Member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Anambra state, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, has dismissed fears of the probable death of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), following the recent defection of former Governor Peter Obi from the party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that the party is still very much alive.
Waxing philosophical, Ogene, who was cornered by newsmen in Awka, the Anambra state capital yesterday, stated: “According to the famed writer, Shakespeare, the world is a stage and we all are mere players. Former Governor Obi has played his part – admirably so – on the APGA stage and has decided to move on. But that does not mean that the show is over?”
According to the APGA stalwart, who is also the Deputy Chairman, Media and Public Affairs in the House of Representatives, since nature abhors a vacuum, the natural sequence is for the Executive Governor of Anambra state, Chief Willie Obiano to rise up to the occasion and working in tandem with the party’s National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, steady the party’s ship for greater glory.
According to Ogene; “Our party, APGA has undergone several shock moments in its history. Remember, it’s founding chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie left amid a strenuous legal tango which lasted about eight years and the party survived. Then our Leader and personal symbol of our struggle as Ndigbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, transited and our people and party survived the tempest which followed. We shall yet survive the current storm”.
Describing APGA as a mass movement, which represents the indomitable will of the Igbo, the lawmaker said that the time has come for Governor Obiano to live the true essence of his traditional title, Akpokuedike (loosely translated to mean the warrior who is beckoned upon during trying times), and ensure that instead of silencing the cock, its crow should rather resonate far beyond the boundaries of Anambra, into adjoining states of Enugu, Delta, Ebonyi, Abia Imo – and beyond.