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The perennial crisis rocking the Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has been traced to undemocratic imposition of leaders by powerful elements outside the state which invariably has remained its bane till date.
These views were canvassed in an interview with Daily Independent in Awka, the Anambra State capital on Monday by Chief Nestor Okoro, a major stakeholder of APC in the state.
According to Okoro, imposition from which ever way one looks at it, is unfair and unwelcome in a democratic setting because it discourages popular choice by the people and fuels persistent cause of trouble, annoyance, ruin ,while spoiling happiness.
“Make a retrospective analysis of the crisis in the state chapter of our party, you will discover that it stemmed from the fact that most of the party leaders we have had in the state were not democratically elected by party people but products of imposition.
“And that is at all levels of the party structure.
” Such a leader does not earn the followership of the led because trust, that essentially ingredient in the leader- follower relationship is lacking. He most times is tempted to act in manners that exclude the greater majority of members from decision making because they didn’t elect him and he owes them no allegiance”, .he said.
He said that the present crisis bedeviling the state chapter of APC which has seen the chapter factionalized with many aggrieved stakeholders resorting to litigations in court is just a reflection of this imposition and lack of observation of laid down democratic rules for the selection of leaders It’s observance he reasoned would have instilled confidence in members and stabilized the party in the state.
Chief Okoro who was the Director of campaigns of Chief Peter Nwaedozie “Mkpume”, a major chairmanship aspirant of APC in the state recalled their experiences in the build up to the botched Congress of the chapter on March 18,2026, during which the state chairman and other officers of the party for the state executive ,local government and ward excos would have been democratically elected.
He said that his principal had indicated his intension to contest for the chairmanship of the chapter on January 4,2026, during a stakeholders meeting he convened at his Ogboji country home in Orumba South council area of the state.
In that meeting ,all the major stakeholders in the state chapter of the party attended and made encouraging speeches adding that he followed suit with another enlarged stakeholders’ meeting at the Senator Uche Ekwunife center in Awka on January 28,2026, where he shared his vision to effect positive changes in Anambra APC.
Following, his principal he said had embarked on massive grassroots campaign in furtherance of his ambition, preaching,selling his programme of full democratization of the chapter, erection of a new office complex, inclusiveness in the running of the party and mobilizing members across the state’s 326 electoral wards to vote for him.
But suddenly sometime in March , he said they started hearing of a certain stakeholders meeting in Abuja where instead of strengthening the democratic process, we were told of a decision to jettison elections and go for selection of leaders of the chapter through a consensus arrangement.
This decision he pointed out did not go down well with majority of stakeholders as it was viewed as another imposition through undemocratic means and against the party’s laid down rules and guidelines for the up coming Congresses then.
He said that as a result of this development, a majority of the stakeholders of the party in the state met in Awka sometime in February this year where they resolved and petitioned the National Chairman of the party, and copied other major stakeholders over the covert moves to undermine the wards, local government and state congresses of the party in the state.
Aggrieved resolved in the petition to insist on open, inclusive, transparent,free and fair congressesat all levels of the the partying the state. But we were ignored and they went ahead with their imposition called consensus.
That was after many aspirants to elective positions in the wards local government and state had purchased nomination forms .They were all denied registration and not given the opportunity to contest elections their monies unrefunded.
“Some are even in court seeking redress”, he said.
Chief Okoro said their grievances and recourse to litigation were understandable because you don’t just beat a child and ask him not to cry.
“You don’t flog a child and ask him not to cry. You don’t perpetuate injustice and hide under the cover of party internal resolution mechanism which yields nothing and ask him not to seek redress”, he said.
He said that the party’s s national reconciliation committee headed to Anambra has a lot of job to do beginning with redressing the injustice done to people and infact ordering a new Congress of the party in Anambra which outcome would be democratically determined according to the will and choices of the people and not imposition of leaders.
“Retaining the status quo will not take us anywhere.We still have the time to do things the right way and move forward”, he said.
