As Imo LGA election comes up, APC must elect strong candidates in 27 LGAs and 305 INEC wards. Not friends, not money bags, but popular grassroots winners. If APC picks wrong candidates now, it will suffer in general election. Read advice here.
APC IN IMO, LISTEN: THIS LGA ELECTION WILL DECIDE THE GENERAL ELECTION
As the Imo LGA election comes up, one question is on the lips of every APC member: Who will emerge in the 27 Local Governments and 305 INEC Wards?
This is not a small election. This is the foundation for the general election.
If APC gets it right now, APC will win big in the general election. If APC gets it wrong now, APC will be crying after the general election.
Imo Media Hub brings you this special analysis and advice to all APC members, leaders, delegates, and stakeholders across Imo State.
Why This LGA Election Is The Most Important In Imo
Many people think LGA election is small. They are wrong.
The Chairman you elect today becomes the political general in his LGA tomorrow. The Councillor you elect today becomes the foot soldier in his Ward tomorrow.
In the general election, it is these Chairmen and Councillors who will:
- Mobilize voters in their wards
- Protect APC votes at polling units
- Deliver their communities for Governor, Senate, House of Reps, and House of Assembly
- Stand with the party when opposition comes with money
If you elect a weak Chairman who cannot win his own ward, how will he deliver the LGA in general election? If you elect a Councillor who people hate in his village, how will he convince them to vote APC?
The LGA election is the rehearsal. The general election is the real match.
Advice To APC Members: How To Elect Strong Candidates
1. Pick Popular Candidates, Not Just Rich Candidates
APC, please stop selling tickets to the highest bidder.
Money can buy a form, but money cannot buy love from the people. If a man has money but his own village people say "we don't want him", he will fail.
The strongest candidate is the one market women know, youths respect, elders bless, and churches/mosques pray for. The one who has been helping people before election, not only during election.
Ask yourself: If election is tomorrow, can this person win his polling unit without sharing money?
If YES, he is your candidate. If NO, drop him now.
2. Pick Candidates Who Live With The People
APC needs candidates who sleep in the LGA, not candidates who live in Owerri, Abuja, or Lagos and only come home during election.
Your Chairman must know the roads, the schools, the markets, the youth problems in his LGA. Your Councillor must know every village in his Ward by name.
General election is won at the grassroots. You cannot win grassroots with an absentee landlord.
Pick the man or woman who is always there - at burials, weddings, church programmes, community meetings, youth football matches.
3. Pick Loyal Party Members, Not Decampees Looking For Shelter
This is election period. Many people will run to APC because they see APC is strong in Imo.
Be careful. Some are not coming to build APC. They are coming to use APC to get ticket, then abandon APC after.
APC must reward loyalty. Reward the men and women who stood with APC when it was hard. Who carried party flag when others were mocking. Who attended meetings when there was no money to share.
Do not push away your loyal soldiers to give ticket to a stranger who just arrived yesterday with a bag of money. That is how parties collapse.
4. Pick Youths And Women Who Can Mobilize
The general election will be decided by youths and women. They are the majority voters.
APC must give opportunities to vibrant youths in the 305 wards - youths who have followers on ground, not just on Facebook. And capable women who can mobilize market women, August Meeting women, and church women.
A Councillor who is 25 and loved by youths is more valuable than a 70-year-old who cannot walk around his ward.
Balance is key: Experience + Energy = Victory.
5. Pick Candidates With Clean Records
Imo people are wiser now. They Google candidates. They ask questions.
Do not give APC ticket to someone with a bad record of stealing community money, fighting everybody, or abusing power. Opposition will use it against the whole party in general election.
APC needs candidates that the community can proudly say: "This is our own, he is a good person."
Character is the new campaign.
What To Expect: Most Likely APC Candidates To Emerge In 27 LGAs
From our findings across Imo, the most likely candidates to emerge are not strangers. They will be:
- In Owerri Zone (9 LGAs): Loyal party leaders, former appointees, and grassroots mobilizers who have been with the Governor's structure and have strong ward structures in Owerri Municipal, Owerri North, Owerri West, Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Ngor-Okpala, Ezinihitte, Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise.
- In Orlu Zone (12 LGAs): Strong political heavyweights and trusted community leaders in Orlu, Orsu, Oru East, Oru West, Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema, Njaba, Nkwerre, Nwangele, Isu, Ideato North, Ideato South. Orlu zone will be hotly contested because it is the largest voting bloc.
- In Okigwe Zone (6 LGAs): Tested mobilizers and loyal stakeholders in Okigwe, Onuimo, Isiala Mbano, Ehime Mbano, Ihitte/Uboma, Obowo.
In the 305 INEC Wards, expect mostly young, loyal ward chairmen, youth leaders, and women leaders who have been doing the ground work to emerge as Councillors. The era of imposing unknown candidates from Owerri is over - ward people want their own.
But let it be clear: Final list will depend on APC consensus, primaries, and leadership decisions. No candidate should claim victory until the party officially announces.
A Warning To APC Leaders: Avoid Imposition
Imo APC leaders, we beg you: Do not impose unpopular candidates.
Imposition is the fastest way to kill a party. When you impose a candidate people hate, you push your own members to opposition. You create anger that will explode in general election.
Let the people choose. Let wards choose their Councillors. Let LGAs choose their Chairmen. If there must be consensus, let it be consensus of the people, not consensus of 3 men in a hotel room.
A candidate who emerges from the people will be defended by the people. A candidate who is imposed will be abandoned by the people.
What APC Must Do After LGA Election
Winning LGA election is not the end. It is the beginning.
1. Unite immediately: After primaries, all aspirants must come together. No bitterness. The party is bigger than any aspirant.
2. Start general election work now: The new Chairmen and Councillors should start mobilizing immediately, not wait till general election campaign.
3. Deliver dividends: Let people feel APC in their LGA - clean markets, good roads, youth empowerment, support for women.
4. Protect the structure: Keep the 305 ward structures active every week, not only during election.
Final Word To APC Members
My brothers and sisters in APC, the future of APC in Imo is in your hands today.
Do not elect a candidate because he is your friend. Elect him because he can win.
Do not elect a candidate because he gave you money today. Elect him because he will bring victory tomorrow.
Do not elect a candidate because he is from a big family. Elect him because the whole LGA loves him.
APC needs strong candidates to go into general election. Strong in character. Strong in grassroots. Strong in loyalty. Strong in popularity.
If APC picks strong candidates in the 27 LGAs and 305 wards, APC will win LGA election, and APC will win general election.
If APC picks weak candidates, APC will struggle.
The choice is yours.
Share this article to every APC member in Imo. Let them read and think wisely.
This analysis originally appeared on Imo Media Hub - www.imomediahub.org - Your No.1 Portal for Imo Politics and News.
