Standing in the middle of the Umuahia township stadium and looking at the sea of heads that attended the Abia All Progressive Congress Mega Rally, I was really stupefied to witness such a mammoth crowd troop out to a rally that is not organized by a ruling party, and the crowd, financially induced or officially intimidated with government apparatus.
Contrary to all the lies and propaganda that the PDP and its lie merchants has been churning out so as to deceive the public and discredit the huge success the rally recorded, vis-à-vis the harvest of political adherents the APC has gained as a fallout of bad leadership that the ruling party has dished Abians, truth is that the Umuahia township stadium have not witnessed such a large crowd gathered in that stadium as seen on the 9th of January 2018, I have been part of political rallies held by the ruling party, I have witnessed Presidents visit Abia and hold rallies at Umuahia township stadium, and I must confess I was stunned to see the turnout recorded on that APC Mega Rally inspite of all the negative media publicity by the PDP meant to dissuade Abians from coming to that rally.
Having a general overview of the rally interms of attendance, organization and political advancement, I must confess that the rally was a huge success and I want to congratulate the Abia APC for a successful outing.
For a political party that does not even have an elected councilor to suddenly convert four house of assembly members from different political parties including the ruling PDP into its fold means that such a political party has come to stay and it’s the party to watch, taking an inventory of the caliber of politicians who came to grace the occasion and to openly declare their membership and loyalty to the All Progressive Congress, positions the party as the main opposition political party in Abia.
Reeling out the names of prominent Abia politicians who had expressed their intention to pitch their political tent with the APC clearly shows that the ruling PDP has lost the confidence and trust of the people and what should worry them now is no longer those who have the courage to leave the party, rather the ones that are seen to still be in the party, but either that they do not possess the courage to openly jumpship or have decided to sit back to finally sink the party before heading into other political parties.
My worry is the ability of the APC to sustain and manage the expected harvest of political heavy weights that are yet to make up their minds, negotiating their interests or are still waiting for a convenient political atmosphere to join the new Abia political destination, the APC.
With the presence of the likes of Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, Rt Hon. Martins Azubuike,Rt Hon. Stanley Ohajiriuka, Dr Mark Wabara, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, Hon. Iheanacho Obioma and other political heavy weights the APC is plus sized, and without sounding immodest the political history of Abia state is bound to change.
Fact is that every political party has its own internal issues, but has the APC in Abia made political gains today? YES, has the party come to stay? YES, are they expecting bigger influx? YES, has APC become the major opposition, given the composition of its political membership as at today, YES.
How prepared is the Abia PDP willing to recover from the implosion that it is facing, a few months to elections, with the current PDP led government that has shown little or no visible interest in the peoples welfare? That will be left for the party to answer.
My worry and that of every right thinking Abian who has the political, economic and social welfarist interest of Abia and Abians at heart, is whether the party will sustain the political gains so far made and translate it to electoral victory come 2019, that answer only lies in the primary elections and by the choice of candidates the APC will be willing to field come 2019 elections.
