The Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee, Chief Reagan Ufomba, spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on the protracted leadership tussles and way out of the crises.
What is the latest on the APGA reconciliation?
Our national chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu, set up a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee with us as members. We have been going round the country and we started with the Southeast where we met with Chief Victor Umeh, the very first day after our inauguration. We also met with the deputy national leader of our great party, Sir Peter Obi. We met with another leader and statesman, Chief Nwogbu Alor. Our train moved to Imo State where we met with one of our Igbo leaders, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the MASSOB leader. We have also been talking on phone to many stakeholders, including the wife of our late leader, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu. Today, we have met with one of the leaders of our party, Barrister Obinna Obiegwe. We are in search of unity in our party. It is believed that in the end, we will have a united, cohesive, peaceful and ready to go APGA party in Nigeria.
What has the committee achieved, so far?
We have made giant strides in that we were able to talk to stakeholders, both those who are happy and aggrieved and they are opening up.
As it is always said, a problem known is half solved. We have in our data base, a collection of issues, that are treatable, that are solvable, that we are solving and that we are going to solve so that we will have a one family APGA in the nearest future.
That is why we are in Lagos today to talk with our stakeholders who include Barrister Obinna Obiegwe, Martins Agbaso one of our leaders from Imo and his junior brother was the former deputy governor of Imo traditional heads and opinion leaders in Ibo land.
What was your meeting with Umeh like, given that he has also constituted a reconciliation committee?
It does not matter how many committees that are in place to bring about peace, what is important is the achiement of that objective which is a united APGA. I also did tell you that we met Sir Victor Umeh, the following day after our inauguration and that alone is a remarkable success. I want to also inform that we are very hopeful that everybody is willing to make concessions in the interest of our party, in the interest of democracy in Nigeria and in the interest of Igboland where APGA is very, very dominant. People see APGA as their religion in that part of the country and we are drumming this to their very consciousness and it is making sense to all the people we have spoken to.
What of the Imo State governor?
We will see the governor as soon as we successfully book appointment with him. You know, he is a very busy governor and the moment we track him down, we will talk with him. For now, we have not been able to track him down.
How did Umeh receive you and what did you discuss?
We discussed about peace.
How did he receive you?
We were well received. We were inaugurated on Monday (penul-timate week) and on Tuesday we were in his house at about 12 noon. He waited for us, he met with us and everybody saw the need for unity in the party and everybody saw the need to make concessions because as far as this committee is concerned, there is no way we can bring about peace and unity unless people are willing to concede one thing or another and that is what we have been telling them and I think they are going to abide by that.
But, in spite of receiving you, there are reports that he is standing his ground as the chairman of the party.
We were not expecting an automatic answer or concession from him. This committee will also bring other stakeholders who have interest in Igbo land, in democracy and democracy in Nigeria to prevail on them and already we have picked some people that will help us broker peace. But to the best of our knowledge, I think peace is near.
Now that the election is at hand, is this not a tough one?
I agree it is a tough one, but there are also legal and political solutions to political issues. Look at what is happening in PDP. The leader of the party asked certain people to resign and they have resigned in the overall interest of the party. If it becomes absolutely necessary, we will apply the same method in APGA to ensure that we move forward. So, we are not ruling out anything.
This committee is about truth and injustice. So, what truth has emerged and what injustice has been complained about?
The truth as so far catalogued are being put together. we will not reveal everything all at the same time. but the truth is that there is need for us to recognise that there is a leader in the party and that there is party leadership. So, if we are able to note and reckon with the fact that parties do not exist in a vacuum, that parties exist for purposes of electing political office holders whom we must respect, that peace is near.
So, who is that leader?
Our leader as agreed in the party is Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu. He remains our leader, it is agreed it is written and Governor Peter Obi remains our deputy national leader. We owe him allegiance whether as party chairmen or as political leaders in the party. We found also from Umeh that he assumed his position as the chairman by virtue of affirmation and that there was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress that elected the national delegates and he admitted that it was mere affirmation.
So, what is your fall back position, if all these efforts do not succeed?
As a political party duly registered by INEC and functioning as so, we have the capacity to resolve our crisis whatever it is and that is why you have this committee.
Most of the stakeholders are definitely talking so, the issue of plan B does not arise.
Some of your members are already holding talks with other parties
But so are other parties holding talks with us. As we talk to you, we have recorded 70% success in this assignment. I am talking to you factually.
So, who do the state chapters relate with?
Let me tell you, in most of the meetings I have attended, I saw them with Maxis Okwu, and for your information, if you check out the members of the NWC that were with Umeh, Umeh has only three of them.
Let me tell you that besides this committee, there is another reconciliation committee (constituted by Umeh) and the chairman of that committee is allegedly a member of APGA. He is from the same state with him (Imo Chairman) and he knows that he is not a member of APGA.
So, when you set up a structure outside the party because you have lost so much ground where you cannot agree with the BoT, you do not agree with the wife of our leader, you do not agree with the governor produced by the party, you do not agree with your deputy north, your deputy south, your national youth leader, your national women leader, and all these zonal vice chairmen and what you do is that you are alone and you are bringing people to answer APGA…
I was the candidate in Abia State, I know where I stand even as the chairman of this reconciliation committee and most of the stakeholders are here. So you can see where one man is almost becoming the forest and we are saying no to that. While we must tell the world the truth, we are still amenable to reconciliation, to peace anchored on this truth as revealed to you.Even from the leadership of that committee you can see the bent or slant of the leadership under Umeh. We are not indicting him because we are here to make peace and to make reconciliation but these are things that we must correct, if we must have a strong and purposeful party called APGA.
