The Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu has declared that the on-going membership revalidation and registration exercise of the All Progressives Congress, APC, met the constitutional provisions of the party and will most importantly make the people the genuine owners of the party, not Godfathers.
Okechukwu spoke in his Eke ward in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, weekend, where he revalidated his membership of the party.
He said he was surprised that the party’s pioneer national chairman, Pa Bisi Akande, its national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the immediate past chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, were opposed to the noble exercise.
“Let Comrade Oshiomhole tell you that APC revalidation and registration exercise is unconstitutional or Pa Akande that it is waste of resources, tell them it is fake news, for the registration exercise is to make the people the genuine owners of our great party and not godfathers. APC constitution mandates us under section 9(4) to update our membership every six months.”
The VON DG, who is a foundation member of the ruling party, said the revalidation and revalidation exercise was an opportunity for Ndigbo “to reconnect the pragmatic Zikist Alliance which had been very beneficial to Eastern region.”
He noted his call aligned with the ancient Igbo maxim that “you don’t stay in one stand in the market place. For the South East, after 21 years in the PDP, is it not high time we moved into the mainstream?”
“APC offers us in addition to 2nd Niger Bridge, Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Standard gauge rail line and Ranches to curb herdsmen soonest.”
Buttressing his support for the membership revalidation exercise, Okechukwu said “My little understanding of political party’s administration for over forty years in liberal democracy posits that revalidation of membership and continuous registration of members is both valid exercise.
“I am one of those who is interested in accurate membership data for effective electoral planning. In some wards, you have more than 1,000 registered members and when election comes and after voting, our party scored less than 300 votes, is it not good to close this kind of gap? It is my candid view that this is one of the valid reasons for revalidation and registration.”
He called on the people of Enugu State and Ndigbo in general to come out en-masse “and embrace the pragmatic Zikist Alliance by identifying with the only party that has remembered them in terms of infrastructure. President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has no doubt left indelible marks in the South-East by doing what the PDP never attempted to do for 16 years running.”