₦airaland Forum

Time to bring this thread back. . .

Let it be known that I said it first. . .

When did a fisherman become my kinsmen?

Nigeria Politics: The Contention of the South-East

The Contention of the South-East - As the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP grapples with which zone produces presiding officers of the Seventh National Assembly, the tradition of numbers as a universal political principle may be threatened by intrigues and high-wire politics . Like other political parties, the PDP had always allocated positions according to the political strength of each zone. Between 1999 and 2003, two members of the House of Representatives, Reps Salisu Buhari and Ghali Umar Na'Abba, were Speakers.

They were speakers because Kano, a PDP state then, with 44 Local Governments, represented the biggest block of votes for the party, apart from other states in the Northwest zone that went the PDP way.

In 2003, the North-West retained the slot after the party repeated a 'Tsunami' feat and capped it with last-minute defections of some ANPP Governors to the ruling party.

But in 2007, for the first time in eight years, the slot swung to the South-West, after the PDP zoned the Presidency to the North-West. Aside producing many NASS members, the PDP had five of the six governorship seats in the South-West.

Now, the party has been practically swept out of the South-West by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but some PDP leaders, who are of the view that the game of numbers should be replaced by the 'stability' factor, want the Speaker slot to remain in the South-West.

However, members of the South-East Caucus in the National Assembly, who have insisted that they must produce nothing short of the Senate Presidency or the Speakership of the Green Chamber, argued t retaining the speakership in the South-west did not hold water given the outcome of the 2011 polls.

A press statement jointly signed by members of the caucus, that is chaired by Chief Whip, Emeka Ihedioha, decried a perceived marginalisation of the area for some time, despite the zone's faith in the PDP.

The caucus argued that retaining the slot in an area that was swept by the ACN at the April polls was not justifiable.

Now, the South-west has only three members of the PDP in the House, namely Reps. Mulikat Adeola, Muraina Ajibola and Kamil Akinlabi, all from Oyo State.

Both Adeola and Ajibola (all Moslems) are said to be favoured by different camps of PDP party stalwarts or the party's Board of Trustees (BOT).

Said the South-East caucus: "In recent times, the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria has suffered many serious political setbacks. Some of these have been self-inflicted while others have been imposed. In the April 2011 presidential elections, in demonstration of absolute good faith, the South East wholeheartedly and unconditionally backed the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR.

This followed the bloc votes given to him by the zone at the PDP primaries resulting in his emergence as the party flagbearer. This was despite the numerous tempting offers from our brothers from other geopolitical zones in the Northern part of the country."

The caucus stressed that from the overwhelming support the zone had given the party at all levels, it would be justifiable if the position of Speaker or Senate President was given to the area.

It said: "The position of the South-East that it would not run for the office of the President or Vice President, no doubt compelled both the ACN and the CPC Presidential candidates, to pick their running mates from the South West. The results of the just concluded general elections show that the PDP in the South-East received over 85 per cent support in the National Assembly elections, and about 97 per cent support in the presidential election. The total votes of 5.1 million represent almost a quarter of the total valid votes received by President Jonathan in the presidential election.

"From the above figures, it is crystal clear that in the 2011 General Elections, the PDP did very well in the South-East Zone. This position is in line with the voting pattern started in 1999, representing PDP dominance in the South-East. It is therefore incomprehensible that over 85 per cent South-East support for PDP in the National Assembly elections will be sacrificed for any reason whatsoever.

"It is pertinent to mention here that under the present circumstances only the position of Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives is acceptable to the South East. It is a gratuitous insult to offer the South East any position less than this. The argument about religious balancing is not tenable, historically.

The Caucus went memory lane on how the zone had always supported the ruling party and why they deserve the slot now.

"We may recall that in the Second Republic, while the President (Shehu Shagari) was a Muslim, the Vice President, Senate President and Speaker were all Christians. Hell was not let loose. During the 1993 presidential elections, the South-East put its weight behind the SDP's Abiola/Kingibe candidature - a Muslim Muslim ticket," it recalled.

On arguments that both presiding officers could not be from the same religion, the caucus referred to the case of former Speaker Particia Etteh (before she was replaced by Dimeji Bankole) and Senate President David Mark, who were both Christians.

"In 2007, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Patricia Etteh were Christians. In fact, in the current legislature, both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives are Muslims. Religion has never been an issue. How has it now crept in surreptitiously?

"We call on Ohaneze Ndigbo, all the Governors of the South East, all Senators and Honourable members -elect, and all stakeholders in the politics of the South East, who were in the forefront in convincing the people of the South East to support President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, to once again rally round and ensure that the South East is not further humiliated.

"We insist on either the offices of the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives. We will reject other offices such as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Deputy President of the Senate or any such office that may be offered to undermine the attainment of the two offices so mentioned. Our patience, support and loyalty must not be taken for granted," it said.

Vanguard/11/05/2011

Speakership: S’East govs, Ohanaeze should apologise to Ndigbo – CPC guber candidate

From AMOS DUNIA, Abuja
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Enugu State in the April 2011 election, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has described as appalling and shameful the differing opinions of the South-east governors, Ohanaeze and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the sharing of political offices in the country.

Okechukwu told Daily Sun in Abuja on Tuesday that while some of the PDP leaders and Ohaneze were agitating for deputy Senate president, others were canvassing for speaker of the House of Representatives while some few going for Senate presidency without proper focus.

Okechukwu wondered how any right-thinking person could claim that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation was important when there is an “imperial” chief of staff of the president, adding that in politics, symbols sometimes became more important than substance.
Accordingly, he called on the South-east PDP Leaders, governors and Ohaneze in particular to humbly apologise to Ndigbo for having allocated five million votes to President Goodluck Jonathan without any firm promise or negotiation with him.

He noted that as a result of the self-centred approach to politics by the South-east governors and Ohaneze leaders, Ndigbos were missing in the order of national protocol of number one to four, which included the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to Mr. Okechukwu: “It is a great disgrace to one of the most populous and hard working tribes in the country to go with nothing despite the five million votes that was allocated to President Jonathan by the South-east leaders.”

“It was disgraceful that the South-east governors, Ohaneze and the PDP leaders were coming out from a meeting where Senator David Mark was rated higher than Ndigbo as a whole. It is more painful when we recall that Ndigbo had always voted for the PDP since 1999.”
The CPC gubernatorial candidate further said the groups must apologise for going back home without a trophy in a race they fully participated and paid their due.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/may/11/national-11-05-2011-012.html

Zoning is dead. It died with GEJ.

ekt_bear:
Are the Igbos in the north hausa-speaking Muslims?

They are just there to make money. Nothing wrong with that, but to spin that as something noble, selfless and patriotic seems silly to me

Actually a good amount of the Igbos in the North are indeed Muslim. You will find an Alhajji Uche Okoro in the North.

If they are just there to make money, why don't they go back home instead of generations living there?  

ekt_bear:
Does willingness to go somewhere to make money = patriotism?

If so, we have a lot of patriotic illegal mexicans here in the US

Wrong analogy. . . Do many of those illegal immigrants in the U.S. try to assimilate in U.S. culture? I haven't seen any that do. They rather speak Spanish.

At least the Ndigbo will embrace the host community's culture, language and even religion. . .

Eko Ile:
We don't know, please tell us the reason/s why they are not credible.

I think they would, just look at some of the U.S. politicians who follow their own rules like Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul.

In Japan, a former prime minister was just as unique.

https://www.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/magicjohnson.jpg

This man has been living with HIV for over 2 decades!

He must have a cure.

This Ngige follows his own rules it seems.

You need politicians like that in every country.

Someone who doesn't follow the norm. Maybe I was wrong about him. Hopefully, I see more unpredictable things coming from him.

dem_people:
[size=13pt]Senate Presidency: David Mark promises Senators N10 million each [/size]
…Hires Ngige, Mamora, Abdulahi, Dariye, Ndume, Ningi as Foot Soldiers
…Why He frustrated the South East Bid for Speaker
…Set to dismantle Opposition from North East, South East tentative budget is N650 million
…To review of Quarterly Allowance, dangles juicy Committee Chairs




http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os4907.html


==================================================================

If this is indeed true, then David Mark should be IMPEACHED. This is outright bribery. The man has no shame. Hopefully, the SE stands united against his promise of riches.

Now that is a lot of babies in only 15 months! Nigerians in general need better family planning. I have a kinsmen in the village who has 10 children even though he does not have a good job. He is always begging his kin for money in order to take care of his children.

This should tell guys to never sleep with an ashawo.

Well it is not a death sentence, if you want us to tell you that. You can live with it, if you take your medicine and eat properly.

But it does seem you are in denial. Get another test done and if it is the same results, then you should consult a physician. It is good that you know your status though. Some people are scared to get tested.

We need to rebuild APGA – Okorie

You are the founder and father of APGA. Looking at the state of the party now, how do you feel? Are you sad or happy?

As a matter of fact, my heart bleeds. My heart bleeds for APGA, my heart bleeds for Ndigbo. As at 1995, I had a clear vision about where my people are supposed to be in the political equation of Nigeria. And I saw that the only rallying point in terms of political leadership the Igbo ever had; that was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was already weak, old and could no longer provide the leadership he had provided over the years. So, in 1996, I made the first attempt to found a political party, which our people could regard as their own. Significantly, in that 1996, Zik passed away. I failed in that attempt. In 1998, I made the second attempt and failed again. Between 2001-2002, I made the third attempt and succeeded. I made all these attempts because I did not see any person stepping into Zik’s shoes as an individual. So, I felt that if we could no longer have a rallying point, all we needed to do was to have a rallying platform. And that was the purpose of trying to establish a political party. And it turned out to be the first political party in the history of this country that was ever founded by an Igbo man. I took that as a very serious challenge and the vision was very clear – to have a platform for negotiation with the rest of Nigerians, for reintegration, for reconciliation; for so many things.

So, we moved on. In 2003, we made a phenomenal entry into the political arena of the country. Without any moneybag, without power of incumbency, but by mere strong message, we were able to perform so well that everybody knew that we won all the elections in the South East, but for the massive rigging of that time. Even Anambra State would have not recovered, but this was not the case because the candidate then had a lot of personal resources to pursue his case, which other people did not have. But even though we lost the governorship in those places, we had three members of the House of Representatives. We were then satisfied and planned that, by 2007, we would have consolidated on the gains of 2003 and that the minimum we would achieve was to take the entire South East and begin to advance into other parts of the country.

But behold after the year we made that success, I was barely two years as the substantive chairman of APGA; that was in 2004, the devil struck. And that is the battle we have fought till today. We are looking at seven years of leadership tussle. I will conclude the answer to this question to say that Peter Obi and Victor Umeh are true disciples of political Lucifer. They are political vampires, who have come to suck life out of APGA. In 2007, under their control, which they hijacked, more or less, APGA recorded zero election in the entire results. When I say zero, I’m not saying zero in Anambra, zero in the whole of the federation; not winning any seat. This was a party which did so well in 2003; four years after, when it should be growing fell to zero. So, if there was a law, as we have now that any party, which did not win a seat in the House of Assembly will be de-registered, APGA would have gone. But luckily, that law wasn’t there. And now, in 2011, having boxed the great Ikemba to a corner, they now did to Igbo people the worst sabotage they have never experienced since God created them on mother earth. In the 30-month fratricidal war our people fought for liberation, nobody called saboteurs, could be credited with the failure of that war. Yes, the saboteurs did damages here and there, but none of them or a group did so much damage as to account for our defeat in that war. But these two men are directly and personally responsible for the Igbo political dilemma in Nigeria today. So, that is why I say they are the worst thing that would happen to Ndigbo and history will record them as such. My heart bleeds, but I have the confidence that we shall recover.

Do you see them as fifth columnists working for some forces against Ndigbo or were they acting for and on behalf of themselves?

First of all, I describe them as agents of political Lucifer and nothing good comes from the Devil. And like the agents they are, they acted for their master and acted for themselves. Nothing altruistic can be traced to them. They are richer than they were when they entered APGA. But anything they touch dies. With their touch, APGA recorded zero in 2007. With their touch now, Governor Peter Obi has done worse than any governor in the 36 states of Nigeria in this election. I can tell you that it was their touch that made Chief Martin Agbaso to lose in Imo in 2007. I pitied Chief Rochas Okorocha when I saw Umeh near his campaign. I said to myself, this young man; a philanthropist, a man of God, because any man who can remember the poor is a man of God; but there is a negative aura surrounding him and I can tell you from the spiritual point of view that Okorocha’s major dilemma is Umeh’s involvement. We are having this interview before the supplementary election. But if there is any problem that comes out of that election of 6th of May, against Okorocha, it is not because he is not loved by his people, but because he has been contaminated by these agents of political devil. So, they didn’t just act for themselves, they were acting for a superior negative influence that caused them to destroy the political future of the entire Igbo people. What I’m saying is what the entire Igbo people appreciate. There was no ACN when APGA emerged. There was no Labour Party when APGA emerged. But today, these parties are all ahead of us. They are all ahead of us. But I want to repeat, we are going to recover the soul of the party, we are rebuilding the party and 2015 will be our date with destiny.

But the dismal picture you are painting of APGA seems not shared by the people you are talking about. For instance, Umeh claims the party has done more than its record since coming into being, having secured more National Assembly and House of Assembly seats across the South East. What do you say to this?
You see, I was holding myself back from actually interrupting you and an outburst of laughter. It is only a shameless person that can make such a claim. I have told you that Governor Peter Obi posted the worst record out of the 36 state governors in the country. How can anyone be proud of that? An incumbent governor recording zero result in the Senatorial seat in his state, having only three House of Reps members out of 11, having only 13 members of the state Assembly out of 32; an incumbent. But when we produced Obi, we didn’t have power of incumbency, we didn’t have moneybags. If Umeh is referring to the past, what past is he referring to? Is it in 2007 when he and Obi were in control or is he referring to 2003 when we just started from nowhere, when APGA had no name recognition, when he, himself was not there and Obi had just sauntered into APGA from PDP? Why can’t he compare APGA with other parties like the ACN, which has swept the entire South West, except Ondo? I can’t understand it. But if he thinks that anybody is impressed by that kind of comment, then, let us see. But, people are reacting. Umeh will find it difficult to live with what he did, because the question will be how much was he paid to destroy APGA. How much is in his pocket for the destruction of APGA? First of all, it is surprising that no journalist, and I don’t mean it as an indictment, but perhaps as a challenge, has ever demanded from Umeh evidence of his chairmanship of APGA; because no court, including the Supreme Court, which we have just come out from and which copy of judgement I have just given you to read at your own time, has pronounced him as the chairman. INEC has sworn to an affidavit that it never attended any convention where Umeh was made a chairman. Everything has been fraud, fraud and more fraud. For 2010 election, INEC knew Umeh was no chairman and went and invited Ikemba to sign Obi’s nomination form. Obi is suffering it in court today. It is a live issue. The matter is at the Federal High Court, because of Obi’s irregular nomination. For 2011, Umeh went into conspiracy with INEC. And of course, I did say it at that time; I addressed a press conference, and made my stand known; INEC wrote a letter and said that the court had established Umeh as the chairman of APGA, when, as I’m talking to you the situation remains that no court has done so. And what did Umeh do? He took that letter and advertised it, including in your own paper, side by side with the nomination form of APGA. The purpose was very clear – to divert every candidate wanting to run on the platform of APGA to buy nomination forms from them and denying our own APGA of any fund. And you wouldn’t blame candidates. If a prospective candidate saw that INEC had given recognition to a faction, why would it come to us to buy form? So, they cornered over N500million. APGA charged the highest nomination fee for any party. For instance, to run for Local Government chairmanship that never held, N1million, for councillorship that never held, they collected N100,000; House of Assembly N1million, House of Reps N2.5million, Senate, N3.5million and for President, which they knew they had no plan of running, they placed the tag at N20.5million; two times the amount charged by the ruling party. And the purpose was very clear – to discourage anybody that wanted to run for the presidency on APGA platform, because they had sold the soul of the party at that time. That was why a party in crisis would place N20 million on its presidential candidate. And thereafter, they would turn around and say the reason why we didn’t have a presidential candidate is because nobody came around to by the form. Who will buy such a form? It is this conspiracy that has been going on and that is why APGA is where it is. Let me tell you, all of these candidates who have even won positions have serious problems. The problem is that of the authentic APGA accepting their candidature or rejecting them, because Umeh is not legally authorised to nominate anybody. But the political party can decide to accept and nobody can deny the party what it has accepted. But if it is not accepted, nobody can impose on the party what it has not accepted. The law is very clear on that. And I can tell you that an order of mandamus compelling INEC to respect a duly convened national convention that elected the authentic leadership of the party is coming. It is on its way. The motion on notice will be moved on the 16th of May at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

I have heard some people ask why have you not given up on this issue; that even if you are right the forces against you are not the ones you can easily surmount, or even surmount at all. Why are you not giving up and move on, after all, life doesn’t depend on APGA?

It is a very simple answer. I told you at the beginning of this interview about the vision that prompted the formation of APGA. And we begged God to grant us APGA, because at that time, the conditions for registering a political party were as difficult as the camel passing through the eye of the needle and God granted us that request. APGA was the only party out of the 63 in the country today that went for an inter-denominational service to dedicate a party to God. I’m not aware that any other party did this. So, we knew there would be trials, we knew that our faith would be put to test, we knew that our resilience, our sincerity of purpose, our perseverance, will all be subjected to severe test. And so, when these agents of Lucifer came, we knew that the time to test all those qualities had come. So, we decided that surrendering will be like faithless people, who asked God for something and when he gave it to them, they were not able to protect it.

And if God wants us to hands off, it will become obvious. So, we are not deterred or discouraged by the machinations of men and the use of money, because the same God gave us victory on the 23rd of November 2010, for which we are asking the order of mandamus for it to be obeyed. So, if God didn’t want us to recover the soul of APGA and reposition the party and our people, He wouldn’t have given us that opening, in spite of the war chest of these people. But he blinded them from coming there to do their normal damage and we went away. Is it not surprising that 160 days after that victory there has been no appeal? So, having lost that opportunity to appeal, we are coasting home for a mandamus order for a valid order of court to be obeyed. Is it not an opening for us to recover the party? Once we recover the party, we will reposition it. In fact the only reason why APGA is not dead is because I’m still alive and defending it. When I read through the internet, the newspapers and text messages of people looking up to me to the Igbo political identity, which God has used me to establish through APGA, I know I have a date with destiny. I have a mission from God and once that is established, I will know I have something to be remembered for. It is not everybody that will have large estates. Umeh is looking at estates, fat bank accounts, I’m looking at other things. I’m looking at the place of my people in Nigeria. So, that is why it will be a sin against humanity and against God to surrender to the devil. No child of God should give up to the devil for as long as God has given him life.

But they also accuse you of being the one who wanted to destroy APGA, by trying to sell its mandate to the former Governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige. How do you respond?

You see, I have defended this so many times and I will never be tired of defending it. For those whose memories are alive and functional, they will remember that what I was accused of was embezzling N50million belonging to APGA and not Ngige. That was the accusation. And I said APGA never had up to N50million not to talk about embezzling it. Umeh was our treasurer. He signed our accounts audited by INEC-appointed external auditors and the total income as at that date was N43million, which was where we got the money to campaign at all levels and maintain opposition to the point of receiving award from the NUJ, paying salaries and all. So, how could I have embezzled what was not existing? Then, by 12th of March 2005, crisis had started by December, 2004, I had just come out of detention of the EFCC, where I spent 48 hours, again because of the malicious allegations of these people that I embezzled N50million and EFCC found out that there was no such money, and I was released, I was persuaded by very prominent Igbo people, many of them in PDP, to please go and give Ngige our membership card to have a place to fall back on, should he be expelled from the PDP, because the expulsion was imminent. I didn’t know, but those in the PDP knew. And having just come out of EFCC detention for what I never did, and as at that time, I had never crossed the counter of a police station; as a business man, I had never had any disagreement with anybody on business or monetary matters; so you could imagine how I hurt. I was, having given all in giving my people an identity, I was now being accused of embezzling something far less than what I put in that effort. So, I took the advice to visit Ngige, with the executive of the party from the South East. And part of what persuaded me was that they told me that AD, led by then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande, chairman of the party was already heading to Awka to go and beg Ngige to join the party. And they said that this was what they did to Mbadinuju and that I should go and offer Ngige a place in APGA. With that annoyance that Obi and Umeh plotted my being detained, I left with some executive members and went to Ngige, not in the cover of the night, but in broad daylight, with the state Assembly members present and other prominent Igbo people including former governor of the state, Chukwuemeka Ezeife. All I did was to offer Ngige our party constitution and our membership card. All I said was should you be expelled by the PDP, come to our party. What I did was no different from what Okwy Nwodo did when he went to invite T.A. Orji from APGA to join PDP. There are so many instances of party leaders going to win other powerful party members to join their party. Yes, at that time the tribunal matter was going on, but APGA was not a party. And come to think of that, our own calculation was that if for any reason Ngige won that matter, which would have been the case if he was not quarrelling with the Presidency at that time, then it will be an APGA victory, if Peter Obi won, it would still be an APGA victory. So, head we win, tail we win. My calculation could have been wrong, it could have been faulted, but that was it. It was not like selling out because there was nothing to sell. By that time Obi had closed his case, even if APGA was a party to the suit. By March 2005 was one year after Obi had closed his case and Ngige was on to about witness 200, because, as you know, he called so many witnesses. So, there was nothing I could have done in March 2005 that would have added or subtracted from the matter at the tribunal.

But because the allegation of embezzling N50million could not stick, the thing was now turned to selling out to Ngige. But even at that, let us look at it. Obi, wore PDP uniform, went to Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium and declared support for President Goodluck Jonathan, wearing the same thing with PDP governors. Which one was the worst act of anti-party activity? Obi adopted Jonathan, where was it discussed? What were the terms of engagement? What was APGA supposed to benefit from it? What was Anambra supposed to get from it? By the way, Anambra is not APGA, APGA is a national party. Obi and Umeh had demonstrated the worst form of anti-party activities even before this time. In their so-called NEC meeting in 2011, Obi was at the meeting canvassing support for Jonathan on APGA platform even before the so-called adoption. I wish they had meant well for APGA. I wish they had meant well for APGA. If they had been doing well, people will not be everywhere calling Chekwas to come and rescue the party. They will be hailing them. But let them walk the streets now and see how people spit at them for what they have done to Ndigbo and what they have done to APGA. I did not sell out to Ngige, I tried to woo Ngige into APGA and I’m still wooing him, because I believe his natural habitat is APGA, even now that he is Senator-elect. I’m still wooing Ngige because there is no way you can compare him with Obi.

So, what is the way forward?

At the initial stage, some people opposed my move to register APGA, because they believed it was better to operate from the centre. But I had told them that in the absence of a national conference, Nigeria can only go regional and return from there to negotiate from regional platforms in order to form a nation. The only alternative was a national conference and since national conference was not coming, we needed to come together through a political platform. Today, even those who opposed me, are now the strongest advocates of that vision. So, we need to rebuild APGA, to face this reality, which is still prevalent. And it is easier now to rebuild because many have become converts.

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=33379

[img]http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Thumbnailer.aspx?image=\\fsvs02\target02\347050\www.inlng.com\web\content\\\DailyIndependent\resources\images\Politics%20080511%20.jpg&width=380&height=230&suffix=_thumb[/img]

sbeezy8:
it would be best if he were to decamp to pdp or apga

Now that he is going against SW PDP political interest, you have a problem with him abi?

^
He representing his constituents interest. . .

We need to rebuild  APGA – Okorie

You are the founder and father of APGA. Looking at the state of the party now, how do you feel? Are you sad or happy?

As a matter of fact, my heart bleeds. My heart bleeds for APGA, my heart bleeds for Ndigbo. As at 1995, I had a clear vision about where my people are supposed to be in the political equation of Nigeria. And I saw that the only rallying point in terms of political leadership the Igbo ever had; that was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was already weak, old and could no longer provide the leadership he had provided over the years. So, in 1996, I made the first attempt to found a political party, which our people could regard as their own. Significantly, in that 1996, Zik passed away. I failed in that attempt. In 1998, I made the second attempt and failed again. Between 2001-2002, I made the third attempt and succeeded. I made all these attempts because I did not see any person stepping into Zik’s shoes as an individual. So, I felt that if we could no longer have a rallying point, all we needed to do was to have a rallying platform. And that was the purpose of trying to

establish a political party. And it turned out to be the first political party in the history of this country that was ever founded by an Igbo man. I took that as a very serious challenge and the vision was very clear – to have a platform for negotiation with the rest of Nigerians, for reintegration, for reconciliation; for so many things.

So, we moved on. In 2003, we made a phenomenal entry into the political arena of the country. Without any moneybag, without power of incumbency, but by mere strong message, we were able to perform so well that everybody knew that we won all the elections in the South East, but for the massive rigging of that time. Even Anambra State would have not recovered, but this was not the case because the candidate then had a lot of personal resources to pursue his case, which other people did not have. But even though we lost the governorship in those places, we had three members of the House of Representatives. We were then satisfied and planned that, by 2007, we would have consolidated on the gains of 2003 and that the minimum we would achieve was to take the entire South East and begin to advance into other parts of the country.

But behold after the year we made that success, I was barely two years as the substantive chairman of APGA; that was in 2004, the devil struck. And that is the battle we have fought till today. We are looking at seven years of leadership tussle. I will conclude the answer to this question to say that Peter Obi and Victor Umeh are true disciples of political Lucifer. They are political vampires, who have come to suck life out of APGA. In 2007, under their control, which they hijacked, more or less, APGA recorded zero election in the entire results. When I say zero, I’m not saying zero in Anambra, zero in the whole of the federation; not winning any seat. This was a party which did so well in 2003; four years after, when it should be growing fell to zero. So, if there was a law, as we have now that any party, which did not win a seat in the House of Assembly will be de-registered, APGA would have gone. But luckily, that law wasn’t there. And now, in

2011, having boxed the great Ikemba to a corner, they now did to Igbo people the worst sabotage they have never experienced since God created them on mother earth. In the 30-month fratricidal war our people fought for liberation, nobody called saboteurs, could be credited with the failure of that war. Yes, the saboteurs did damages here and there, but none of them or a group did so much damage as to account for our defeat in that war. But these two men are directly and personally responsible for the Igbo political dilemma in Nigeria today. So, that is why I say they are the worst thing that would happen to Ndigbo and history will record them as such. My heart bleeds, but I have the confidence that we shall recover.

Do you see them as fifth columnists working for some forces against Ndigbo or were they acting for and on behalf of themselves?

First of all, I describe them as agents of political Lucifer and nothing good comes from the Devil. And like the agents they are, they acted for their master and acted for themselves. Nothing altruistic can be traced to them. They are richer than they were when they entered APGA. But anything they touch dies. With their touch, APGA recorded zero in 2007. With their touch now, Governor Peter Obi has done worse than any governor in the 36 states of Nigeria in this election. I can tell you that it was their touch that made Chief Martin Agbaso to lose in Imo in 2007. I pitied Chief Rochas Okorocha when I saw Umeh near his campaign. I said to myself, this young man; a philanthropist, a man of God, because any man who can remember the poor is a man of God; but there is a negative aura surrounding him and I can tell you from the spiritual point of view that Okorocha’s major dilemma is Umeh’s involvement. We are having this interview before the supplementary election. But if there is any problem that comes out of that election of 6th of May, against Okorocha, it is not because he is not loved by his people, but because he has been contaminated by these agents of political devil. So, they didn’t just act for themselves, they were acting for a superior negative influence that caused them to destroy the political future of the entire Igbo people. What I’m saying is what the entire Igbo people appreciate. There was no ACN when APGA emerged. There was no Labour Party when APGA emerged. But today, these parties are all ahead of us. They are all ahead of us. But I want to repeat, we are going to recover the soul of the party, we are rebuilding the party and 2015 will be our date with destiny.

But the dismal picture you are painting of APGA seems not shared by the people you are talking about. For instance, Umeh claims the party has done more than its record since coming into being, having secured more National Assembly and House of Assembly seats across the South East. What do you say to this?

You see, I was holding myself back from actually interrupting you and an outburst of laughter. It is only a shameless person that can make such a claim. I have told you that Governor Peter Obi posted the worst record out of the 36 state governors in the country. How can anyone be proud of that? An incumbent governor recording zero result in the Senatorial seat in his state, having only three House of Reps members out of 11, having only 13 members of the state Assembly out of 32; an incumbent. But when we produced Obi, we didn’t have power of incumbency, we didn’t have moneybags. If Umeh is referring to the past, what past is he referring to? Is it in 2007 when he and Obi were in control or is he referring to 2003 when we just started from nowhere, when APGA had no name recognition, when he, himself was not there and Obi had just sauntered into APGA from PDP? Why can’t he compare APGA with other parties like the ACN, which has swept the entire South West, except Ondo? I can’t understand it. But if he thinks that anybody is impressed by that kind of comment, then, let us see. But, people are reacting. Umeh will find it difficult to live with what he did, because the question will be how much was he paid to destroy APGA. How much is in his pocket for the destruction of APGA? First of all, it is surprising that no journalist, and I don’t mean it as an indictment, but perhaps as a challenge, has ever demanded from Umeh evidence of his chairmanship of APGA; because no court, including the Supreme Court, which we have just come out from and which copy of judgement I have just given you to read at your own time, has pronounced him as the chairman. INEC has sworn to an affidavit that it never attended any convention where Umeh was made a chairman. Everything has been fraud, fraud and more fraud. For 2010 election, INEC knew Umeh was no chairman and went and invited Ikemba to sign Obi’s nomination form. Obi is suffering it in court today. It is a live issue. The matter is at the Federal High Court, because of Obi’s irregular nomination. For 2011, Umeh went into conspiracy with INEC. And of course, I did say it at that time; I addressed a press conference, and made my stand known; INEC wrote a letter and said that the court had established Umeh as the chairman of APGA, when, as I’m talking to you the situation remains that no court has done so. And what did Umeh do? He took that letter and advertised it, including in your own paper, side by side with the nomination form of APGA. The purpose was very clear – to divert every candidate wanting to run on the platform of APGA to buy nomination forms from them and denying our own APGA of any fund. And you wouldn’t blame candidates. If a prospective candidate saw that INEC had given recognition to a faction, why would it come to us to buy form? So, they cornered over N500million. APGA charged the highest nomination fee for any party. For instance, to run for Local Government chairmanship that never held, N1million, for councillorship that never held, they collected N100,000; House of Assembly N1million, House of Reps N2.5million, Senate, N3.5million and for President, which they knew they had no plan of running, they placed the tag at N20.5million; two times the amount charged by the ruling party. And the purpose was very clear – to discourage anybody that wanted to run for the presidency on APGA platform, because they had sold the soul of the party at that time. That was why a party in crisis would place N20 million on its presidential candidate. And thereafter, they would turn around and say the reason why we didn’t have a presidential candidate is because nobody came around to by the form. Who will buy such a form? It is this conspiracy that has been going on and that is why APGA is where it is. Let me tell you, all of these candidates who have even won positions have serious problems. The problem is that of the authentic APGA accepting their candidature or rejecting them, because Umeh is not legally authorised to nominate anybody. But the political party can decide to accept and nobody can deny the party what it has accepted. But if it is not accepted, nobody can impose on the party what it has not accepted. The law is very clear on that. And I can tell you that an order of mandamus compelling INEC to respect a duly convened national convention that elected the authentic leadership of the party is coming. It is on its way. The motion on notice will be moved on the 16th of May at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

I have heard some people ask why have you not given up on this issue; that even if you are right the forces against you are not the ones you can easily surmount, or even surmount at all. Why are you not giving up and move on, after all, life doesn’t depend on APGA?

It is a very simple answer. I told you at the beginning of this interview about the vision that prompted the formation of APGA. And we begged God to grant us APGA, because at that time, the conditions for registering a political party were as difficult as the camel passing through the eye of the needle and God granted us that request. APGA was the only party out of the 63 in the country today that went for an inter-denominational service to dedicate a party to God. I’m not aware that any other party did this. So, we knew there would be trials, we knew that our faith would be put to test, we knew that our resilience, our sincerity of purpose, our perseverance, will all be subjected to severe test. And so, when these agents of Lucifer came, we knew that the time to test all those qualities had come. So, we decided that surrendering will be like faithless people, who asked God for something and when he gave it to them, they were not able to protect it.

And if God wants us to hands off, it will become obvious. So, we are not deterred or discouraged by the machinations of men and the use of money, because the same God gave us victory on the 23rd of November 2010, for which we are asking the order of mandamus for it to be obeyed. So, if God didn’t want us to recover the soul of APGA and reposition the party and our people, He wouldn’t have given us that opening, in spite of the war chest of these people. But he blinded them from coming there to do their normal damage and we went away. Is it not surprising that 160 days after that victory there has been no appeal? So, having lost that opportunity to appeal, we are coasting home for a mandamus order for a valid order of court to be obeyed. Is it not an opening for us to recover the party? Once we recover the party, we will reposition it. In fact the only reason why APGA is not dead is because I’m still alive and defending it. When I read through the internet, the newspapers and text messages of people looking up to me to the Igbo political identity, which God has used me to establish through APGA, I know I have a date with destiny. I have a mission from God and once that is established, I will know I have something to be remembered for. It is not everybody that will have large estates. Umeh is looking at estates, fat bank accounts, I’m looking at other things. I’m looking at the place of my people in Nigeria. So, that is why it will be a sin against humanity and against God to surrender to the devil. No child of God should give up to the devil for as long as God has given him life.

But they also accuse you of being the one who wanted to destroy APGA, by trying to sell its mandate to the former Governor of Anambra State, Chris Ngige. How do you respond? 

You see, I have defended this so many times and I will never be tired of defending it. For those whose memories are alive and functional, they will remember that what I was accused of was embezzling N50million belonging to APGA and not Ngige. That was the accusation. And I said APGA never had up to N50million not to talk about embezzling it. Umeh was our treasurer. He signed our accounts audited by INEC-appointed external auditors and the total income as at that date was N43million, which was where we got the money to campaign at all levels and maintain opposition to the point of receiving award from the NUJ, paying salaries and all. So, how could I have embezzled what was not existing? Then, by 12th of March 2005, crisis had started by December, 2004, I had just come out of detention of the EFCC, where I spent 48 hours, again because of the malicious allegations of these people that I embezzled N50million and EFCC found out that there was no such money, and I was released, I was persuaded by very prominent Igbo people, many of them in PDP, to please go and give Ngige our membership card to have a place to fall back on, should he be expelled from the PDP, because the expulsion was imminent. I didn’t know, but those in the PDP knew. And having just come out of EFCC detention for what I never did, and as at that time, I had never crossed the counter of a police station; as a business man, I had never had any disagreement with anybody on business or monetary matters; so you could imagine how I hurt. I was, having given all in giving my people an identity, I was now being accused of embezzling something far less than what I put in that effort. So, I took the advice to visit Ngige, with the executive of the party from the South East. And part of what persuaded me was that they told me that AD, led by then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu and Bisi Akande, chairman of the party was already heading to Awka to go and beg Ngige to join the party. And they said that this was what they did to Mbadinuju and that I should go and offer Ngige a place in APGA. With that annoyance that Obi and Umeh plotted my being detained, I left with some executive members and went to Ngige, not in the cover of the night, but in broad daylight, with the state Assembly members present and other prominent Igbo people including former governor of the state, Chukwuemeka Ezeife. All I did was to offer Ngige our party constitution and our membership card. All I said was should you be expelled by the PDP, come to our party. What I did was no different from what Okwy Nwodo did when he went to invite T.A. Orji from APGA to join PDP. There are so many instances of party leaders going to win other powerful party members to join their party. Yes, at that time the tribunal matter was going on, but APGA was not a party. And come to think of that, our own calculation was that if for any reason Ngige won that matter, which would have been the case if he was not quarrelling with the Presidency at that time, then it will be an APGA victory, if Peter Obi won, it would still be an APGA victory. So, head we win, tail we win. My calculation could have been wrong, it could have been faulted, but that was it. It was not like selling out because there was nothing to sell. By that time Obi had closed his case, even if APGA was a party to the suit. By March 2005 was one year after Obi had closed his case and Ngige was on to about witness 200, because, as you know, he called so many witnesses. So, there was nothing I could have done in March 2005 that would have added or subtracted from the matter at the tribunal.

But because the allegation of embezzling N50million could not stick, the thing was now turned to selling out to Ngige. But even at that, let us look at it. Obi, wore PDP uniform, went to Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium and declared support for President Goodluck Jonathan, wearing the same thing with PDP governors. Which one was the worst act of anti-party activity? Obi adopted Jonathan, where was it discussed? What were the terms of engagement? What was APGA supposed to benefit from it? What was Anambra supposed to get from it? By the way, Anambra is not APGA, APGA is a national party. Obi and Umeh had demonstrated the worst form of anti-party activities even before this time. In their so-called NEC meeting in 2011, Obi was at the meeting canvassing support for Jonathan on APGA platform even before the so-called adoption. I wish they had meant well for APGA. I wish they had meant well for APGA. If they had been doing well, people will not be everywhere calling Chekwas to come and rescue the party. They will be hailing them. But let them walk the streets now and see how people spit at them for what they have done to Ndigbo and what they have done to APGA. I did not sell out to Ngige, I tried to woo Ngige into APGA and I’m still wooing him, because I believe his natural habitat is APGA, even now that he is Senator-elect. I’m still wooing Ngige because there is no way you can compare him with Obi.

So, what is the way forward?   

At the initial stage, some people opposed my move to register APGA, because they believed it was better to operate from the centre. But I had told them that in the absence of a national conference, Nigeria can only go regional and return from there to negotiate from regional platforms in order to form a nation. The only alternative was a national conference and since national conference was not coming, we needed to come together through a political platform. Today, even those who opposed me, are now the strongest advocates of that vision. So, we need to rebuild APGA, to face this reality, which is still prevalent. And it is easier now to rebuild because many have become converts. 


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Jonathan might not really fight for Ndigbo in both the short and long runs. It is Ndigbo, with that population of federal legislators, that should engage in a tough democratic fight, in order to get their rightful due.

I have always said it that neighbour or no neighbour, the southsouth people who are supposed to be our brothers are the ones who hate us most. Supporting Jonathan was a monumental mistake. These people don't like us. I do not see any reason why we shouldn't dislike them in turn. The only thing to do is to forge ahead and insist on producing the senate president or the speaker. Let us close ranks and fight tenaciously. Obasanjo and other hostile elements must be fought. We must stop being afarid of anyone. Afterall we fought the entire country fearlessly with its super power backers during the civil war. We must regain or sense of direction once again

ChinenyeN:
Take it up with your Ohanaeze socio-cultural turned socio-political organization. It's obvious the reasoning behind their overzealous presence in all this was short-sighted.

Your? The last time I checked, the Ngwa were part of this organization as well. I do not understand why you would say "Your" or are you that out of touch with even your own brothers in Alaigbo?

Anyway to console yourself, but the writing is one the wall. The Ndigbo are expendable in terms of politics. Even when you all see it in front of you, you continue to act like there is nothing is wrong.

^^^

You be efulefu. If Jonathan could not give us this small token of appreciation for our support of PDP. Then why should we expect PDP to give us anything else?

Sometimes I despise the way some of my people think.