Why I skipped the APGA gubernatorial campaign launch in Awka — Bianca Ojukwu
Written by admin on September 26, 2021
Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, speaking in Awka on Sunday, claimed she skipped the APGA governorship campaign’s flag-off on Saturday to protest “post-mortem disrespect” to her late husband.
She placed the burden for Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu’s “post-mortem contempt” squarely on the shoulders of APGA’s leadership.
APGA gubernatorial and deputy governorship candidates Prof. Chukwuma Soludo and Dr. Ifeanyi Ibezim kicked off their 2021 campaigns on Saturday.
Unlike past big political events organized by APGA, which identified late Ojukwu as the party’s spiritual leader, Bianca was noticeably absent from the occasion.
Another clear evidence that there was a major fracture in the party, according to some political analysts, was the removal of Ojukwu’s picture from the bespoke APGA uniform worn by individuals at the ceremony.
Some party members, on the other hand, showed up in ancient uniforms with the picture of the Eze Igbo Gburugburu, Dim Ojukwu.
Bianca referred to the current APGA leadership’s treatment of her late husband as an insult.
“It is ironic that Gov. Willie Obiano has revived Dim Ojukwu’s photographs for use in campaigning for the 2019 Anambra elections.
“Ojukwu should not be treated like a light switch that is turned on for a party’s election campaign and then turned off once the election is won,” she added.
The former Nigerian ambassador to Spain voiced her disappointment with the APGA leadership’s decision to remove her husband’s image from the party’s uniform and other symbols.
“It is extremely sad that Gov. Obiano opted to replace Ojukwu’s photo with his own simply to emphasize his remark that he would no longer bind APGA’s fate and fortunes to the memory of a deceased man,’ clearly referring to my husband,” Bianca stated.
She went on to detail additional ill-treatments she and her late husband had received, claiming that her attendance at Saturday’s flag-off would have been an endorsement of the party’s scamming of dozens of hopefuls during the party’s primary in 2018.
“It is regrettable that the same APGA election managers who were in charge of the catastrophic 2018 party primaries, which severely harmed the party’s reputation, were also in charge of the campaign flag-off.
“Any political party that repeatedly robs its own members, including the APGA, will not last,” she said.
She also bemoaned the governor’s and party leadership’s rejection of the findings of the Sen. Victor Umeh-led Peace and Reconciliation Committee, which had visited her in Enugu a few weeks ago and suggested the way ahead for APGA.
Bianca, on the other hand, expressed optimism that, despite APGA’s current woes, the party had a good chance of producing the state’s next governor.
She characterized the current state of the party as a “field of pain” for so many walking wounded…from disgruntled candidates to grassroots party members and stakeholders.
Mr. C-Don Adinuba, Director Media, Soludo Governorship Campaign Organisation, responded to Bianca’s allegations by saying that the absence of late Ojukwu’s image on APGA uniform was not a plot to humiliate late Ojukwu and his family.
“The individual who handled the recent uniform the party produced made a mistake,” he added.
Bianca has nothing against Prof. Soludo as APGA’s candidate, according to Adinuba, who is also the Anambra Commissioner for Information.
“I am certain that Bianca will join Prof. Soludo’s campaign trip in the next few days,” he added.
