As the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State draws close, EMMANUEL OBE X-rays the situation in the state
It has been shocks and upsets since the Independent National Electoral Commission released the list of candidates for the November 16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra State.
Currently, the camp of Mr. Tony Nwoye is still dazed by the list which omitted his name and featured Mr. Nicholas Ukachukwu as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate
Before the list was published on Tuesday, Nwoye, a former National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students was the official candidate of the PDP for the election. Few days ago, Nwoye returned to Anambra from Abuja with the news that the PDP had confirmed him as candidate. He returned to Awka to commence his campaign with a roadshow.
But all that changed on Tuesday when the INEC published the list of candidates. The commission presented Mr. Nicholas Ukachukwu as the candidate for PDP. Ukachukwu had, a few days earlier, secured a high court order, which compelled INEC and PDP to adopt him as the candidate.
Nwoye had earlier defeated Ukachukwu in a primary election conducted by the national working committee of the party on August 30 in Awka.
Commenting on the list, the Chairman of the Tony Nwoye Campaign Organisation, Mr. Osita Ezenwa, called for calm, admitting that the INEC announcement had thrown the party and the campaign organisation off balance.
“Within a short time, all these things will come to an end. We are not panicking. The only thing we are regretting is that it will disturb our time in prosecuting our campaign because the period is short,” Ezenwa told reporters in Awka.
Before the release of the list of candidates, INEC had been variously ordered by courts to field, as PDP candidate, Senator Andy Uba of the Ekije Oguebego-led faction and Mr. Tony Nwoye of the Ken Emeakayi-led faction. Ukachukwu, who lost to Nwoye in the primaries conducted for the Emeakayi’s faction of the party, had also secured a court order compelling INEC to recognise him (Ukachukwu).
INEC stated that Ukachukwu’s candidature was based on a court order
Curiously, controversy has dogged the PDP governorship primaries since 1998 when it presented, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju as its candidate for the January 9, 1999 governorship election.
Like it happened in 2003, 2007 and 2010, the failure of the PDP to amicably resolve the intrigues surrounding its candidate for the election may cost it victory in the November 16 election.
Away from the PDP, controversies about the primaries of the three other major parties in the state seems to have been laid to rest with the release of the INEC list.
At the All Progressives Grand Alliance, where two candidates had emerged after the primaries, the INEC announcement has not caused any furore. The Maxi Okwu-led faction of the party has not reacted to the listing of Mr. Willie Obiano as the candidate of the party.
Obiano was elected by the Victor Umeh-led faction of the party, while the Okwu faction produced Dr. Chike Obidigbo as its candidate. Okwu had backed his faction’s choice of Obidigbo with a court order that compelled INEC to list Obidigbo as APGA’s candidate. But that order was vacated after two weeks, clearing the way for Obiano.
The controversy around the candidature of Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah of the Labour Party has also died down as Mr. Peter Nwosu, who emerged from another faction of the party, has stopped raising issues with Ubah. With the endorsement by INEC and the Dan Nwanyanwu national leadership of the party, the coast seems clear for the oil magnate to run the governorship race.
With the defection of Mr. Godwin Ezeemo from the All Progressives Congress to become the candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance, Senator Chris Ngige has become the undisputed candidate of the APC.
The INEC list features Dr. Ifeatu Ekelem (Advanced Congess of Democrats); Mr. Chijioke Ndubuisi (Democratic Peoples Party); Aaron Igweze (Alliance for Democracy); Willie Obiano (APGA); Dr. Chris Ngige (APC); Godwin Ezeemo (PPA); Ifeanyi Ubah (Labour Party); Basil Iwuoba (PPN); Anthony Anene (ACPN); Anayo Arinze (ADC); Patrick Ibeziako (APA); Dennis Oguguo (Kowa Party); Austin Nwangwu (CPP); Christian Otti (ID); Simon Okafor (MPPP); Leonard Uchendu (NNPP); Onuorah Onyeochonam (SDP); Godson Okoye (UDP); and Akanegbu Ogochukwu (UPP).
Of all the 23 parties, only four of the parties look good for a good fight.
The PDP has the largest following in the state; and its members and leaders who have been left out in the cold since 2003 when they lost the election to APGA, are eager to see the party return to Government House.
But the party’s greatest challenge is its inability to resolve the crisis within its ranks since 2003. And this has cost it huge electoral fortunes. It does not appear that the party, which featured former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo, in 2010 has put its house in order. And it could just pay for it once more.
The PDP has become so fragmented that its leaders have become political mercenaries, who work for opposing parties. It happened in 2010; and the signals are clear that it may happen again on November 16.
The PDP candidate, Ukachukwu, apart from the fact that he would be contesting against the wish of his party, comes from Anambra South, which had produced the past three governors of the state at a time a number of people are calling for a shift of power to Anambra North. An opponent of the Ubas, Ukachukwu will be having an uphill task even winning his senatorial zone.
The popularity of Ngige of the APC is a strong factor that may work in favour of the party. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State only last Tuesday vowed to relocate to Anambra to prosecute the election for APC, a boost that APC needs to win more votes, especially from people who believe that APC under Ngige had been tight-fisted.
Two factors could stand in the way of Ngige. He is from Anambra Central, which has produced two governors. Besides, Ngige lost quite a lot of his loyalists to Ezeemo, who moved over to PPA.
Labour Party is built around Ifeanyi Ubah, who many believe will be depending on his huge possession of cash to prosecute the election. So far, he has been visible with the caravans of trucks and kerosene tankers he goes about with to campaign.
The initial wide patronage he enjoyed from the political class has diminished as new candidates entered the arena. He has also been reported to have held back on cash disbursement after many people that worked with him, helped themselves without reaching out to the masses.
Being from Anambra South, he has a task to win over voters from Anambra North. In addition, Labour Party has no structures to rely on for the election.
APGA appears to be the party that has an edge. The party has gradually, over the years, been consolidating on its hold on the state and has won most of the elections in the state since 2003.
The incumbent, Governor Peter Obi, has taken the election as a personal battle, which he must win to remain relevant in the politics of the state. Luckily for the party, the crisis between Obi and the National Chairman of APGA, Victor Umeh, which nearly tore the party apart was resolved before the party’s candidate, Willie Obiano, was elected.
Apart from the incumbency factor, another factor that may favour Obiano is the fact that he comes from Anambra North, which has yet to produce a governor for the state.
If eventually, the people of the Anambra North Senatorial Zone get convinced that PDP may never indeed feature their son, Tony Nwoye, the sentiments of the PDP supporters in the zone might sway in favour of Obiano.
Though the tempo so far has not been high, it is expected that if the ban on campaigns is lifted in October, the contest will begin in earnest
Punch
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