APGA NOW BETTER POSITIONED TO WIN ELECTIONS-IWU
APGA Now Better Positioned To Win Elections – Iwu
Hon. Chibuikem Iwu, the
immediate-past State Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA), Lagos State chapter, recently emerged the party’s State
Chairman. Iwu, former candidate for the Ikeja Constituency 11 seat in
the Lagos State House of Assembly in 2015 general elections, spoke to EJIKEME OMENAZU on the party’s readiness for the 2019 elections and several crucial national issues. Excerpt:
How do you see your emergence as the chairman of your party in Lagos State?
I will say that it is timely and divine.
It is a call to duty and a task to restructure and reposition the party
to win elections. The primary objective of a political party is to win
elections and play opposition role at any given time. A party should
play a strong and objective opposition without blackmail or unnecessary
propaganda. We have had chairmen in the past who had put in their best,
but their best did not yield any good result. I will say here that the
past leadership we had did not understand the vision and mission of the
party.So, it is a new dawn for APGA in Lagos as
a political party. We need to give the party a face and reposition it
to win elections, giving it a face in terms of structures.
As the immediate past State Secretary of the party and
now the chairman, would you say the crises in the Lagos chapter have
finally been resolved?
Well, I will not say that there were crises or none in our party. It all depends on how you understand it. What
you see from the outside has to do with human elements. My current
position as the chairman has given hope to our party members. The
consultations and sensitisation exercise embarked upon by my team is
reassuring.
What is your executive doing to ensure that it gets the party ready for the 2019 general elections?
Like I said earlier, the current
leadership of the party and our members are committed to repositioning
the party to favourably compete and win elections.
We have started sensitisation exercise in
the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 LCDAs in Lagos to inform Lagosians
to register and go for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in readiness
for the 2019 general elections.
On the other hand, so many aspirants have
also indicated interests to run on the platform of APGA come 2019. We
are optimistic that more aspirants will show interest before the primary
elections in August. It is going to be interesting and also very
competitive, because, we are seen to be the only opposition to the
ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in Lagos. We have
better chances of winning elections.
You contested the Lagos State House of Assembly
election in 2015. Three years since the inception of this
administration, how do you see the Akinwunmi Ambode administration?
Thank you for this question. Lagosians
expected to see something better than what they are seeing today. Lagos
State is the highest in terms of internally generated revenue (IGR) in
Nigeria. My assertion is that with the IGR which the Lagos State
government generates, Lagos should look better than what we are
witnessing today in terms of infrastructural development. I challenge
the state government to publish their yearly income for Lagosians to see
and rate the performance of the present administration.
What about the Local Governments? None of
the local governments is performing in terms of infrastructure. For
those that may doubt my submission, I would like you to drive round the
local governments and share your experiences. The local roads, which are
the primary responsibility of the LGAs, are all abandoned and the rainy
season is here again. The Lagos government should also let Lagosians
know the debt profile of the state to enable a proper assessment of the
performance of the present administration.
Are you implying that the Governor Ambode administration has been shortchanging Lagosians?
Yes, I will say ‘yes’. A lot of taxes are
paid in the state and the development we seen may not be commensurate
with the assumed IGR of the state. Let me say this, the governor should
ask the local government chairmen what they are doing with their
allocations and revenues they generate.
The same thing goes to the State House of
Assembly members. It is sad that our representatives, whose primary job
is to carry out checks and balances on the activities of the executive
in the interest of the helpless citizens, are in no way helping matters.
I want to call on Lagosians to challenge
their representatives at the state House of Assembly, House of
Representatives and the Senate to give account of their stewardship. The
2019 general elections are around the corner. It is time to ask for
their score cards because some of them would like to return to the House
to continue representing themselves instead of the people.
How do you see the new Land Use Charge of Lagos State
which is presently undergoing a review due to the controversies it
generated?
The Lagos Land Use Charge is an
anti-people policy. I quite agree that it should be revisited. The
sudden increase on Land Use Charge has increased the burden of the
people and turned landlords to tenants. It means that the landlord makes
all the money for the government. This has great impact on the tenants
because the landlords have to increase the rent to ensure that after
paying the heavy tax in the name of Land Use Charge, they will have
something as return on investment.
I commend the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA), Ikeja Branch, for their timely intervention that has made the
House of Assembly to start a review of the Land Use Charge Law.
What is your executive doing in terms of mobilising Lagosians for the next elections?
We have embarked on house-to-house
mobilisation because we believe that with grassroots sensitisation, we
can get to the core electorates. It is yielding a lot of dividends. We
are prepared to continue with it and do more because APGA is a movement.
We believe in winning elections in a free and fair atmosphere, having
done our homework.
Do you think that APGA can gather enough weight to
compete with the APC and PDP in the 2019 general elections in parts of
the country?
As we move towards the 2019 elections,
with the political activities on the increase in the country, APGA is
still a better alternative nationally. We believe in the ability of the
current National Working Committee (NWC) of the party led by Ozonkpu Dr.
Victor Ike Oye. With his team, he has demonstrated capacity to take the
party to an enviable height. With him, we are hopeful that in the 2019
elections, APGA will record good results than we had in the past.
It is possible to beat APC and PDP because in politics,
anything can happen. APGA is ready to shock APC and PDP in the 2019
elections at all levels because we have what it takes to deliver.
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