By Michael Ovat
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Anambra state,has protested the exclusion of the party and its women on the arrangements of the First Lady of Nigeria,Senator Oluremi Tinubu to the state on Thursday.
However, the party leadership congratulates and welcomes the First Lady to the state despite everything, adding that the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA is deceiving President Bola Tinubu on the mantra of progressives working together
The protest was done through a statement issued on Monday in Awka, signed by the state Secretary of APC,Sir Obi Okpala and made available to reporters.
APC ,said the party only knew about the arrangements through the announcement by the office of the first lady of Anambra state,Dr Nonye Soludo.
“The Anambra State APC warmly welcomes Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu CON, to our dear state and appreciates her unwavering commitment to the empowerment, welfare and economic advancement of Nigerian women, particularly her initiative to empower thousands of women across the Southeast.
“However, the Anambra State APC is constrained to express its concern and disappointment that, as of the time of issuing this statement, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Anambra State, including its women leadership and recognised party structures, has neither been formally invited nor meaningfully carried along in the arrangements for this important visit.
“As the leading political party at the national level and a major political stakeholder in Anambra State, we believe that an official visit by the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly one centred on the empowerment of women, should transcend partisan considerations and provide an opportunity for broad participation, consultation and inclusion.
“It is therefore difficult for us to reconcile the apparent exclusion of the APC and its women structures with the repeated public narrative of “Progressives Are Working Together”
“The Rhetorics of Progressives Working Together is only intended for the National Television shows as APGA as a party is not marketing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his achievements in the state but using it to hoodwink APC Leadership and also to confuse the gullible public into voting APGA Candidates in the National and State Assembly Elections.
“We believe that this should not be interpreted as an attempt to politicise your humanitarian and empowerment programme, but rather as an appeal for greater inclusion and recognition of all relevant stakeholders in the spirit of national unity.
“The APC has been structured and strengthened to deliver Mr President in Anambra State, we totally reject the rhetoric of Progressives are working together because is not tenable anywhere rather they are confusing Mr President with the 25 percent narrative which they know they are not capable of producing considering their background, because all their media communications are demarketing Mr President and APC” the party wrote
