A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Chief Chekwas Okorie, described the present scenario surrounding the party’s national convention as embarrassing.
In his reaction to the development, Okorie said it is embarrassing that the party is playing into the hands of the opposition. His words: “This is not a pleasant development. Many party members and leaders are disappointed about what is going on. The excuses being given are not satisfactory.
“But, be that as it may, there is a limit to the postponement because every party must at the end of the day yield to the timetable that would be released by the electoral umpire. I hope that this new date they are coming up with would be the last one and that this time the convention would take place; particularly now that a definite date has been given.
“The next convention, to elect the party’s presidential candidate would be another trying moment because very formidable leaders from different geo-political zones have indicated their interest to participate in the election. If the party is finding it difficult to zone party offices and hold the convention as scheduled, one wonders how they are going to tackle the issue of picking the presidential flag bearer. This is something I am very worried about.
“For instance, looking at Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, one can say that he is poised to be on the ballot, with or without the APC. This is because the structure he has on the ground is very intimidating. His pronouncement that no level of intimidation would discourage him from taking part in the election is an indication that he is poised to be on the ballot; if it is not the APC, it would be another party.
“What happens between now and the presidential primary would determine whether the APC would continue to be in power beyond 2023. It would require maturity and political savvy to navigate through this very disturbing scenario.”
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