APDA to field candidate for Anambra guber poll

The Advanced Peoples Democratic Alliance (APDA) said it will field credible and acceptable candidates for the November governorship election in Anambra State and the presidential election in 2019.

Leaders of the party, which was recently registered by INEC, debunked insinuations that APDA was an appendage of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

There were speculations that some aggrieved leaders of the PDP floated APDA, as an option at the height of their crisis.

However, the APDA leaders said they were not perturbed, noting that the party was fast gaining grounds across Nigeria “because of their pro- masses philosophy”, which would give them added value during the Anambra election and subsequent ones, including the presidential election in 2019.

National chairman of the party, Shittu Mohammed, who spoke in an interview yesterday, after the party’s

National Executive Committee (NEC) held in Abuja, said its candidates for all elections would emerge through the electoral college, a clear departure from the “corruption prone practice in other parties, where candidates emerge through delegates election.”

According to Shittu Mohammed, the electoral college system was unbeatable because it gives equal opportunity to all party members to choose their candidates.

All state chairmen of the party and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) who attended the meeting vowed to resist any policy or tradition that infringed on the rights of masses.

“The Electoral college is the best way to entrench democratic principles because, apart from the fact that it reduces waste as delegates will not need to travel to Abuja from their various states to elect their presidential candidate, the process will ensure that the presidential aspirants for instance traverse the length and breadth of the country to get votes.

“There is a sense of commitment when presidential candidates move across the country and directly meet the electorate. The candidates would be able to understand the plights and needs of the people better, and they will therefore be better prepared to deliver”, he said.

Leaders of the party, in a communiqué, also resolved to adhere strictly to the principle of power sharing.

“APDA will sell its ideology of social democracy based on 60 per cent of appointive and elective positions. Women will have 30 per cent, youths will have 25 per cent, and people living with disability will have 5 per cent; meaning everyone would be represented at the end of the day.

“The NEC also reaffirms its belief in the indivisibility of this country. APDA believes in one Nigeria where each state is able to take comparative advantage of the natural resources in its domain,” the communiqué, which was signed by the National Secretary, Emeka Okengwe, said.