… Says Abia not for sale
From Steve Oko, Umuahia
As intrigues for the 2023 politics gradually picks up, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abia State, Prince Victor Apugo, has declared that youths would vehemently resist imposition of candidates and godfatherism in the state.
The immediate past General Manager of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, ASEPA, who spoke to newsmen in Umuahia, said “no godfather shall be allowed to impose any candidate or his crony on the people”.
He declared that no political position in the state including governorship, senate, house of representatives and house of assembly shall again be “by anointing”.
Apugo, who is the founder Ikpeazu Unity Forum insisted that the people must be allowed to freely choose their representative.
Apugo whose father, Prince Benjamin Apugo, is a strong man of Abia politics, declared that the days of imposition in Abia politics were over, saying the youths are now ready to take their destinies in their hands.
His words : Abia governorship is not for sale. Our senatorial slots are not for sale. No political office is for sale in Abia. The future of our people cannot be mortgaged any more.
“No godfather, no matter how highly placed , will be allowed to impose any candidate on the people of the constituency.
“Godfatherism and fake popularity have brought systematic slavery on the people of Ikwuako/Umuahia political block, and never again shall we allow that.”
Apugo urged all those aspiring for any political office in the constituency as well as the Abia Central senatorial district to be ready to subject themeselves to the due process of selection of candidates irrespective of their parties.
He warned political godfathers to steer clear from the Abia 2023 politics or be disgraced by the people.
“Any candidate imposed on the people of the constituency including the Senatorial seat, House of Representatives or State House of Assembly will lose the election because the people have realised that it is no longer business as usual”, he declared.
Apugo said the youths would only support candidates based on their competence and antecedents
“The people of Ikwuano/ Umuahia federal constituency want a person who will give them good representation, dividends of democracy and not someone who will go to Abuja and share Constituency project funds with his godfather while the masses suffer”.
“The electorate are wiser now and can never be taken for a ride. What they want is good representation to uplift them; they want somebody who feels what they pass through and understands their pain”.
“2023 will be a different ball game for those who still think they are godfathers and impose themselves on the people. That era is completely gone” Apugo concluded.
