APC Records Success In Membership Registration… Surpasses Target

The membership registration exercise of the All Progressives Congress is a huge success from the records available.

The event which was to end on Monday was extended by two days as it drew a large turnout of Nigerians of different backgrounds who said they are tired of the way PDP is ruling them and are ready to try the APC.

The APC registration was described as peaceful in the nook and cranny of the country. It was very unique as it marked the first time in the political history of the country that a political party would formally go out to get the details of its members, nationwide, in a transparent manner.

It would be recalled that PDP had in the past attempted the registration of its members but it ended in fiasco. It is worthy of note that during the tenure of Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo as the chairman of PDP in 2010, he made an attempt to open up the membership through an online registration exercise, but he was frustrated by some powerful elements in the party.

Below are details from the concluded APC registration…

Two registration officials of the party, Donatus Omenyi and Moses Anyior were kidnapped in their houses at Nwekeisioffia and Umuezekoha communities in Ezza North of Ebonyi State. In Rivers State, one person was also reportedly shot dead after the angry PDP agents and their thugs tried to frustrate the exercise.

The exercise, however, took place successfully in most of the states.

In Rivers, Governor Rotimi Amaechi formally registered as a card-carrying member of APC. The Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum registered at his native home town of Ubima, in the Ikwerre LGA. He and his

wife, Dame Judith, arrived at the registration booth where an APC registration official on duty screened and registered them as members of the fast-growing party.

Addressing the press after the registration, Amaechi noted that APC is on a rescue mission in Rivers State and Nigeria. He accused PDP of having ruined the country for the number of years it had been in power, pledging that APC would deliver an alternative leadership that would promote speedy progress and create job opportunities for the people.

His words: “From what you can see, APC is the fastest-growing party in Africa. All these people you are seeing here were once members of PDP, today they joined me in formally moving to APC, and the reason for moving to APC is that we are on a rescue mission.”

In Ondo State, the exercise was described as a huge success, giving Labour Party leaders serious headache.

Chairman of the registration committee in the state and former deputy governor of Lagos State, Femi Pedro, stated that the exercise was successful beyond expectation. Pedro who commended the people of the state for their turnout during the exercise. He also noted that all materials for the registration was exhausted in less than 48 hours in all the 18 local government areas.

He said, “We visited all the local government areas across the three senatorial districts of the state and we noted that people trooped out in their numbers willing to be part of the moving train.”

The Cross River State chapter of APC targeted about 200,000 members across the 196 wards of the state.

This is as the party has announced its pleasure to register and receive into its fold, ex-Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Korea, Chief Akpang Obi-Odu as well as a business tycoon and owner of a famous transport firm, Eteyen Motors, Chief Eteyen Umanah.

And as was expected, both Obi-Odu and Umanah joined the party during the last membership registration as they registered in the respective polling units in the state.

State Chairman of the party’s Interim Harmonisation Committee, Alex Irek, disclosed this while speaking to media men in Calabar. He stressed that a huge number of the big fishes has indicated interest to defect to APC as soon as the party’s congresses are over.

In Kaduna, former deputy governor, James Bawa Magaji, registered as a member of APC in Fadan Kaje ward, Zangon Kataf LGA. Speaking shortly after his registration, Magaji predicted that the ruling PDP in the state would become an opposition in 2015.

In Bauchi State, Secretary of the party, Danjuma Dabo, disclosed that the registration was successful. He said the turnout was wonderful because, in some areas, the membership cards were exhausted in the first two days of the exercise.

Similarly, there was a large turnout of members for the exercise in Kwara. Registration supervisor for Mogaji Area Ward 2, Maraba-Ilorin, said the turnout of members was impressive.

“To my surprise, women came out in large numbers to register because their population outnumbered that of men,” he said.

Surprisingly, in Zamfara, more than 112,500 people in Bungudu West Constituency registered. A member representing the constituency in the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Mansur Bungudu, said the community had 125 polling units, and each of the units had more than 1,000 persons.

In Kano, no fewer than 1.5 million people were registered a few days after the exercise started according to the Chairman of the Registration Supervisory Committee in the state, Dr Mustapha Inuwa. It was however gathered that the party registered more than two million people in view of the large turnout of members.

In Katsina, the party had to request for additional 100,000 membership cards from the headquarters to enable more party members to register. The state’s party Interim Management Committee Chairman, Alhaji Ahmad Dangiwa, said in Katsina that 500, 000 cards allocated to the state were exhausted before the exercise ended.

APC in Plateau State disclosed that it had no fewer than two million names in its membership register after the exercise. State Acting Organising Secretary, Alhaji Jamilu Baba, said the exercise went on smoothly.

But the PDP, threatened by the millions of Nigerians that have registered for APC, have been complaining to through the media, saying APC forced people to register in some areas.

In its reaction, the party said they can’t understand why PDP is already scared when election is months away. APC said Nigerians will know the truth when those who registered come out to cast their votes in 2015.

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