Sir Stanley Amuchie, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Imo State, has urged his supporters to remain calm as steps are being taken to resolve the crisis which engulfed the party as a result of the gubernatorial primary election.
In a statement he issued and personally signed on Saturday, Amuchie said he understood the pain and anger of his teeming supporters having worked very hard collectively towards victory at the primary election.
The full statement reads:
“It has been a week since the fate of our movement to enthrone a new Imo State anchored on good governance has been hanging in the balance owing to the crisis surrounding the governorship ticket of our great party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the 2019 election.
“You have been calling, asking questions, seeking answers, wanting to know what happened, wanting to have explanation for this seeming impasse.
“I feel your pulse, I feel your pain, I feel your anxiety. Your anger is understandable.
“It is understandable because we talked, we discussed and you believed in the message and keyed into the vision, the promise of hope that working and walking together we would build a new Imo State, restore our people’s faith in governance and recover from the years eaten by the locust.
“I can relate to your anger and your frustration because together we laboured under the sun; together we were beaten by rain as we planned our campaign and honed our strategies.
“But today I say be calm, be steadfast and be hopeful. Hope is not lost as we try to resolve the impasse in our great party with regard to the governorship ticket of our party.
“Our campaign has been premised on key areas of agriculture, industrialisation and healthcare with emphasis also on education and security. These are sectors that if properly harnessed can act as catalyst to the economic emancipation of our people and our state.
“From the outset this campaign has never been about me. It has been about giving hope to our people, who have suffered unduly from poor leadership and abysmal governance.
“It has been about restoring the dignity of our people, about making sure that the land bequeathed to us by our forebears is not left for pillaging and desecration by political merchants and brigands.
“When I move round Imo State, I see a state where despair has become second nature; where hunger has reduced the humanity of it’s people; where our young ones, who are seen as the leaders of tomorrow and through no fault of theirs, grope about in helplessness and hopelessness; where traditional rulers, our once revered royal fathers are not given the honour and dignity they deserve.
“When I move round Owerri, our state capital, I see a city that was once declared the cleanest state capital in the country, is now actually the dirtiest.
“But it doesn’t have to be so. We have to take a critical look at our situation in order to know where the rain began to beat us. That way we will be able to chart a course that  will take Imo State to the level we all desire
“I go around Imo State and I see that those in authority in our state appear not to give a thought about the welfare of the people. For instance our senior citizens who gave the state their best in their youthful years are not being taken care of. Pensioners are owed arrears for up  to one year and no one loses sleep over how these elderly men and women survive. I see many of my father’s contemporaries in the civil service dying out of neglect. If my father has children who take care of him what about  others who are not so  lucky? They are left to suffer and not a few die from ailments that easily could have been taken care of if there was a support system in place.
“These are the considerations that led us into this journey. It is a journey of hope and of promise. We are together in this journey and with God on our side we shall overcome and all our efforts will come to fruition by the grace of God.
“Ours is a mandate that is divine, built on God and anchored on His promise of emancipation for His people of Imo State.
“We are working very hard and making necessary efforts to ensure that we resolve the issues that have led to this ugly situation and claim our ticket, a ticket that will bring joy, peace, development and progress to Imo State.
“We must understand that no good thing comes easy. It is also said that in order to get gold one must dig deeply for it. The ticket we seek and for which we have worked very hard, is worth more than gold because on it lies the key to opening a vista of opportunities for our people and unlocking the potentials of our youth in a way that will positively harness their creative energy for the greater glory of our dear state.
“For this we will not relent, we will not get tired and we will not go to slumber until victory becomes ours.
“It is on this premise that I urge you again to be calm, be courageous and hold onto this promise of hope as we begin to resolve the issues around the gubernatorial ticket of our party for the 2019 election in Imo State.”
Sir Stanley Amuchie,
Governorship Aspirant,
APGA, Imo State.
