Founding Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has emerged the party’s presidential candidate in a keenly contested election conducted by the Chief Edozie Njoku-led National Working Committee (NWC). 

Okorie, who scored 471 votes to beat Chief Freedom Okwuchukwu that polled 290, was declared winner of the party’s primary conducted in Abuja, yesterday. 

Speaking after his emergence, Okorie promised to restructure the country, saying the current structure has failed to move the nation forward. 

He said: “Listen to all the aspirants and candidates that have been emerging, including their political parties, none of them have brought the idea of restructuring, which is a primary concern of majority of Nigerians. I am going to make the issue of restructuring, devolution of power and self-determination of ethnic nationalities a cardinal principle of my campaign. I know some people will begin to copy. 

“Nigeria is structured to fail, and that is why it is failing. Nigeria is not structured to grow, expand or provide employment. You cannot shape Nigeria in the model of countries like China because our structure is disjointed and we are disunited. How can you deal with insecurity, if we are yet to decentralise the command structure of our police? Where on earth will a country, as vast as Nigeria, operate under one command structure?” 

On the chances of his party winning the presidential poll, he said it is not out of place for an underdog to win a contest.

“This is a massive movement. We are starting with a bloc vote of 15 million, even before the election, and every other thing we are doing is to increase that number,” said.

National Chairman of the party, Chief Edozie Njoku, said the Supreme Court had declared him authentic national chairman of the party.  He alleged attempts to distract him from the job at hand, to weaken the chances of APGA ahead of the 2023 elections.