Chekwas Okorie, the national chairman of the defunct United Progressive Party (UPP), has predicted that the All Progressive Congress (APC) will take over Anambra State from the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2022.
Mr Okorie whose party was recently deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stated this in an interview with Sun Newspapers.
He collapsed his party into the APC after being deregistered over failure of the UPP to meet the requirements for continued existence as a political party.
The APGA has been in firm control of the South-East state for over a decade now. Although INEC has not announced the date for the next governorship election in the state, it is expected to hold next year before the expiration of the tenure of Willie Obiano, the incumbent governor winds down in 2022.
Okorie who founded APGA said Anambra State will be his starting point and his movement into the APC will reshape the party’s existence in the geo-political zone where the party is reportedly not doing well.
He said his main aim of delivering the state to the APC is to bargain for an Igbo presidency at the completion of the president’s tenure in 2023.
“…Now with me fully involved and others we are marching into Anambra to deliver the governorship to APC in Anambra in 2021. I will be fully involved in that effort with all my associates and others,” he said.
“And that will be the beginning of sweeping across the entire Igbo land and by 2023 President Buhari must have done his beat well by the grace of God and we shall insist even before then that it will make for the finale healing of the wounds of the war if an Igbo man is given the opportunity to become president in 2023.
“And we have to make that point not by force, not by flexing muscles, but by diplomacy, by showing commitment, by political sagacity, by engagement, by building bridges, etc, all this we will do, not by wishful thinking and we will also impress it on the president that he will be writing his name in gold if he gives efficacy to that aspiration of the Igbo people and it will now bring the type of unity that Nigeria has been clamouring to have.
“The prospects are very bright. If I didn’t see how bright the prospects are I wouldn’t waste my time,” the Abia indigen added.
