The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it would not shy away from poaching members from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state as it intensifies efforts to increase its membership strength.
The Abia APC specifically said that the party was targeting upwards of registering a million members in the ongoing party registration and revalidation exercise hence the need to cast their nets even in PDP waters.
The one million membership target was set at a meeting of over 1,000 stakeholders held at the country home of a senior party chieftain and former governorship candidate, Chief Ikechi Emenike in his Okpuala Umukabia country home, Umuahia North local government.
The stakeholders drawn from all the wards and local governments in Abia stated they would take the membership mobilisation drive to the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in Abia.
Chief Emenike, who is leading the mobilisation efforts, told the stakeholders that the one million membership target was not a tall order given that Abia had estimated population of over five million.
He said the stakeholders that they needed to proudly market the ruling APC as it had already recorded resounding achievements in every area, including unprecedented infrastructural development of the South-east geopolitical zone.
“This is the time you have to mobilise everybody, even your enemies to register and join the progressive family of APC,” he said, adding “we’re here to encourage people to register in order to shore up the party’s membership strength.
The development economist and publisher, who has over the years remained a die-hard loyalist of President Muhammadu Buhari, noted that he was leading the “original Buhari people” in Abia, adding that they would do everything possible to grow the APC in God’s Own State.
Emenike stated that the major opposition party in Abia has continued to wax strong and is in pole vault to take control of Abia State “peacefully and overwhelmingly” come 2023, adding that it was a divine project that would be accomplished.
He therefore urged the stakeholders to go back to their various wards and local governments and draw new members into the party, including members of rival parties and young persons that have attained the age of 18.
“If we register impressive number of members PDP would start packing out of Abia Government House before 2023,” he said.
The chairman of the APC registration and revalidation committee for Abia, Ambassador Bala Mairiga led the team to give words of encouragements to the party stakeholders.
He said that the registration and revalidation exercise was necessary to further grow the party’s membership strength having become “the biggest party in Africa”.
“We encourage everybody to register, man or woman, even PDP members who want to come over,” he said, adding that he remained hopeful that at the end of the exercise Abia would record the highest number of APC members.
Mairiga insisted that “we want to flush PDP out of Abia and install APC in 2023 election,” adding that all Abia APC members should regard it as a task that must be done with unity of purpose.