The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has pulled out of the
All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, this is according to Prince
Adesina Olayokun, APGA chairman in the state.
The Daily Sun reports that Olayokun made this disclosure through a
statement he issued in Lagos at the weekend after a meeting of the
party.
According to the statement, the APGA chairman said he and over 2,000
other members of APGA in Lagos State were dumping APC to return to their
original party following series of unfulfilled promises by APC
leadership at the peak of the merger of the three political parties that
metamorphosed into APC.
Olayokun stated that the APC leadership in Lagos State failed to
allow a level-playing ground for all members of the merger political
parties in all the APC congresses from the ward to state levels.
He added that the ruling party in Lagos state failed to allocate
positions to APGA members in fulfillment of promises made to them prior
to the merger.
The group explained that they were fully back to the APGA fold under
the leadership of the National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, and the
National Secretary, Dr. Sanni Shinkafi.
Prior to this development, the national body of APGA had announced
that it had offered President Goodluck Jonathan automatic ticket for the
2015 Presidential election.
This disclosure was made on Saturday, 30 August, 2014, by Governor
Willie Obiano of Anambra State when a mega-rally was held in Awka to
urge President Jonathan to seek re-election next year.
Governor Obiano informed that while Jonathan has the party’s
presidential ticket, Umeh, APGA’s national chairman, will fly the
party’s banner in the Anambra Central Senatorial election.
APGA leader Umeh had recently told reporters that come 2015, Lagos will be under the APGA flag.
Umeh stated that only 2 million votes are needed to gain the
gubernatorial position in Lagos, and, with over 10 million Igbos and
half that number sympathetic with the APGA cause, there is more than a
high chance of APGA being in control in Lagos State.
In February 2013, a faction of APGA merged with the Action Congress
of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the Congress for
Progressive Change to form the All Progressives Congress.
At the 2003 legislative elections, APGA won 1.4% of popular votes and
2 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives of Nigeria and no seats
in the Senate. Its candidate at the presidential elections of 19 April
2003, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu won 3.3% of the vote.
In governatorial elections of April 2011, Chief Rochas Okorocha
(APGA), was elected governor of Imo state, by polling 15% more votes
than incumbent governor Ikedi Ohakim (PDP) making the party present in
two states with Anambra state as the party’s first presence.