At 66, APGA Chairman, Oye, Says ‘I Feel Like 30-Years-Old’

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Victor Ike Oye, has said the level of contentment and zeal he exudes could be likened to that of a 30-year-old man.

He said that the party has also shown a remarkable reawakening under his regime  and has grown in leaps and bounds.

Oye, who spoke to THISDAY  at a brief ceremony organised by some party chieftains, members of the NWC and political associates to mark his 66 years birthday  at the weekend in Abuja, said his 41 years adventure in politics have been  turbulent but eventful.

“I feel gratified for the life God has given me. I feel on top of world because it is not easy to make it to 66 years, especially in a perilous nation like ours. I thank all our supporters and  our friends for standing by us. The journey has been very turbulent but God has been of immense help and support to us.

“So at 66 I feel very happy, I feel like a 30-year-old man. That is how I feel inside and outside and I continue to thank God for His mercies and love,” he said.

Oye said his journey in politics has been quite energy sapping and turbulent but that he has been able to touch people’s lives in some positive ways.

“I give God all the glory. It has been a great journey and through my instrumentality God has some people who they are today, some are governors, deputy governors, senators members of the House Representatives and State Assembly, some are councilors and Local council Chairman,” he said.

When asked to highlight the milestone recorded by APGA since his leadership, Oye said the party has been able to make in-roads into areas that people thought were almost impossible to penetrate.

Oye was also taken to task over the frequent leadership tussle being witnessed in his party.

He said there is stability and peace in the party.

“Forget what the detractors are doing. There has been relative peace in the party. All the people that has been fighting to unseat us are all impostors and intruders. They are not members of our party. I have never seen a thing like that, when somebody who does not belong to a political party is fighting to take over that political party,” he said.

Oye referred to a Supreme Court judgement, of May 14, 2021, which he said put paid to all contentions about the legitimacy of his national chairmanship of APGA.

A member of the NWC and the National Legal Adviser of APGA, Chief Sly Ezeokenwa, who spoke on behalf others extolled the qualities of the national chairman, describing him as a father to all.

He said that Oye has imparted positively to many peoples’ lives, especially their political career. According to Ezeokenwa, the earlier plan was to host the birthday event in a big way at Awka, where the party will celebrate Oye with many party faithful in attendance but it was scaled down on the advice of the national chairman who felt that it would be out of place at this stage of the take-off of the current APGA government in Anambra state.

He said the party will remain eternally grateful to the chairman for the dogged fight he put up to over challenge posed detractors of the party during the process leading to the emergency of Governor Chukwuma Soludo as the Anambra state Governor. Speaking in the same vein, a chieftain of APGA, Chief Emeka Okonkwo said that Oye is a very astute politician who is always ready to put his best in any project he is involved in. He said that in terms of commitment to goal of the party, Oye’s zeal is unequalled.

Also, the Head of Finance at APGA, St. Joe showered encomium on their boss whom he described as honest and highly detribalised.