Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has vowed to resist attempts to hijack the party’s ticket during the 2023 elections by those it described as ‘overzealous politicians’ in the state.
It also threatened to sue those who won elections on APGA platform and defected to other political parties, saying that in the last elections, APGA produced five members of the House of Assembly, but later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
State Chairman of the party, John Iwuala, who stated this during a media briefing at the party’s secretariat in Owerri, yesterday, added that APGA was poised to oust the APC from power and clinch other elective positions in the state.
His words: “The era when people without a history of party loyalty and who have conflicting political ideologies, will stampede the party in their desperate search for emergency members and benefits are admitted into the party is over.
“The era when people hijack the party from no where is over and will never again be allowed to repeat itself in Imo APGA. For the records, of the five members of the House, APGA produced Hon. Chiji Collins and Hon. Paul Emeziem, who had become speakers and that should have been to our party’s credit.”
He vowed that the party would not allow the defected lawmakers to go unpunished, because they did not follow the due process of defection.
Iwuala stressed that the leadership of the party would start by setting up a formidable legal framework to ensure that the only time a member would be allowed to leave the party unless it slipped into serious internal crisis, insisting that APGA had been peaceful.
“We shall go as far as making them to refund all the money, salary and emoluments they collected after their defection and thereafter, their seats will be declared vacant.
“I want to caution intending members that APGA is not a dumping ground or rehabilitation centre where people are nurtured and given victory only for them to abandon the party. The new APGA under my leadership will not condone such,” he added.
