The Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Thursday inaugurated the Chairmen of the 184 wards in the state with a call for the unification of all the members.
In a speech at the brief ceremony held at the state party Secretariat in Umuahia, the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Donatus Nwankpa, urged the chairmen to take urgent steps to bring estranged members back into the fold.
Nwankpa, represented by his Deputy, Chief Ogunka Adiele, said there was need for the party to go into the 2023 electioneering as one united entity.
He said: “You are being sworn in because you were adjudged to be successful in the last congresses in your respective wards.
“Your people reposed confidence in your ability to deliver. It is work in progress so you are expected to win more members for the party.
“You are expected to go to your localities and take steps to ensure unity, coherence, harmony, peace and togetherness among all the members.
“We expect you, as humble people, to be magnanimous in victory. You are not only chairmen but peacemakers.
“Reach out to your opponents and all those that were aggrieved in the aftermath of the ward congresses and bring them back into the party.”
Nwankpa further admonished the ward chairmen not to engage in repulsive acts, including throwing parties in a manner that could provoke their opponents to envy and anger.
“You are not sworn in to cause problems for the party. You should accord respect to all APC chieftains in your wards.
“We should strive to be united as demonstrated by our party symbol – the broom – which derives its strength from being bound together,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state Legal Adviser, Mr Onuoha Nwokoma, administered the Oaths of Office and Allegiance, respectively to the chairmen.
In a brief remark, Nwokoma said that a lot was expected from them as the leaders of the party’s foot soldiers at the grassroots level.
“It is not easy to be leaders at the grassroot. The party expects a lot from you and you will be held responsible for whatever happens in your wards,” he said.
In separate interviews with NAN, Mr Bennett Iheme (Ngwa Ukwu Ward 4 in Isialangwa North), Mr Uzoma Emmanuel (Ward 8 in Obingwa) and the only woman, Mrs Chinenye Abraham (Ikuiriato Ward in Ukwa East), expressed joy over their inauguration.
They promised not to betray the confidence reposed in them, saying that they would ensure victory for the party in 2023.
Abraham, who said she contested against two men, said she would reach out to them and ensure she carried them along in all the party’s programmes in the area.
She said that as a former Ward Leader she had garnered experience to ensure that she delivered on the party’s expectations.
She also said that her new position would provide her the pedestal to climb to greater height in her political career.
(NAN)
