraud of the century. This is the height of fraud on earth and Oye and Obiano are going to face prosecution at the right time because we cannot continue to watch, we are going to look deeper and look inward to see what we could do politically with regards to the presidential election because as it were, we are against any presidential candidate. But the issue of Gbor to us in authentic APGA is long gone. Obiano parades himself as the leader of the party, the BoT chairman and only governor that we have and he has said he is supporting Buhari, so then what sense does it make for us to come and say it must be Gbor when the BoT chairman and the embattled National Chairman are in cahoots in that fraud. So, it is quite unfortunate, our stand is clear on that, we have no business with Gbor as it were because those who manufactured him have destroyed him and I cannot cry more than the bereaved.
Do you now say that the Authentic APGA is made up of the aggrieved members of the party and if that is the case; it means you are in sympathy with Bianca Ojukwu?
Yes, I share in her pains and every reasonable Nigerian, every reasonable politician and every reasonable Igbo person must share in her pains. We, the Authentic APGA, we share in her pains and I, the Chairman of Authentic APGA also share in her pains. That is the height of injustice; you cannot do that to our leader, even in death Ojukwu remains the insignia of APGA, Ojukwu remains the alter ego for APGA even for the same people who brought Bianca Ojukwu to dance naked in the public after defrauding her.
In the party’s campaign flag-off, people wore clothes adorned with Ojukwu’s face. Is it not stupid of them? It is unfortunate, I share in her pains and the Authentic APGA share in her pains and I want to tell you, outside of us in authentic APGA, everybody who is human even among the cabinet of Obiano sincerely shares in her pains. So, it is unfortunate that they have so decimated APGA, they so destroyed APGA. If Ikemba could be disgraced with what they did to the wife, I can tell you that Ojukwu’s spirit has left APGA. For us, we cannot stay and be watching them.