‘APC must stop imposition of candidates’

 

Governor Rochas Okorocha

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has urged the party to stop the culture of imposition of candidates in order to move ahead of the competition.

Okorocha said this in his remarks at the 1st Progressive Governors-Legislative-Civil Society Roundtable in Abuja, on Monday.

The  roundtable  was tagged ‘Improving Governance through transparent budgeting, accountability and effective public financial management.’ The Imo State governor, who said he was aligning himself to comments made by a previous speaker, said the 2015 general election was for the APC to win or lose.

According to him, the outcome of the recent opinion polls conducted by APC’s foreign consultant is a true reflection of what is on ground, noting that for the APC to form the government in 2015, it must do things differently.

Okorocha said, “Our victory is in our hands, it is left for us to make it or mar it but I believe we can make it. I believe that this issue of imposition of candidates must stop in APC and that is the only way.

“The masses know us better, when they say this is the candidate that can win the election he is the candidate let there be liberal democracy.

“If we keep doing the same old things the same old way, we will get the very same results.”

Senator Olusola Adeyeye, at the forum, said when the APC formed the government at the federal level, it would reintroduce tolls along major highways to generate the required revenue to maintain the roads.

He explained that just as the government had responsibility to the people, the people equally had civic responsibilities to perform.

While making a case for true federalism, he said states must be allowed to develop at their pace.

“Why must the governor of the oil rich Rivers and the revenue rich Lagos, earn the same salary and allowances with the governors of Osun and Gombe?” he asked.

Adeyeye also explained that Nigerians must begin to take ownership of their country and government. This partnership, he explained, would ensure progress for the nation.

He said it was no longer the practice in most parts of the world to leave everything to the government alone because there were contending needs to be met, especially in the area of infrastructural development.