From Ben Dunno, Warri
The Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Registration and Validation of Members, Ismaeel Ahmed, has disclosed that the essence of the ongoing exercise was to position the party to have a stronghold across the six (6) regions in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Making this disclosure in a speech delivered at the country home of the Deputy Senate President (DSP) Ovie Omo Agege, in Orogun, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, where his Committee was on enlightenment program of voters at the Unit of the DSP, Ahmed noted that APC has all it takes to take over most states including Delta in 2023.
Speaking on behalf of the 5-man committee that was present at the event to ensure a successful campaign and revalidation of the Deputy Senate President at the occasion, the Chairman noted that party was more than ever committed to taking over Delta State in the next general election.
According to him; ‘Senator Ovie Omo Agege is the number 6 man in this country. We have gone to Daura to register number 1, we are going to register 3 in Yobe, we are going to register number 2 in Ogun, but it’s only in the South-South that we have been given two leaders to register and that includes the number 6.’
Speaking further, Ahmed stated: ‘Senator Omoagege has demonstrated political capacity because a lot of people say that PDP is the DNA of Delta which is not true; because he is in APC when he delivered Delta Central and God willing APC will deliver Delta State”.
‘From 1999 Delta has always being a PDP state, this is the first time there has been a little shake and we are very optimistic that it would get even better as we ate committed to taking over the state this time around.
‘We are here to celebrate one of our own. We are to transverse Delta and the rest of the South and we are going to deliver boldly,’ he boasted.
Earlier in his address, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, had urged the voters in his unit to take advantage of the exercise and become a card-carrying member of the party, irrespective of their political ideology or membership of an existing party, especially the ruling PDP in the state.
‘We have a saying that the end of one election is the beginning of another. People are talking about 2023 as if it’s far, it’s tomorrow and everything starts with registration.
‘You have to register with this party, to be members of this party, to take a sense of ownership of the party. When the party is your own, you can fight for the party with pride.
‘The national leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, has determined that we need to grow this party. We need to enhance our coast and we need to grow it from the bottom up. From the bottom level means from the unit level, LGA to the state then the national. When you hear all politics is local, means that all the politics and is here in our unit.
‘The leadership from Abuja had invited me to Asaba, issued me a card, but they decided that they would rather travel all the way to my unit to register me here. So that every member of my unit will also see that this is where everything starts and everything ends; because elections are won and lost. It all starts here.
‘This exercise is going to be different. We give you our commitment that we are going to ensure that anybody and everybody who is interested in joining APC would be allowed to register that is my commitment. Nobody would be deprived of registration because we want to expand our coast.
‘So please as we leave here today, join me in that commitment. We want everybody to register in the party so don’t look down anybody and if we do that, it will send fear into the hearts of members of PDP.
‘Look at our constitution, the APC constitution is a unique constitution, because it has a unique provision. A provision for an executive body at units level. It is only the APC constitution that has that. Other parties have their leadership beginning at the ward level.
‘If we register as many people in every unit, it means that we will have a presence in every unit; and when you have a presence in every unit, you make implication, nobody can rig you out,’ Omo Agege stated.