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Anambra 2013: One Election, Many Troubles by Hblaise(m): 1:22am On Aug 19, 2013 |
Symphonies of discord are the lots of governorship aspirants in virtually all the political parties that will contest the governorship election in Anambra State in November, this year. This factor appears to be making the state the hottest political bed in Nigeria at the moment, write Idowu Samuel and Sylvanus Eze. Anambra has always proved a hard nut in any electoral contest in Nigeria. This tendency is currently being exhibited as the state matches towards another governorship election scheduled to hold in November 16 this year. Three parties, namely the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are to slug it out for the governorship seat. Nonetheless, less than two months to the governorship election, none of the rival parties can stand out with near perfect plans to address the confusions that have been trailing their parade of numerous aspirants for same election. With this manner of politics, Anambra has been an exhibit of an extreme brand of republicanism which the entire South-East Nigeria has been known for since ages. Lack of cohesion and consensus building in leadership selection from time immemorial have been undermining the chances of the zone on election matters. It is believed that an average Igbo political office seeker believes he is independent and strong enough to stand alone in an election, while he is never inclined towards yielding the ground for the other aspirant, no matter the opponents strength. Even though Anambra is a test case for all the contending parties, being the ground for gauging the strength of each of them on the larger political battles in 2015, no one can place the fate of each party against the backdrop the long list of aspirants for the November governorship race. Compounding the problem is the preparedness by each of the aspirants to match the other money for money, connection for connection, intrigue for intrigue and treachery for treachery. APGA, being the ruling party in Anambra, commands an instant attention in the governorship contest. Yet, the party appears rooted in crisis the moment it disqualified five of its governorship aspirants, top of who were Professor Charles Soludo. The reason offered by APGA for disqualifying Soludo and others was that they all failed to prove their financial capabilities beyond doubt. That excuse has indicated that money is the yardstick APGA depends on to determine who gets the ticket to contest elections on its platform. Others excluded from the APGA primaries included Mr. Emmanuel Nweke, Ogbuefi Tony Nnaechetta, Mr Chinedu Francis Idigo, Dr. Chike Obidigbo and Mr. Oseloka Obaze. With the turn of event, the long list of aspirants in APGA has been pruned to seven, including, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwogbo, Mr Paul Odenigbo, Lillian Ekwunife, Chief Willie Obiano, Mr John Nwosu, Mr. John Emeka, and Nwachi Obianwu. The prospect of a fair contest of APGA primaries in Anambra still remains elusive as expected. The reason is based on allegations that the badly factionalised party was working in concert with the state governor, Mr Peter Obi, to anoint an aspirant at the expense of others, a possibility likely to create an incendiary effect among party members. The story is not different, if not worse with PDP. Granted that the party would be holding its state congress by August 24 to elect a candidate for the election, the list of aspirants has continued to lengthen by the day. Aspirants so far cleared by the national headquarters of the party include Chief Obinna Uzoh, Mike Okoye, Akachukwu Nwankpo, Ugochukwu Okeke, Josephine Anenih, Emmanuel Anosike, Senator Andy Ubah, and Honourable Jerry Ugokwe. Others are: Nicholas Ukachukwu, Tony Nwoye, Patrick Ogbomo, Kramer Ifunanyachukwu, Alex Obiogbolu, Charles Odunukwe, and Walter Okeke. The PDP is not operating like one family towards the election. The party is factionalised with two factional chairmen, Chief Ejike Oguebego recognised by the PDP National Secretariat and Chief Emeakayi, who also claimed to have the support of the national secretariat struggling for the soul of PDP in Anambra. Notwithstanding the discordant tunes emanating from the party’s ranks owing to the problem of factionalisation, the aspirants are battling with vague chances, while each of them is believed to be contributing to the seemingly intractable crisis in the party. The crisis in Anambra PDP is even making the national headquarters to be helpless. More that twice, the national chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, held meetings with all governorship aspirants from Anambra. The resolutions at the meetings were anchored on necessity for a level playing field for all. The aspirants called for transparency in the conduct of the election with a request that PDP should set its rules for the primaries straight. With the agreements sealed notwithstanding, the coming PDP primaries are not expected to hold with maximum cooperation from all parties. From indications, the APC which appears like a starter in the Anambra scheduled governorship election has its own pressures too. While APC is still battling to gain a strong foot hold in the state ahead of the election, the number of aspirants seeking its ticket to contest in the overall election has been on the increase. Although seven contestants had been identified so far, those in strong contention are the former governor of the state, now a Senator, Dr Chris Ngige, and Chief Godwin Ezeemo. Members in APC believe that the contest may be limited to the two given their experiences, grassroot support and the wealth they command. Ngige is said to depend on experience and the structures he had laid since his days as the governor of Anambra. He could not have been a pushover, being a serving Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial zone, while the popularity he has been commanding in the state remains his source of strength. On the other hand, Chief Ezeemo is reputably a money bag known for philanthropy. That the people of Anambra see him as one of the highest employer of labour in the state makes his case very instructive. He has been funding a charity trust that has spanned over 10 years with a lot of beneficiaries, including widows, students, physically challenged and orphans. APGA is still factionalised, while its inability to address the case of litigation on the status of each faction is a veritable problem that the party will carry as a cross towards the election. It remains to be seen whether the governor who is a main pillar of support for APGA would be able to deploy his power of incumbency as it were, to aid the party to win the election in the state. From now till November, all eyes would be in Anambra in anticipation that a free and fair conduct of the election would up the great expectations of Nigerians on the coming 2015 elections. In that case, Anambra faces a great challenge creating avenues for Nigerians to see it differently, this time around.
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