We’re gaining ground in S’East – APC

The All Progressives Congress in the South-East geopolitical zone on Thursday said it had made progress in its bid to convince the Igbo electorate to vote for its candidates in the 2015 general election.The spokesperson for the APC in the South-East, Mr. OsitaOkechukwu, told our correspondent that the party was not worried by the rallies being organised by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, but was focused on winning the hearts of the Igbo electorate.Okechukwu added that the TAN rallies were merely a reincarnation of the Sani Abacha two million-man march, which represent a breach of the electoral law.

He said, “They have already breached the Electoral Act because the Electoral Act said such open campaign should not start until 90 days to the election. We don’t want to breach the electoral law. We are gradually working with the electorate because we still believe that no matter how many members we have, we cannot have up to five per cent of the electorate as party members.

“We are trying to get the South-East people to realise that the PDP and Jonathan have failed them. We are not bothered about what TAN is doing. We still have about six months to the election and I can tell you that the Igbo have gradually started embracing the APC because they have realised that the PDP and Jonathan do not take them seriously. We are going to get the support of more people in the South-East before 2015.”

Okechukwu said it was unfortunate that the South-East PDP failed to protest to Jonathan over the perceived marginalisation of the Igbo in the recent promotion exercise in the police.

“Just last week, the same South-East PDP, paradoxically were complaining that the Police Service Commission didn’t properly position the Igbo. It’s paradoxical because we thought that a party that controls the Federal Government led by a President that was endorsed by the Igbo, should have taken care of what concerns the Igbo,” he said.

The APC spokesperson added that the APC was in a position to prevent the PDP from rigging elections in the zone.

He also said it might be difficult to predict the amount votes the APC will garner in Igboland in 2015, but noted that the party offers better prospects for South-East.