Ochudo Martin Agbaso: Time To Have A Rethink, By Ikenna Mbazulike-Amechi

The judgment of the Court of Appeal Enugu striking out the ill-fated and contrived Order of mandamus procured from an Enugu State High Court has come and gone. It is now obvious who the National Chairman of APGA is.

My issue now is how the parties move on from here.

I have not met Ochudo Martin Agbaso in person but I know quite a number of people who claim to know him very well and have times without number, held him out to be a noble person and a clear headed individual. They have at different times and fora projected him as a viable alternative to the joke that is the APC government in Imo State.

Fast forward to the APGA legal matters, as I would not describe same as crisis, Agbaso had left the party, and some persons for whatever reasons, chose to use his name to destabilize APGA, and he unfortunately allowed such to happen.

A Few Facts Are Obvious And I State Them:

1. APGA is vital to NDIGBO in this country in view of the present circumstances. With an APGA government we have an official voice that will speak for us when that time comes.

2. Without an APGA controlled state, the party may find it difficult to survive as it may degenerate into a party where people that are refused tickets in other parties run to in order to achieve electoral success and move on.

3. The importance of having an APGA State in the Southeast is thus glaring.

4. Without His Excellency Willie Obiano flying the flag of APGA in the November 2017 election in Anambra state, it will be difficult for the party to succeed, this much is obvious.

5. If APGA loses (God Forbid) the gubernatorial seat in Anambra the party will be gravely imperiled and by extension Ndigbo will be disadvantaged in political posturing in this federation.

Now my concern is this: knowing all these things, why would an otherwise respectable leader like Ochudo Martin Agbaso lend his name to some shadowy elements that are hell bent of setting the Igbo race back just because probably they have political scores to settle with Governor Obiano?

Will Agbaso honestly say that this group of people that are callously using him as a pawn in their contrived war has a candidate that can stack up against the other parties in the Anambra election?

As an experienced politician, did Ochudo Agbaso really want to deny a performing Governor (which he admitted) the Governorship ticket of a party of which the Governor is the Chairman Board of Trustees?

Is Ochudo Agbaso not unwittingly being used as a tool by a few persons who will dump him the moment their mission fails, as it has crumbled? How will Ochudo Agbaso pick up his political pieces if he allows these people destroy his reputation and standing in Igbo land?

It is not late, now is the time to have a rethink. I believe APGA and by extension the Igbo nation still desire the experience of Ochudo Martin Agbaso; as such Ochudo retrace and reconsider your position and come back to the mainstream and belong where you ought naturally to be a leader.

I also call on the undisputed National Chairman of APGA Ozomkpu Victor Oye to magnanimously reach out to Ochudo Agbaso and invite him along for the joy ride of reelecting the crown jewel of our party, the incumbent Governor of Anambra State Chief Willie Obiano who is up for reelection.

As we record electoral success in Anambra come November 2017, we shall by the Grace of God replicate the success in Imo and the entire Southeast with all stakeholders intact including Ochudo Martin Agbaso.

What unites us as a party is bigger than what separates us as individuals, realizing this; let us subsume temporary ambitions for the bigger goals and attainments that await us.

The goal is and ought to be 2019 when APGA takes the Southeast and other states across the country. United we can achieve this lofty goal and of course with proper leadership and guidance which I am convinced we have.

Ikenna Mbazulike-Amechi