Anambra guber poll won’t be disrupted, says APC candidate

Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Anambra State governorship election, Sen. Andy Uba, has expressed optimism that secessionist groups in the state will not disrupt the election.

The governorship hopeful hinged his optimism on series of consultations by leaders in the state and his promise to solve the economic and unemployment crises, which he identified as the main causes of the agitations.

Uba, who spoke to some newsmen in Lagos, yesterday, blamed the state government for “failure to engage the secessionist groups in the state and provide job for the youths who are getting disillusioned about the current political arrangement in the country.”

According to him, the Anambra situation has proved why the state must join the ruling party at the centre, criticising the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for not having the capacity to maximise the human and material resources in the state.

He said: “If the state government is popular, non-state actors would not be dictating events in Anambra. But what is happening in Anambra is a clear statement that APGA has lost its relevance. This is so because the government is docile, the roads are bad and no potable water. Go to the schools and see the students’ condition. Despite our people’s penchant for trading, there is no support from the government. Our people cannot continue this way.”

Also blaming the state government for not conducting local council election, Uba said it was unfortunate that the APGA-led government deliberately crippled local council administration in the state for selfish interest of some members of the party, promising to conduct elections into that tier of government as soon as he emerged as governor.

While dismissing insinuations that APC had perfected plans to use federal might to rig the election, the Anambra South senator said: “We don’t have any reason to rig the election when everything is in our favour. We have prominent people joining our party everyday; the deputy governor is with us, over 90 out of 300 APGA chairmen are with us now, not to talk of members of House of Assembly that have defected to the APC. Anambra people wanted a change; they are desirous of joining the mainstream party and are ready to join hands with the APC to form the next government.”