Why APGA ’ll not suspend Soludo -Edozie Njoku

By Chidiebere Onyemaizu

After a protracted legal tussle for the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Edozie Njoku was recently recognized as the National Chairman of the party in obedience to of the Court of Appeal.

In this exclusive interview, Chief Njoku spoke among other issues passionately about his vision for APGA, his quest for peace and reconciliation in the party and how he intends to rebuild the party which has witnessed over 16 years of internecine crises.

Congratulations on your recognition by INEC as APGA National Chairman after a protracted legal tussle.  What does this milestone mean to you?

What milestone is that?

Your emergence as the APGA National Chairman.

It is not a milestone and it is wrong to describe it as such. This is because I have been the National Chairman of APGA since 2019. I was elected National Chairman of the party at our national convention in Owerri, the Imo State capital. So, getting an INEC recognition is not a milestone. INEC ought to have done this since. It is actually coming late. This is what should have happened a longtime ago.

Now that you have settled down to business, how do you intend to rebuild APGA? What strategies do you have in your kitty to advance cohesion and reconciliation in the party and broaden its outlook?

The first thing is to reconcile before building. When you are building a house, the first step is to have a pliable sand to mix a pliable cement. So, we are starting with reconciliation, we need to reconcile everyone in APGA. Definitely, we are going to rebuild but at the moment we are talking about reconciliation. We are going around for reconciliation and that’s why we are in Lagos. We are apologizing, we are begging. Whoever has been offended, we are saying sorry. Whoever that is aggrieved, we say, if you have the APGA blood flowing through your veins, please, calm down, take it calmly. Take it as part of the sacrifice you have to make before getting to the promised land.

Those on the other side of the APGA divide…

(Cuts in) Which side?

The Sly Ezeokenwa/Governor Soludo led APGA camp. Are they amenable to reconciliation? Have there been any form of contact with them?

You remember I asked you which side, which faction. Factions are created because some people are there saying there are factions. There is no longer any leadership tussle in APGA, our national convention has recognized me as APGA national Chairman, INEC has recognized me as APGA national Chairman. We are building peace in APGA and we are in Lagos for that purpose. There are no factions in APGA, we are moving on together as one APGA. We have started the process. Our job is making everyone understand that APGA is less factionalized than any other party, be it APC, PDP, LP. I reiterate, there is no longer any leadership tussle in APGA. Our national convention recognized me as the national chairman of APGA, INEC has recognized me as the National chairman of APGA, so there are no more factions in APGA, we are bringing everybody together so that we can move on and head together as one APGA. We are professing peace and reconciliation and that’s why we are in Lagos. We are taking the bull by the horn to ensure that we clear all the stumbling blocks in APGA. We are calling ourselves together so that we can move forward. The party has been held down for over 16 years but now there is a very bright light and we are holding on to that light so that we can use it to achieve the mission and vision of APGA as a mass movement, as a progressive movement.

How do you react to your opponents’ allegation that you are an agent of the APC, procured by the party to weaken and destroy APGA so as to facilitate APC’s takeover of Anambra State?

Most of them making the allegation have been in more than five different political parties; they prostitute from one political party to the other. They should ask themselves how many political parties have I been into myself. Why should I be like them? I have contested as National Chairman… this is the third time I have done it. So, I find their allegation ridiculous, I don’t take it seriously. Everything everyone does is termed political. There is no political undertone here. We simply want to reconcile everyone, strengthen the party and rebuild it. I’m optimistic that in the shortest period of time, all those you say are on the other side, all of us will be sitting together as friends. We will all reconcile and the outside person will become the enemy.

Following your recognition by INEC, has Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra, reached out to you or have you reached out to him?

We have spoken twice and you must appreciate the fact that I didn’t nominate him and that we are coming from different sides of the moon and things will not be that straight forward, but APGA knows how to reconcile, so watch out, there will be reconciliation.

Will the reconciliation you talked about dovetail into giving the governor a second term ticket for the next Anambra gubernatorial election?

Life in politics is not that simplistic, I don’t think that even if you ask him that question, he will answer it. The first thing is that we have to uphold the principles of what make us APGA in the first place, and we move on from there. Giving nomination or ticket is not even the bone of contention at this moment.

Speculations are rife that the NWC of APGA under your leadership are weighing the option of sanctioning Governor Soludo. Can you confirm the veracity or otherwise of this speculation?

Yes, the NWC discussed the suspension of Governor Soludo from the party and it came to a point that it was agreed that he should be suspended but that peaceful spirit of APGA said no. His suspension may be good for APC, it may be good for PDP….if you suspend Soludo today, who is going to be the beneficiary of it? Other parties of course. We have explored completely all areas of reconciliation, yes, things may not have worked the way we want them to work out but we have to keep exploring areas of reconciliation until it gets to a stage where we have to look at different options, but at the moment it hasn’t come to the suspension of Professor Charles Soludo from the party. There is no suspension of Governor Soludo today in APGA. We need to keep pushing. Peace will always prevail.

A recent media report quoted an APGA youth group of lamenting that you are not known in the party and that you came from nowhere to try to hijack the party. Tell us about your APGA trajectory.

I’m so happy that the pioneer APGA National Chairman is sitting down here. I was the first Vice National Chairman of the party, afterwards I ran for the House of Reps in Anambra State on the party’s platform. I’m from Imo State, but I was a House of Reps candidate of APGA in Anambra. I was a candidate twice. I don’t want to join issues with anybody because the most important thing to me now is to achieve reconciliation in APGA and I’m busy working towards that.

In the next 10 years, where do you see APGA?

Wow! 10 years? I have not seen 10 years yet ooo. But I believe that if I see three years from now, APGA will be bigger than what you are projecting for 10 years… APGA will be really great with such a shock.

There is an ongoing move by some opposition parties to form a mega party. Is APGA part of the move?

APGA is not involved in the mega party arrangement.

What is APGA’s take on the financial autonomy granted to local government areas by the Supreme court ruling?

Fantastic! APGA is a grassroots movement and grassroots movements must be visible at local government and ward levels. The ruling is a breath of fresh air.