Dr Nyerere Anyim was the first National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governorship candidate of the party in Abia State. In this interview with EMMANUEL IFEANYI, he explains why the 36 governors have no reason to fail, about the challenges they face to introduce APC to Igbos, the chances of the party in Abia State and why President Bola Tinubu should get support in 2027, among other issues
People are wondering if you’re still a member of the APC?
Yes, I remain a member. The sabbatical period was when I was working with the National Pension Commission, so I was not politically active for the period I served.
That is why it seems I wasn’t there. But politics has become part of me, and it’s not in place for me to say I’ve left politics. So I’m active, and our party is making huge progress here.
Which faction of the balkanised Abia APC do you belong to?
No, that’s not true. Abia APC is not balkanised. As I speak to you, we have just one chairman, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu. People always blow out of place a few disagreements in APC. We disagree to agree, and that is healthy because this is a democracy where there are dissecting views.
All that’s required is to sit down with those people and sort it out, and that has happened in APC Abia. Even in families, you can’t rule out disagreements, but they’re not meant to be permanently there. It rather strengthened us more. Just like the chairman, we have one party secretary, and the same with other positions, and nobody is contesting it.
What do you think was responsible for APC’s abysmal performance in the 2023 governorship election in Abia?
In 2023, our governorship candidate was High Chief Ikechi Emenike, and then we had candidates from other parties, including Dr Alex Otti, who is incidentally the governor today and who ran under the Labour Party. Can you also recall that he was once a strong APC member before that time?
There are many factors why we didn’t do well which must be put into perspective. The Obi Wave that blew off the entire South-East played a major role in the performance of other parties that are not the Labour Party in the South-East. You cannot equally ignore the exit of Dr Alex Otti from the party as well.
He has followers, and most of the followers followed him to the new party, and that is a huge influence as well. So, those are the things we pray never to have such a situation again in the APC.
There’s no selection process through the primary that’ll satisfy everybody. The thing is that as people mature politically, after every primary, they’ll sheath their sword and come together for a better performance in the election.
You and others who founded APC were mocked In 2014 In the south-east, looking at the APC in this zone, what do you say?
Yes, I’m happy and proud that people are now seeing what we saw earlier. When we started this party called APC, like you rightly said, we were mocked and called all sorts of names, but the beauty of it is that those who called us names are now knocking on the door clamouring to join the party, while most of them have already joined.
The vision we had hasn’t changed. But fortunately or unfortunately, they are only seeing what we saw in 2014 some years after we saw it, and we give glory to God because it’s all by His grace.
There’s this belief that top founders like Nyerere and others have been sidelined? How can I be sidelined?
I’m a stakeholder and a chieftain of the party. Nobody has sidelined me, and I cannot be sidelined. You only sideline yourself if you wish. There are some fundamental facts you cannot write off.
You cannot remove the fact that Nyerere was among the 89 people that formed APC. You cannot rewrite the history that Nyerere was the first Vice Chairman of the APC in the South-East.
You cannot take it away; it will always remain there till eternity. You cannot remove the fact that Nyerere was the first governorship candidate of this party in Abia State.
So, every other person that has held the flag of this party came after Nyerere. It’s after Nyerere you had Dr Uche Ogah; after Dr Uche Ogah you had High Chief Ikechi Emenike. So, how can I be sidelined?
Do you think your party stands a chance in Abia right now?
Yes, of course. We stand a better chance. What makes up a party is not just one person. No tree makes a forest. Mention that politician in Abia State today that’s not a member of the APC? The chances are bound more than ever before.
We’re not afraid of anything. We don’t throw away the concept of the power of incumbency, but we’ve seen incumbents that failed elections before, so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.
Has your dream of becoming governor of Abia State died?
I’m happy you had me – well, that I was the first governorship candidate of the APC some years ago, and I’m still in the APC. Dreams don’t die, and visions don’t die, but like the Bible says in Habakkuk 2:2-3 ‘Write the vision. And make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
In less than four years, there are changes we believe will make us better as a people if this government gets its complete eight years
Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry.’ When you have a vision for something, it remains. You may accomplish it;another person may accomplish it from the same platform. There are people in APC that are aspiring to be governor, and the party, through democratic processes, will bring out somebody. What matters now is to have APC at the Centre in Abia as we have it at the Centre in Abuja. So, it’s not a personal thing.
With the wave of defection among governors, many people are saying Otti will join APC… Was he not a member before?
Politics is like a family. You can leave here and join there tomorrow just to achieve an aim and objective, and you can still come back to where you were before if you feel that you can achieve your aims and objectives there as well.
If Governor Otti wants to come back to the APC today, he’s free and highly welcomed. Some party leaders have been urging him to come back. He left for a reason, and if those things that made him leave APC have been addressed, what stops him from returning?
But there are fears that some chieftains of your party will want to dictate some things and derail the ongoing approach?
All these insinuations you gave here that some people will not allow him to work or continue to serve as he’s doing are not true. He’s the governor, with executive power.
Who is that person that can tell him how to run Abia when he joins APC? Such people are not here, and I cannot find them here. So, such fear from any quarters is unfounded.
As a founding member of the APC, are you proud of your party’s achievements since 2015?
Before you look back from 2015 to 2025, make sure you look back at what happened before 2015. When you do that, you’ll discover that the position we were in before 2011, 2012, and 2013 that gave birth to APC – look at the situation then and now.
It might not be Uhuru completely right now, but we have achieved some milestones. Nigeria’s challenges today were not created by the APC. They were things we met on the ground, and we’re solving them. There are areas of positivity. Everything mustn’t be negative. There are areas the APC government had addressed adequately.
What’s your own assessment of Governor Alex Otti administration?
He has done well in his own right and in his capacity as a governor whom the APCled federal government has empowered tremendously, as it has also empowered other governors, not just Otti. There’s a financial boom in Nigeria now, and no state governor has reasons to fail. Only a wicked person will have the privilege that most of these governors have now and refuse to do well.
He’s doing well, and I’ll say he’s trying. With what’s on the ground, it’ll be foolhardy for anybody to say that Otti has not done anything compared to what we saw from the last administration here. However, we’re not unmindful of the resources the APC government has injected from the centre to the entire states. This is why I said no governor has any excuse not to do well in this government.
Marginalisation has been the cry of the Igbos. Are there improvements in this Tinubu’s government?
Yes, there is. Let us tell ourselves the truth: currently things are improving, and we’re seeing things we never envisaged. There had been government after government, but today, we have the South-East Development Commission.
Today, we have seen how the Enugu-Port Harcourt Highway and other massive infrastructures are going up across the entire South-East.
Our roads are getting better, and travelling from one state to the other is no longer a problem. I have much evidence to give you, but just take it that in less than four years, there are changes we believe will make us better as a people if this government gets its complete eight years.
We will see more things. However, everything depends on us as well. Most political positions are not given. Someone must work for it. You go for it. The national cake is not just for sharing. You work and get your share. Igbos should stand up and work for theirs.
2027 is another political year, would you advise an Igbo man to run for president now?
In the first place, you and I have rights to go for any positions we want. You have your interest, and I have mine. I’m a member of the APC by God’s grace, and whoever the APC brings as its candidate is my concern, and I’ll support Tinubu because he’s our candidate. The Igbos who have seen what the president is doing should support him, of course.
The economic policies of Tinubu especially the new tax law is seen by many as a problem. What’s your take?
You see, it’s difficult to conclude on the new tax law right now. The taste of the pudding is in the eating. How can we condemn what we haven’t experienced? It’s meant to start by this January. My own take is that this government is conscious of the plight of the people and is doing something to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses.
It’ll not be fair to tag any government policy as wrong when we’ve not seen the effects of its implementation. I suggest we watch and see how it goes. Tinubu’s administration is not static. If it sees that something is definitely wrong with the tax law, it’ll get a solution to it, but for now, let the speculations stop, and let’s see the outcome.
You recall when they removed the fuel subsidy; many cried and called all sorts of names, but what’s happening today? The system has changed. Nothing is static anymore in that sector.
For the first time during yuletide, the products are available, and the price is not static, with some going downwards. Check out Rice and see how things are going down. We cannot condemn everything.
