‎I had to swallow my pride to join APC – ex Gov Elechi By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA – The immediate-past Governor of Ebonyi state, Martins Elechi has said he decided to “swallow his pride” and eat his words in order to join the ruling All Progressives Congress APC. Elechi The former governor said this on Thursday night when he led his loyalists and party executive from the state to the Abuja residence of the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to formally inform him of his defection. “I who swore that on leaving the PDP I will never join another Party but I have now swallowed my pride to say I will sink or swim with the people I had laboured with. And that is why I joined the APC”, he said. According to him, “the PDP got bedevilled by impunity, corruption, lack of respect for democracy, insensitivity to public opinion. We think that the greatest joy in a democratic system is the right of people to choose who their leaders will be. That right to decide and determine our leadership has been destroyed in Ebonyi state under the PDP. And that was why a majority of PDP members protested and left that Party to look for a new democratic space. Our people have moved to the APC”. The former Ebonyi state governor who registered for the APC at his country home in Echialike, Ikwo Local Government Area in April also disclosed that the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu among other APC leaders from the southeast zone encouraged him to join the APC. Welcoming Mr Elechi to the party, Chief Odigie-Oyegun expressed commitment towards ensuring that the South East adequately participates in the workings of the party and indeed the administration. “I have that intense belief that every zone must and should participate effectively, particularly the South East zone that constitute one of the tripod in this nation. You cannot have a healthy polity if any part of it feels that they are not in the mainstream. I have had the most wonderful few months receiving people from the South East who have made that wonderful and desirable u-turn to allow the Igbo race take their proper place in the scheme of things of this nation”, he stated. Odigie-Oyegun said the APC will not repeat the culture of corruption and waste which was the trademark of past PDP administrations. “Under the PDP, we became an economy that was totally built on corruption. State resources were diverted into private hands and pockets, the result of which the poor people of this country are feeling today… There is serious work to be done. At a time when oil was selling for over $120 per barrel, we neither built roads, railways nor did we maintain our airline, nor did we refine our crude to use, nothing. The institutions and commonwealth of this country was totally run aground. We spent billions of dollars on the energy sector and we got no energy. It is so painful. When you see the revelations today, you really feel that sense of anger. “I am glad to receive you into the fold of the APC. The challenges are immense. There is serious work to be done. We are in the process of totally rebuilding this nation. We know the groans of our people, we know what they going through but given where we are taking off from, it became totally inevitable. As a Party and government are doing everything to make sure the kind of corruption and waste witnessed in the past never happens in this country again. We have the boldness to investigate, to query people who have been in government and because we are hoping too that even if they are of the same party when we move away from office, they will look at our records. Unless we start doing that, we will never come out of that viscous cycle of everybody protecting everybody’s back and so corruption becomes an institution in its own.” The Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu while welcoming the former Ebonyi State governor, called for compromise among the party hierarchy and members in the southeast so as to strengthen the party and win elections in the zone. At the meeting, the APC National Vice Chairman (South East), Hon. Emma Eneukwu described the former Ebonyi state governor as a “colossus in the politics of Igboland”. He expressed confidence that with the admittance of the former governor and his many loyalists, the APC will take over the reins of Ebonyi state, come 2019. “In the South East now, all former governors are in the APC. We are talking of grassroot governors that made great and positive impact on the political scenery of their state. I assure you that you will happy that you identified with our Party. “In the APC, we don’t write results during nomination. This is not a Party of favouritism. This is a party of due process and transparency. You will recall APC primaries conducted in Ondo, Edo were transparent and aired live across the country and that is why we are winning elections.” The post ‎I had to swallow my pride to join APC – ex Gov Elechi appeared first on Vanguard News. from Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2tUdqVc via Naijapounds