THE decision of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, to contest the 2019 presidential election after many years of not presenting a candidate appears to be creating confusion in the South East, especially with the nomination of the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Since the nomination of Retired Major General John Gbor from Benue State as the presidential candidate of APGA and Obi as the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, the impression in many quarters in the South East was that APGA was trying to use its flag bearer to divide Igbo votes during the election. In fact, some people were of the opinion that the emergence of Gbor was a product of an agreement reached between APGA leadership and the All Progressives Congress, APC, -controlled federal government for the purpose of ensuring that the Igbo electorate did not give bloc vote to the PDP.
APGA The development was even more worrisome when taken into consideration that Gbor’s running mate is from the heart of Igbo land, a situation that was also capable of attracting many Igbo votes for APGA.
But the political adviser to Governor Willie Obiano, Chief Ifeatu Obiokoye dismissed the insinuation, explaining that APGA nominated a presidential candidate that would win the 2019 election, taking into consideration all political permutations. According to him, with the APGA candidate winning the Middle-Belt and the South East; and a major part of South-South, the position of APGA might become relevant in the event no political party wins the presidential election on the first ballot.
His argument was that should both the APC and the PDP share the votes in the North East, North West, South West and in the other three geopolitical zones, any of the political parties would require an alliance with another political party. to be able to produce the president of the country.