The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State,Chief Basil Ejidike, has said that the APC remains the party to beat in the 2021 gubernatorial election in the state, just as he said that his party is the only bet for Igbo presidency come 2023 if only the entire South East embraces the party.
Chief Ejidike, made the disclosure in an interview with journalists at the burial of his mother-in-law, Late Mrs. Francisco Chinese Ofoegbu, held at Igbo Ukwu in August Local Government Area of Anambra State.
He said the party narrowly missed winning the last gubernatorial election in the state, and expressed optimism of victory in the next election.
The Anambra State APC Chairman said a political tsunami was about to hit the state which would see many political bigwigs including the present governor, Mr. Willie Obiano decamping to the All Progressives Congress.
According to him, ” You must always join the winning team, the train has started, it is already moving and we expect that everybody should be on board so that they won’t be left behind”.
“There is going to be political tsunami in 2021 in Anambra State and you are all going to be witnesses. We have all it takes humanly, politically, and I am sure that our people are now poised to vote APC. We have played opposition for too long and we can’t continue to do that”.
He said “Buhari administration has provided for us more than what we bargained, for the first time over years the issue of the second Niger bridge had never come to pass, but today it is a reality, and the President has said that he would commission it soon”.
“Look at the Onitsha, Enugu, Awka expressway it has been a dungeon all this while, but today Buhari has tidied everything, look at the International Airport. The South East geopolitical zone has benefited more than what ordinarily would have requested for, and we have no reason not to be at the mainstream”.
Speaking on agitations by the people of the South East for a President from the Igbo extraction, Chief Ejidike said the move was a welcomed development, but however noted that the emergence of an APC governor in Anambra State would be the deciding factor.
“What is good for the goose is good for the gander, we are prepared. I am calling on all Ibos, even non Ibos to join hands to ensure that Anambra State falls within the mainstream, and the moment we get that, every other thing, I believe will be added to us”.
Speaking in the same vein, a front line runner for the gubernatorial ticket of the APC in Anambra State, Chief Azuka Okwuosa, noted that the party has paid its dues in the execution of infrastructural development projects in Anambra State.
The APC gubernatorial aspirant said “I am in support of an Ibo President, but the realisation of that aspiration lies within the ambit of the fact that the Ibos must first of all support the emergence of an APC governor in Anambra State”.
“Anambra is the live wire of the Ibo nation, once we get it right in Anambra, the issue of Ibo President becomes a reality. So once we vote APC into power as the ruling party in the Anambra and the federation, we stand a better chance to negotiate for a President from the South East, or Ibo extraction.”