Bianca warns Apga that it will suffer the consequences of its skewed primaries saying mercenaries have taken over

BIANCA Ojukwu has warned the All Progressives Grand Alliance (Apga) that it will suffer for not selecting her as its candidate for Anambra South Senatorial District as the electorate will react to its primaries which were skewed against her and other founding party members.

High profile and widely respected, Bianca, the widow of Apga founder Chief Emeka Ojukwu and who was once Miss Nigeria and has served as Nigeria's ambassador to both Spain and Ghana, lost out on selection for the seat earlier this month. At the primary elections which held at the Ekwulobia township stadium in Aguata, Bianca was beaten by Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, polling 177 votes to Prince Ukachukwu’s 211.

Since she announced her decision to run, there had been objections to Bianca's candidacy, including from Ojukwu's children have opposed the plan saying it would not be proper to allow a woman from Ngwo, in Enugu State, to represent Anambra South Senatorial District. Still apparently upset by the outcome of the primary, Bianca alleged that Apga had been hijacked by those she described as mercenaries.

Describing the primary exercise as horrible, Bianca, however, appealed to Apga members not to quit the party, saying that was not the solution to the problem. On the day of the elections, there was a heavy shooting at the venue of the primaries, which disrupted proceedings for a while before order was restored.

Bianca said: “As a member of this party’s board of trustees, I am deeply concerned that mercenaries would appear to have hijacked the operations of our party machinery. Apga is today facing an existential threat and the overall image of our party is in tatters.

“This will certainly have serious repercussions going into the main elections. I would like to use this opportunity to reach out to all aggrieved members and aspirants who, like myself, have suffered grave injustices under a system which had an abiding responsibility to its members to create an enabling electoral environment.”