Tunji Adedeji
The Rescue Mission faction of the All Progressives Congress APC, in Imo State will today hold its primaries to elect Local Government Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates at the Party Secretariat, Owerri.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Factional APC state Chairman, Hon .Daniel Nwafor and circulated to the media in Owerri on Wednesday by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr .FCC Jone Onwansanya .
Hon Nwafor gave assurances that the party remains ‘firmly in control of the situation and that “nothing will derail the calculated and irrevocable drive towards conducting a successful local government poll, and also winning the governorship election come 2019.
According to him,” the decision was taken after due consideration with major stakeholders.
He declared that the Party is open for all and urged members who are interested in vying for any elective position under the Party’s platform to feel free to identify with the Party, as long as they are duly registered with the Party at the ward level and are also up-to-date, financially and in other responsibilities expected of a Party member.
In his words; “While the position of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the leader of the Party in the State is not contestable, may I clarify that the Party is not in the pocket of anyone or group of people. Every Party member who is ready to abide by the provisions of our Party’s Constitution is welcomed to test his or her popularity among Party members. The Party is poised to conduct very transparent primaries, and whoever wins the Party’s nomination is guaranteed of the Party’s support.”
The State Party Chairman who recently returned from Abuja where he was formally inaugurated as the Chairman of the Party in the State, encouraged Party officers at all levels to take the message of progress, prosperity and fairness which are crux of the Party’s manifestoes to all people of Imo State and ensure that the Party is sold to everyone in the State.
“Our Party’s doors are wide open for anyone who is ready to abide by the Party’s Constitutional requirements and embrace the progressive ideologies of our Party. No one will be shortchanged and not a single Party member will be given any form of preferential treatment in the running of the Party. We are a Party of change and we shall continue to work assiduously towards changing the bad political practices that could have destroyed our nascent democracy, we must sustain this philosophy of change and embrace the new motto of ‘progress’, by striving hard to move forward from the successes we have recorded in the past three years of being in power at the center.”
He directed the Party officers, especially, ward chairmen to ensure that they localize the reconciliation drive already kick-started at the State level by reaching out to some members of the Party who had strayed off.
Some of the Party officials who spoke, showered praises on the governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha for his efforts in rescuing the Party from the stranglehold of dangerous hawks who wanted to alienate real members of the Party from the running of the Party and commended the new State Chairman for starting on a good note, as they confessed that this is the first time since the Party’s existence that ward Chairmen are allowed the chance of sitting in a meeting with the State Chairman and other State officers of the Party. They assured him of their total support in his bid to move the Party forward.
