EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: REV. EHIEMERE HAS PROVED THAT HE LACKS LEADERSHIP CHARACTER – NWAKA INEM

Recently, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Abia State Chapter have been enmeshed in a leadership rancor which has placed the party in the public sphere with the State Chairman, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere holding different press conferences. In one of the press conferences, Rev Ehiemere declared Honorable Prestige Ossy as the leader of the party in Abia State and also revealed that the party is not aware that its 2019 gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Alex Otti filed a petition against Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu the INEC pronounced winner.   But in a swift response, Chief Nwaka Inem, Director Contact and mobilization, Alex Campaign Organization in the just concluded 2019 election, posited during an interview with Abia Facts News that it is unfortunate the chairman is stating this now.

READ FULL DETAIL OF THE INTERVIEW;

Rev Augustine Ehiemere, recently said that he is not aware of your Principal, Dr Alex Otti’s petition at the Abia state Governorship tribunal. What is going on?

It’s unfortunate that we are hearing that from him. If indeed, he made such statement, it only goes to confirm the paucity and inherent deficiency in leadership characterising most political parties.  I don’t know the game plan for the chairman and what he intends to achieve. Immediately after the election he was quoted as rightly saying that the elections was marred by irregularities and refused to accept the result. He had consistently labeled the governor as a failure. Few days after, he was seen eulogizing Okezie Ikpeazu and congratulating him for a “well deserved Victory”. The turnaround is remarkable. Your guess is as good as mine, as to why after rejecting the results and asking for a rerun he would turn around to claim ignorance of the petition.  Maybe he is talking as a person and not as the chairman. To put the records straight, our Governorship petition was duly and properly signed by the party. If the chairman is unavailable or involved with IPAC, any other responsible member of SWC can act on party’s behalf.

Right from my early days in electioneering politics, it is a common belief that when you aspire, pay nomination fees and other levies to the party, which sometimes run into millions these days, and eventually emerges as party candidate, the party automatically assumes responsibility of your campaign, elections and other associated challenges. Both winners and losers are likely to end up in the courts, especially in an election characterised by massive irregularities and evident unwholesome practices, as seen in the last 2019 elections. Where we won and are dragged to court, as in Hon Ossy Prestige case or where we lost and the candidate goes to court, to me,does not need a special awareness or permission of the Chairman. What is expected of any Chairman, is to reach out to all our candidates that are either dragged to court or took others to court and show solidarity and support. That is the minimum required of a sincere and true head of the party or family. After all, our people says that you prepare for inlawship, towards where your daughter is looking for a suitor.

He also declared Hon Ossy Prestige as the new leader of the party in the state. What do you say?  

In the first place, there is no constitutional provisions for that, as we only have a National leader in the person of Chief Willie  Obiano, Executive Governor of Anambra state and Chairman APGA BOT. Leadership comes with heavy responsibilities mostly financial, exemplary direction, of which Dr Alex Otti have shown  tremendous and sterling qualities in that regard since we joined APGA in 2014. There was no coronation nor declaration to that, as he naturally fits in and has creditably provided the required leadership with which APGA changed the political narratives in Abia since 2015, as our Governorship candidate and arrow head of APGA struggles in Abia. And as such inventing such coronation now is very suspicious of the Chairman’s motives. It is either they want to turn Hon Ossy Prestige into a cash cow, or create disaffection amongst our leaders. In other words, such declaration is uncalled for and capable of creating mutual suspicions. Dr. Alex Otti, has provided a formidable, purposeful, intelligent, sincere leadership with a lot of capacity both in 2015 and 2019 elections. Hon Ossy Prestige does not need such declaration to contribute his best as the highest-ranking elected leader and second term Federal house of Representative member from Abia state for now.

You, Dr Alex Otti and other stakeholders were conspicuously absent at the unity meeting held at the party state secretariat, Umuahia. What happened?

There is nothing wrong in unifying a party where there is need to do so.  People should make sacrifices to strengthen the party not unifying to achieve a selfish interest. Unity is important but what we need now is cohesion and transparent leadership across board.

If you call it unity meeting, it means you admit the fact of disunity within the party. And if that is the case, the organisers didn’t do much to bring all to a unity party meeting in a sincere manner. I suspect that it was more of campaign and scheming for party offices, given the upcoming ward, LGA, state and national congresses. If that been the case, the national leadership must eschew selfishness and organise a free, open and credible Congress to correct and remedy the damage created by the last poorly organised 2018 party primaries. Any attempt to adopt a consensus or list harmonisation to return both deserving and non-deserving officers will not go down well with many stakeholders and admirers/supporters of the party. Rebuilding of confidence, unity, transparency, and leadership by example is what is needed for the party to consolidate on any gain made so far.