Chief Modestus Umenzekwe is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he speaks on the party’s chances in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State and President Bola Tinubu’s administration
How prepared is the APC for the Anambra governorship election given that it would be facing a ruling party?
There is no doubt that the fight will be tough, but with good strategy, APC will win the election come November 8. The first strategy was to have Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu as our candidate.
You know I told you sometime ago that I will not disclose anything; that you will be seeing actions. The second strategy is having Senator Uche Ekwunife as the running mate.
If you were at the airport on May 8, when President Bola Tinubu paid an official visit to Anambra State, you would have noticed that over 5,000 APC members were there to receive their leader and the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
That is another strategy. The unity of purpose being experienced in the APC family is another strategy, and that is why you see defections from every part of the country. You witnessed the political tsunami in Delta and Anambra states, where the governors and all members of the House of Assembly defected to the APC.
This is happening state by state and it shows that APC is ready to take the nation and all the states they govern as well as the states they hope to get to a higher level. There are other strategies I will not tell you. I only mentioned these ones because you have seen them.
What do you think informed the choice of Ekwunife as running mate to Nicholas Ukachukwu, and how will she impact on the party’s fortune?
First, the nomination of Ukachukwu as our flagbearer was a step in the right direction. Ukachukwu, the much I know him, is very enterprising, I can say 90 per cent of his investments are in Nigeria and the greater part of it is domiciled in Anambra State.
So, he has a very big stake in the state. Besides, he has his tentacles in every part of this country; all the geopolitical zones, and deep rooted in Anambra State.
He mixes with the high and low, very unassuming, a man with listening ear, and he is a very good political fighter. From time immemorial, Ukachukwu has been a brand name in Anambra politics.
He has been directly or indirectly assisting people to assume elective positions, including the governorship position. Now that he has decided to handle it himself, it is a welcome development.
On the choice of Senator Ekwunife; already I have sent a congratulatory message to her for accepting to deputize Ukachukwu in the coming election, and I give kudos to Ukachukwu for heeding to advice by picking Ekwunife as his running mate.
It is a formidable team and it is a winning team from all political calculations and indices. Both have tested the National Assembly. MUkachukwu tested it from Abuja, while Ekwunife has been there from Anambra. While in the Senate, she sponsored very important bills in the hallowed chamber.
Besides, she is a mobilizer and a dogged political fighter. She has what I may call the social and political clout to ensure victory for our great party. Eighty per cent of Anambra women are with her.
She is known for her generosity and philanthropy. Ekwunife, the much I know her, has given hope to many people, especially the downtrodden.
Her ubiquitous character makes me personally to like her. I am not equating her with God when I say ubiquitous, but just to tell you that she is almost everywhere.
She attends occasions, honours invitations, and if for any reason she would not be there, she will send someone. When you see her, you will observe she is a woman of honour, she has distinguished herself.
So, with the combination of Ukachukwu and Ekwunife, APC is good to go. There is no dissenting voice and I am already saying to our great party, congratulations in advance.
Are you not worried that President Tinubu did not endorse the governorship candidate of the APC during his visit to Anambra State?
Why do you people like delving into issues that are very clear and self explanatory? I wonder why people are wasting their energy on this endorsement issue. Was it an item on the agenda for which the President was invited to Anambra?
Was the visit even a friendly visit to suggest such insinuation? The President officially visited Anambra as one of the states in the federation called Nigeria, which is under his administration with divergent political platforms. Again, the President and the governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, are not in the same political party but friends as expressed by the President.
With the combination of Ukachukwu and Ekwunife, APC is good to go. There is no dissenting voice and I am already saying to our great party, congratulations in advance
Yes, various speakers at the event, who are not in the same party with the President indirectly tried to drag the him into an item that was on the programme, but the President was smart enough to avoid it.
You talked about defections to APC. It is believed your party, is inducing members of the opposition with money and appointments. There is also the angle of coercion, the fear of harassment by the anti-graft agencies. What is your take on that?
Politically, when somebody is on a fishing expedition, the person might fire or misfire. Some of these opposition politicians talking are on a fishing expedition without nets.
That is why they keep talking all these things. Let me ask you; before 2015, was APC in power, where did they get the money or power to coerce Nigerians to vote for them?
APC didn’t have the money. If you say they have the money now, fine, but that time they had no money.
They were looking for people to join them, and people were mocking them, calling them all sorts of names. People like us were described as Boko Haram. I know what I suffered in the hands of my people because I am a member of APC.
I saw hell, but I persevered. Do you want to tell me that APC coerced Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria to join the party shortly after its formation.
What is happening now shows that APC has better strategy and approach to issues. As I have always said, before you will be able to judge the APC, you must allow the party to rule for 16 years as the PDP did.
Until APC spends 16 years in power, it will we be difficult for anybody to draw conclusion on the party’s performance vis a vis that of the PDP. As we talk, people are beginning to see that the President means business.
For him to take hard decisions in his first term shows that the man is not afraid of second term. But I can tell you that from all indications, there’s nothing stopping his second term.
With what the President is doing, what should Nigerians expect?
This question has been asked several times and my answer remains the same. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.
President Tinubu knows what he is doing, the elite is already singing his praises and it is the elite that will go down to the grassroots and explain to them that there will be gain without pain. That is how I will summarize my submission.
Some people called it T-pain, fine, but we are now seeing the gain. That shows that the President was prepared and that the party was prepared and we are solidly behind him.
Forget about the so-called coalition; those behind it are neither here nor there. As far as I am concerned, the President’s victory in 2027 is already guaranteed.
What are some of the things the President has done that gives you this confidence?
Have you not heard that our debt of $4.3 billion has been paid. The President has approved establishment of Forest Guard. Go to Abuja and see what is going on there, every part of Abuja is being touched, using the instrumentality of the FCT minister.
The students loan scheme is going on, farmers are getting loans and fertilisers, the security apparatus is being rejigged because insecurity is not what will stop in one day.
The administration has done a lot; states have been getting fat allocations, many states are now paying the minimum wage, as a result of the fuel subsidy removal. The Naira is within the stability range.
As the President is inthe third year of his administration; what is your advice to Nigerians?
I will continue to appeal to people to remain calm but above all, we have to pray and look unto God, God knows all these things. At the appointed time, everything will fall in line, after all the rich also cry in this country.
The government of the day in this country has not denied that things are hard, and it is working assiduously to make sure that the whole situation improves.
It is not revolution or riot or whatever that is going to solve the problems because those things will not solve anything but let us support the government of the day, criticize them constructively and try to market our country outside our shores because we don’t have any other country except Nigeria.
