The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has slammed the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, following his comments that Anambra State has remained politically dislocated from the centre over its political party choice.
Naija News reported that Ganduje, during the South-East APC colloquium held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Friday, said Anambra is not making the expected progress because it has remained in APGA and has also refused to connect to the centre.
Reacting to the comment, the National Publicity Secretary of APGA, Ejimofor Opara, in a statement on Saturday, questioned Ganduje on the level of projects done in Kano as governor that made the people opt for a governor from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
According to Opara, Anambra, as a minority party, has remained better than most states that claim to have connected to the centre. He added tha APGA, under the leadership of Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has won many awards.
He said, “First, I wonder the level of progress Kano State made under Ganduje’s APC that resulted in a revolutionary and historic rejection of the party by the people in 2023 as the people opted instead to vote for the NNPP and were ready to stake their lives to defend their votes.
“Ganduje should understand that the South-East and Ndi Anambra in particular are more interested in why Kano State, after him, decided en masse to disconnect from the APC-controlled centre.
“Well, the APC is non-existent in Anambra, I am sure Ganduje himself knows this for a fact. Again, the continued existence of APGA in Anambra is performance-based.
“Anambra, and indeed the South-East is APGA land. There is no doubt about this, and even where the region decides to negotiate a handshake with the centre, the APC has proven not to be such a viable alternative. I sincerely hope that Ganduje will seek to see that which is not hidden than opting for deliberate ignorance.”
“From Peter Obi to Willie Obiano and now Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra has remained on a trajectory of progressive growth, and it is for this reason even a political neophyte would state without double checking that Ganduje was either speaking to impress his host or he is sincerely ignorant of the facts.
“Anambra under APGA has remained a state of many firsts, and in recent times the state under the Soludo government has won many awards.
“Recall that Anambra has won the award as the state with best deployed ICT, and Anambra State ICT Agency under Mr Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata won that award. Anambra has also been named as the state with the least out-of-school children record.
“If all these awards are what it takes to be disconnected from the centre, then Anambra will gladly remain disconnected.”