Former minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili will this morning commence a visit to the seven local governments that make up Anambra Central Senatorial District apparently to intimate them of her senatorial ambition.

Akunyili, according to one of her media aides, Mr. Julius Ogunro would first pay a courtesy call on the Governor, Mr. Peter Obi at the Government House, Awka, as the leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state before proceeding to the council areas.

The former image maker of the nation resigned her appointment last week and immediately purchased APGA form for the senatorial contest. Her entrance into the contest has set the entire zone on fire as many who thought it would be smooth ride for them have started running around, while life has returned to the contest in the area.

The incumbent Senator, Chief Annie Okonkwo, has called the bluff of Akunyili’s entrance, saying she was not a threat to him and his second term ambition. He had said, “I am not threatened; she is not even a match to me. Where would she get the structure? Can she win up to two of the seven local government areas that make the zone? What pedigree does she have?

“We are talking about grass-roots politics. We are talking about those on the ground. That she is a minister does not mean she is electable. All the same, our people will decide and we shall compare what she has done for the people as minister and what I have done before I became a senator and now as a senator. There is nothing to fear and I think she is only trying to test the political waters.”

For former member representing Aniocha, Dunukofia, Njikoka Federal Constituency, George Ozodinobi who was as good as becoming APGA candidate in the zone before Akunyili’s entrance, the former minister was only coming to reap from where she did not sow.

He said: “I still see it as very laughable because it is surprising that the mouthpiece of a government at this critical point is quitting that government to contest in another party. The issue of intimidation does not come in. She cannot intimidate me. In terms of political influence, I’m far above her. In terms of the party she’s just joining, I’m far above her.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/dec/20/national-20-12-2010-010.htm