We won’t surrender APGA’s certificate for merger —Umeh
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| Mr. Victor Umeh |
What is your take on the ongoing merger talks among opposition political parties?
Our position on this has always been very clear. APGA is not part of any merger discussion with any party; our party is disposed to alliance discussions with other political parties when such alliance discussions became necessary.
The court just issued a judgment in your favour. However, a convention was held before the judgment, what will now happen?
The constitution supersedes any other law we have in Nigeria. The Court of Appeal gave a judgment that people should maintain the status quo and it returned me as the national chairman of APGA. The judgment of the Court of Appeal will subsist and is binding on everybody. It doesn’t matter what you want or what you make of yourself, the decision of the court cannot be made in vain. Whoever is saying that the decision of the Court of Appeal is an enterprise in futility is exhibiting unseriousness and it cannot happen in Nigeria. Public institutions like the Independent National Electoral Commission will obey the decisions of the court especially the Court of the Appeal. Don’t forget, those claiming to have held a convention did so illegally. Even INEC can tell you that those usurpers impersonated me. A court of competent jurisdiction in Enugu has also issued an order restraining those who claim to have emerged as party leaders from that illegality from parading themselves as such.
Two of your governors are claiming to represent the authentic APGA while the governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has declared for APC, what’s your take on this?
What I can tell you is that, as of today, Governor Peter Obi and Governor Rochas Okorocha are members of APGA. Peter Obi is the one leading a rebellion against the party. This does not mean that I have a personal problem with him. If we have a disagreement on policy issues that affect the party, I don’t want the Nigerian public to see such a disagreement as a personal disagreement. The party produced him as the governor of Anambra State, he didn’t produce himself. He must subject himself to the leadership of the party. The leadership of the party is supreme over its members, no matter how highly placed such members are. It is an aberration that in Nigeria, somebody will humbly come to a political party, seek support to get nomination, the party works for him, the person wins elections, gets access to public funds and begin to use the public funds available to him to destroy the same party. It is immoral and undemocratic and that is what we are resisting. In Nigeria, nobody can say he does not know or she does not know that it was our leadership of APGA that made Obi what he is today in politics. If we ask him to do what is right and he refuses to do it, we will not allow that. On the issue of merger, Okorocha said it publicly that he is in the merger talks in his capacity as Rochas Okorocha, the governor of Imo State and that he is not representing APGA in the discussions. He made it clear. That does not mean he is still not a member of APGA. He is entitled to pursue his political ambition but when it comes to the issue of dragging APGA to the merger, APGA will decline. For now, there is no party called merged party, so we cannot begin to talk about Okorocha not being a member of APGA, until when Okorocha declares that he has joined that party. It is only after he has done that that we can say he has left APGA. Before he does that, I am sure he will tell me, as at today, he is still a member of APGA. There is no one involved in that merger talk that is not still claiming membership of his or her individual political party. Members of the Action Congress of Nigeria, are still operating as officers of the ACN, until it changes; officers of the All Nigeria Peoples Party are still operating as officers of ANPP until it changes. Lai Mohammed issues statements regularly as spokesperson of ACN; he has not issued statements as national publicity secretary of the APC or any other party. So, this issue of their membership is not in contention.
On the issue of merger, you know that the Electoral Act and the constitution both require parties that will come together in a merger to submit the certificate of their registration to the INEC. The APGA certificate of registration is in our possession and we are not surrendering it to anybody or for any purpose other than for the purpose for which it was registered. The certificate is in the safe. We are not taking it along to any merger. In view of recent developments, the court has restored my chairmanship of APGA and those people who purportedly went somewhere and did things in the name of the party did so illegally. I am aware that a Federal High Court in Awka has issued an order restraining them from parading themselves as officers of APGA. Nigerians know now that they are not leaders of APGA.
With this crisis, do you see the party winning elections in 2015?
APGA is the most popular party in Nigeria today. There is no newspaper you open today and you will not see something about APGA. Whenever people are publishing or talking about the crisis in APGA, they are promoting the party and creating awareness among Nigerians.
We know we are building our party even in the middle of this crisis and I don’t think that the crisis in APGA is out of proportion considering what is happening in the Peoples Democratic Party and other political parties today. We are strengthening our position to contest the elections that are to come. Governor Peter Obi should allow peace to reign in APGA. He should stop disrupting the party, if he stops disrupting the party, we will win the 2014 governorship elections in Anambra State. I am making this emphatic statement.
You have been accused of being a sit-tight ruler. Is it true?
I am not a sit-tight leader because I was elected at the convention of the party in 2006 and the constitution allows for a second term in office which is another four years. At the second convention we held in 2011, I was again elected; my second term will expire in February 2015. Those who are accusing me of being a sit-tight leader have forgotten that Governor Obi became a governor before I was elected at the convention of 2006 as the substantive national chairman of APGA and Obi has not finished his second term in office which will end in 2015. So, how will my eight years end before his eight years end? This is all propaganda by people who don’t have anything to say. Some have said I have been chairman for 14 years; APGA itself has not reached 14 years since it was founded. This is 2013, by the constitution of the party I am still within my tenure.
Have you started the process of reconciliation?
Those who rebelled against the party initiated the rebellion on their own. There was no justification for the rebellion. If they come back to their senses, they will come back to the party but if they continue with their anti-party activities, the party will protect itself against destruction. We will not allow it. For those who Obi has misled in the past particularly those small people who he intimidated especially in Anambra State, we have said we don’t blame them because Obi was the emperor intimidating hapless party members ‘We don’t intend to move against anybody. But those of them who are not constitutionally allowed to remain in office will have to go. There are some who are holding government appointments and still holding party positions,’ the party constitution forbids that. It is like holding dual citizenship which our constitution does not recognise. Those who are serving in the Anambra State Government automatically lose their party offices. For us, all those people that Obi purportedly removed during the illegal convention will still have their positions; I urge them all to return to work.
Category: AFRICA, We won’t surrender APGA’s certificate for merger —Umeh
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