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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to make a costly political mistake in the Southeast — a mistake born of arrogance, ignorance, and internal corruption. The party’s greatest undoing is its persistent habit of anointing failed, unpopular, and communally rejected individuals as flag bearers through shady, undemocratic, and morally questionable primary elections. What should ordinarily be a transparent contest of ideas and merit has turned into a festival of deceit, where the most corrupt and money-laden aspirant triumphs over the will of the people.
Across the Southeast, APC’s primaries often resemble gladiatorial bouts — brutal contests where integrity is mocked and competence is silenced. A conclave of aged political dagga boys and power brokers act as if they are priests of some dark cult, selecting the devil’s choice while ignoring the cries of the people. The outcome is predictable: candidates emerge through fraud, bribery, and manipulation, only to be rejected wholesale by the electorate. These so-called standard bearers, having lost the moral license to lead, are doomed before the campaign even begins.
Worse still, these candidates often pursue politics not as service but as a business transaction. Some see elections as an avenue to cash in on party donations and campaign funds. Others aim to rig themselves into office, only to rule with arrogance, ignorance, and kleptomania. When rigging fails, they rely on the courts to pervert justice and impose them upon the people — a grotesque dance of impunity that further erodes public trust. In some cases, even after losing scandalously, these same failed politicians are compensated with federal appointments, despite glaring moral stains and questionable credentials. This cycle of reward for failure has cemented APC’s negative reputation in the Southeast as a den of opportunists, forgers, and political scavengers.
The situation in Abia State today sadly reflects this same pattern. Without mentioning names, the kind of characters the party is assembling in its desperate bid to unseat a visible performer like Governor Alex Otti is deeply unfortunate. Instead of presenting bright, reform-minded professionals capable of matching Otti’s discipline, fiscal transparency, and public trust, the APC seems once again poised to recycle men of broken reputation — individuals known more for their greed, arrogance, and dark history than for any tangible record of service. How can a party that claims to desire change build its foundation on the very characters who symbolize everything Nigerians want to leave behind? This misjudgment alone is enough to sink the party’s prospects long before the first ballot is cast.
Politics, to the Igbo man, is not a license for plunder; it is a solemn calling to uplift the collective. The Igbo political spirit values excellence, integrity, and fairness — the true meaning of onye aghala nwanne ya. Leadership must spring from capacity, not criminality; from merit, not manipulation. Yet APC’s pattern of selection continues to insult the collective intelligence of the region, turning noble politics into an art of deception.
If the APC genuinely intends to gain relevance in the Southeast, it must first reform itself from within. The party must cleanse its nomination system, abolish the “cash-and-carry” culture, and embrace a merit-based internal democracy. It must develop structures that produce thinkers, builders, and reformers — not merchants of deceit.
One critical step would be the creation of an Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies dedicated to grooming future leaders. This institute should screen, train, and certify aspirants for elective offices and national appointments. Just like the American Democratic and Republican parties, APC must begin to build a tradition of intellectual and ethical preparation for leadership. Such a structure would vet both character and competence long before the electoral season begins.
Had such mechanisms been in place, the ongoing embarrassment of the party in the current Anambra State gubernatorial race would never have happened. The candidate parading the APC banner in Anambra is a classic product of a broken system — a walking metaphor for the party’s failure to think strategically. Now the APC has become a subject of mockery across the state, with no credible message or messenger.
As the November 8th election approaches, the people have made their decision clear. We will again vote for Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, not because perfection resides with him, but because he symbolizes intellect, planning, and people-oriented governance — the very values APC keeps rejecting.
The party must reform or perish. It must transform from looters to reformers, from opportunists to visionaries. Otherwise, the Southeast will continue to treat the APC as a political leper — tolerated but never embraced.
And like President Donald Trump would say, “Thank you for your attention to this matter.” But this, unlike Trump’s theatrics, is a sober reminder: the Southeast is watching, and history is taking notes.
THE MISTAKE AND FALLACY OF APC IN THE SOUTHEAST: A CALL FOR POLITICAL REDEMPTION By Barrister Joseph Obinna Aguiyi
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