The Guardian (Nigeria)

APGA group dumps Obiano, declares support for PDP

- From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka

APGA Ambassador­s, a political pressure group in the All Progressiv­es Grand Alliance (APGA), has declared support for the Peoples Democratic Party candidate (PDP), Mr. Oseloka Obaze. The group during the 2013 election had backed Governor Willie Obiano.

At a rally in Awka, the Ambassador’s coordinato­r, Ikechukwu Ejesieme, said the group’s decision was because the incumbent allegedly failed to fulfill promises he made to the people of Anambra State and has resorted to empty talks, lies, deceits and propaganda.

He said that after painstakin­g analysis, it settled for Obaze because he possesses temperance, exposure, experience and contact needed to move the state forward.

He said: “It’s painful to admit, APGA is no longer the party our founding fathers envisioned it to be. Our mantra is, ‘be your brother’s keeper’, but every index you look at points to the glaring fact that we have since abandoned that mantra. Our decline in education, crumbling infrastruc­ture, abandoned social investment programmes, lopsided government appointmen­ts, inequitabl­e distributi­on of state’s resources, non-conduct of local government elections, and the government’s resort to brazen lies, have made it extremely difficult for any honest person to campaign for the party’s candidate.

“In 2013 after the primary election, we knocked on doors, went from home to home, market places, street corners, political and apolitical gatherings and used every medium available to us to convince people to vote for Obiano. Today, how do we go back to the same people knowing that Obiano has failed and still ask them to re-elect him? We owe it to ourselves, as the people that brought in this governor, to remove him and replace him with another.”

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