National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Oye, has tasked party members in Abia state to work for the growth of the party in the state.
He stated that the current national executive of the party has grown APGA from where it met the party in 2015, stressing that the APGA had become the third largest party with a strong presence in the National Assembly.
Oye, who was speaking during a Mega summit organized by the state chapter of the party, stated that there is no crisis in APGA as such imaginary crisis exist only in the social media. He also stated that many people had left APGA and urged other faithful to remain steadfast and develop APGA in the state.
The National Chairman disclosed that APGA gave strong support to her governorship candidates in the 2019 poll in Abia, Imo, Zamfara and Nasarawa states, but added that the candidates; Dr. Alex Otti; Chief Ifeanyi Araraume; Mr. Labaran Maku and Dr. Sani Shinkafi; respectively, did not do well because they lacked commitment to the party.
According to Oye, “The truth is that APGA in Abia is on a serious journey to liberty and global fame. We are serious with developing APGA and taking it to the apogee of its growth. You can’t build something on nothing. When I became national chairman in 2015, I discovered that APGA has to be rebuilt. We have to build structures that can sustain the party. Let’s stop crying over spilt milk and look to the future which has greater promises.
“We realized N1.3 billion from our party primaries in 2018. Nobody has ever rendered account in APGA. They started saying that Oye has eaten the money as they use to do in the past, but they didn’t know that the money was kept in the party’s account. Out of the money, I gave N50 million to Dr. Alex Otti for his governorship campaign in 2019. I gave another N50 million to Shinkafi in Zamfara, another N50 million to Labaran Maku in Nasarawa and N50 million to Ifeanyi Ararume. This summed up to N200 million.
“I also gave N200 million to the national presidential committee which made it up to N400 million. No party has ever done it in Nigeria. Some of these people have left APGA. It remains Labaran Maku with a leg in the party. Alex Otti has gone to APC, same with Araraume. Shinkafi is now PDP. He is Special Adviser to Zamfara State Governor.
“But we remain in APGA because we know where we are going. Out of the balance of N900 million, we bought land in Abuja and equipped it. APGA is the only party that it is not a tenant in Abuja. I’m not a poor man; I have been in politics for 39 years .I joined politics since the NPP party from the Chief Jim Nwobodo days. Some of these people causing problems have only been in politics for only four years. My joy is that APGA is united. The seeming crisis you see is on the pages of social media. APGA is now stronger than ever. I urge you to have faith in APGA because the party is doing well. We have a strong presence at the National Assembly.
Assuring that the party under him is in safe hands, Oye urged members to invest in the growth of APGA, stressing that such investment is highly needed to develop the party.
“We have made APGA the third political party in Nigeria. After APC and PDP, it is APGA, but in terms of integrity, APGA is number one. APGA is in safe hands. APGA is the only political party that audits its accounts. Every money spent in APGA is documented and accounted for. Every money coming to APGA is paid through the bank, we don’t collect cash. We have audited our accounts for 2020. INEC audits our accounts annually.
“Let’s build APGA with brotherly love. APGA is real. Whatever you invest in the party is not lost. APGA is headed to a defined destination.”
