Soludo Declares APGA Tickets Not for Sale, Vows to Reward Loyalty at Southeast Stakeholders Meeting
By Julie Sylvia Onitsha
Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has declared that All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) tickets are not for sale, insisting the party will now prioritize loyalty and grassroots membership in the run-up to the primaries.
Speaking at the APGA Southeast Zonal Stakeholders Meeting held at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Awka, Soludo said some aspirants have used the party as a ladder to climb and run away.
“Mobilisation starts from the grassroots upwards. Our ticket is not for sale. The era of giving tickets to non-loyal members is over. Go back to the original members of the party. We want to build a party where loyalty matters. We will start rewarding party loyalty, to get power back to the ordinary person. We will consolidate it for the generation unborn,” Soludo vowed.
In his words, 0APGA House of Representatives aspirant for Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Dr. Chris Nwokedi, commended the governor’s stance, saying it reaffirms hope for long-standing members.
“The governor has made it clear that there is no room for buying any seat in APGA because all our seats are not for sale. Thank God that I am the rightful candidate,” Nwokedi said. “From the statement of the governor, I believe that I am unopposed in the whole of Ogbaru Federal Constituency under APGA.”
Nwokedi listed three key takeaways from Soludo’s remarks: “It shows that the governor has deep love for our great party APGA. Secondly, the governor wants to ensure that the party goes beyond Anambra State as people see it. Thirdly, he is giving hope to people like me who have spent 20 years in the party that there is hope being an APGA member.”
He expressed full support for the party’s code of conduct. “I am 100 percent in support of the code of conduct. It gives room to the less privileged, to the oppressed, those that don’t have anyone to speak for them. It gives them strength to keep pushing that in this party they can succeed.”
“There is no room for anybody to come from anywhere to grab it and run away. It is meant for people like me who have been in the party aspiring for this same seat. I have been consistent on this same position and I thank God that today, God has used the governor of the state to settle the whole thing,” Nwokedi added.
APGA National Chairman, Barr. Sly Ezeokenwa, also presented the party’s code of conduct for officers, members, and aspirants. He said the National Working Committee adopted the code after several complaints, noting that it bars party officers from openly supporting any aspirant, among other rules to regulate party activities.
Other aspirants at the meeting echoed the call for service-driven representation. Chief Chukwuemeka Nkem Pat Ojiakor, vying for Awka North and South Federal Constituency, urged House of Assembly and House of Representatives aspirants to act as true representatives of their people
“I am going there to represent my people, not to enrich myself. Why must an honourable member use constituency allowance to enrich himself buying cars? I am personally interested in passing a law for the benefit of every layman on the streets,” he said.
Prince Chukwudi Oli, _Olu Eze Afia n’ Aniocha, House of Representatives aspirant for Njikoka/Ani Ocha, described the meeting as timely.
“It is a wonderful meeting. It is high time we started going through the process. It is to give people opportunity to elect candidates of their choice for proper representation.
My works will speak for me. I’m very optimistic. I have done a whole lot for my people. It is high time to tell people what you have done for them, so that they will vote for you without any inducement,” he said.
