..I’m not coming back to contest for party chairmanship
Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Delta State chapter, Prophet Jones Ode Erue has clarified that it is the responsibility of the party to zone political offices and not the duty of any self-acclaimed leader or stakeholder at any level to do so.
Prophet Erue made this clarification on Saturday in Emede, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, during the executive meeting of the State Executive Committee and chairmen and secretaries of the various Local Government Areas of the State.
The Delta APC chairman explained that the purpose of the meeting was to foster unity among members and galvanize the party in preparation to win election. Erue explained that the State Executive Committee of the party is the leadership and it is the responsibility of the SEC to zone all party positions, adding that it is not the responsibility of any stakeholder or anybody who claims leadership.
He said: “In a nutshell, the meeting is geared towards party unity, achieving the primary purpose for which political parties are created, that is to win election, to act as a barrier to the moles in our midst, fixing them but if they refuse to change, we render them impotent.
“We talked about zoning, that it is the responsibility of the party to zone party positions, not of any stakeholder or anybody who claims leadership. The leadership of the party is the SEC of the party.
“When they zone, they submit their list to the caucus of the party. It is bottom-up and not up-bottom. So, we must follow constitutional means of doing things.
“Whatever anybody is doing in any place, holding meetings to say, oh, this or that should be the chairman, are mere suggestions. Their suggestions should be channeled properly to the party. It is the party that takes final decision on whose zone gets what and whose zone gets that.”
Setting agenda for the party in the state, Erue said that the party is already in the process of attracting progressives from other parties into the APC, adding that conservatives in the party have also been placed on a watchlist and that if they refused to change, they will find their way out.
“The agenda is clear. The party is set to win election. We are moving in to bring people to the party. We are moving in to talk to the progressives who are in the PDP to come back to our party. And we also know that they may be conservatives in our party and we have been watching them.
“It’s just like what Awolowo said that a day will come when the progressives who are in the conservative camp will return back home and the conservatives who are in the progressives camp will go back.
“This mismatch has been our problem in the past. We have researched and we are now studying it because people were planted in us whose mission is to destabilize the party. But our party is set to win”, he said.
On the recent wave of defections from other political parties into the APC, Erue explained that although some persons complain that the party is not doing well, saying whatever problem is confronting the APC was the handiwork of the past government.
The Delta APC Chairman explained that at present President Buhari has put in place several policies geared towards assisting the common man, adding that the President ensure that in implementing the policies, there is no discrimination whatsoever.
Erue further said that the opposition party is busy lying to the people, adding that many have realized that their lies are getting too much and have decided to leave and joined the APC to join hands and move the country forward.
He said: “Whether we like it or not, people complain that the APC government is not doing well. But those who know the truth know that whatever problem APC is facing was caused by past governments and it has only come to fore now.
“And now, there are several workable policies President Buhari has put in place that are geared towards helping the common man. Those are the things the President has put in place and he did not put any ceiling. Everybody, whether you are a Nigerian or not, he does not care; whether you are from PDP or not, everybody is enjoying it.
“So, anybody who has national interest will leave the PDP and join the APC and I tell you more people, representatives of the people in the State Houses of Assembly, in the National Assembly, taking the same steps to come to the APC because they are tired of telling themselves lies.”
Erue assured that the APC was set for the forthcoming congress, assuring that “we will do our best to have a peaceful congress.”
The party chair assured that he is not coming back to contest for the chairmanship of the party in the state, promising he is coming back to work for the APC to win election in the State.
“I want to work for my party to win election in the State. That is what I’m coming back to do”, he said.
Earlier, while addressing the meeting, Prophet Erue, had advised the local government chairmen and secretaries to know the direction which the party is heading, adding that they should follow the person who is in charge at the moment.
“Let me tell you, chairmen, Secretaries, let us know where we are going. Don’t follow a man who is going against the system because that is what will remove you.
“Look at people to recruit from your ward. Let it be people who you can hold accountable, who you can vouch for. Please, let us do things aright”, he advised.
Highpoint of the occasion was the appointment of Prince Fred Mordi from Aniocha South Local Government Area as the new Senatorial chairman for Delta North to replace the former chairman, Mr. George Okafor who defected to the PDP recently.
Present at the meeting were the State exco members and all the chairmen and secretaries of the 25 local government areas of the State.
