By Mazi Ejimofor Opara
For over two decades, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has been both a symbol of South-East identity and a victim of its own contradictions. It has survived, but survival is not growth. Yesterday’s South-East Zonal Stakeholders’ Conference — the first of its kind in 20 years — suggests the party is finally ready to confront that truth.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo did not mince words. His attack on “trade by barter” politics was an indictment of a culture where APGA is rented out every election cycle as a convenient platform for political nomads. His remedy is blunt: kill the “gift-ticket” era. If loyalty is not rewarded and tickets remain commodities, then APGA will never be more than a regional holding company for personal ambition.
The reforms he champions are not cosmetic. Digitizing the membership register in 2024 was a quiet revolution. For the first time, every card-carrying member can vote and be voted for. The adoption of Option A-4 for primaries is another break from the opaque delegate systems that breed godfatherism. These are tools for sunlight, and sunlight is what APGA has lacked.
National Chairman Sly Ezeokenwa’s new rules go further. Separating Expression of Interest from Nomination Forms introduces a filter for quality. Forcing party executives to resign before campaigning for aspirants enforces neutrality. These are the unglamorous mechanics of a real party, not a trading floor.
Soludo’s proposal to return to a dues-paying model may sound archaic, but it is honest. Parties funded by members answer to members. Parties funded by contractors answer to contracts. APGA’s stunted national growth can be traced directly to its addiction to the latter.
Rev. Augustine Ehiemere was right to call APGA the “beautiful bride” of Nigerian politics. But brides don’t stay beautiful by standing still. The party’s growth has been concentrated, its reach limited, its potential wasted by mercenary politics.
The question now is will. Can APGA enforce its own rules? Can it tell a money-bag aspirant “no” and survive the backlash? Can it convince ordinary members that dues are not extortion but ownership?
If the answer is yes, then a new APGA is truly in the offing — not as a slogan, but as a disciplined, transparent movement. If the answer is no, then this conference will be remembered as another eloquent communique, filed and forgotten.
The choice, as always, belongs to the party.
Mazi Ejimofor Opara is the National Publicity Secretary of APGA.
