The All Progressives Congress commences moves to attract the south-south and the south-eastern parts of Nigeria
- Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the national chairman of the APC, says the two zones have become very important
- Odigie-Oyegun sets up committee to look into why the APC was defeated in the recent Anambra governorship election
The All Progressives Congress has reportedly put in motion a strategy to win over the south-south and south-eastern parts of Nigeria ahead of 2019 when the country would be facing a general election by setting up a committee.
The committee, according to the New Telegraph, is to review the performance of the party in the last governorship election in Anambra state as its national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, reportedly said the sub-body would look at how the party can find its way into the heart of the south-east in 2019.
The four-member committee is said to be headed by the former governor of Ekiti state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and was given 30 days to complete its assignment.
Speaking just before the inauguration of the committee, Odigie-Oyegun reiterated the importance of the two regions.
“The south-east and the south-south would be crucial and critical for our victory in 2019.
“Not from the point of view of numbers of votes because we are fairly confident, having gone through our initial planning that the APC would carry the day in 2019 but for us it is critical that the S/E and S/S both these geographical zones have contributed immensely to the survival of this nation, therefore must fully be represented in what is going to be a truly national government of the APC in 2019.
“So, learning from the experience, in this particular case of the south-east - the result of the Anambra election - in which l must personally confess that l was disappointed in terms of votes that we got at that election. I expected a much better result than that.
“It has become necessary therefore drawing from that at this early stage to examine why the votes that the APC scored were much lower than we expected.
“So, today we are inaugurating a strategic committee and the mandate is for you, Chief Niyi Adebayo and your team to do a forensic examination of what could have gone wrong; why did we not do well as we expected? What were the factors that contributed to our low score.
“We did much better compare to the 2015, no question about that but in all fairness, given the work we put in and given the reactions of the public and the rest of it there was no question at all that we ought to have done a lot better.
“So, the question today is why. It is important that we are using Anambra as a trigger.
“The terms of reference were drafted and appropriately worded to give you the scope to look at the possibilities - God forbid- a repetition of what happened in Anambra in other states in the south-east.
“We want to start early; we want to strategize early; we want to plan early; we want to be confident that after we have done our field work and the reward from the field work is commensurate with the efforts that we have put in. I want to be partisan here, we want a situation where we will win handsomely in the south-east.
“l mentioned the south-south when l started. The circumstances are slightly different but we are going to have the same type of strategic team for the S/S.
“The issues are different, the environment is different, the circumstances are different but it is necessary also that we bind the S/S into the national power framework that we expect to emerge in 2019," he said.
Pattyakpan earlier reported how Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on Saturday, January 06, in Abuja said the party would deploy its achievements as selling points in the 2019 general elections.
The report quoted ThisDay as saying that Odigie-Oyegun said the APC would be prompt and vigorous in its preparation for the election.
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