•Tinubu in secret talks with Ebonyi gov
All cards are on the table of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to repeat its triumph at the ballot box in 2019 and ensure the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not recover from defeat.
It is lobbying about six PDP governors to defect, a report neither confirmed nor denied by an aide to Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi.
When TheNiche asked Umahi’s spokesman, Emma Anya, whether the man was being drafted to the APC, he retorted. “Are you saying he is being drafted or wooed?”
First set
Another source in the APC disclosed that Umahi and two other PDP Governors, Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe) and Ben Ayade (Cross River), are likely to be the first set to declare for the APC.
The APC has already constituted a committee to increase its number of states from 22, beginning with the governorship vote in Kogi on November 21, with an eye on the one in Bayelsa on December 5.
A source in Calabar said Ayade is on his way to joining the APC, citing the cozy relationship between him and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If you consider what has been happening of late, in the area of political appointments at the federal level where some of our prominent citizens were favoured by the president, with appointments as chief of naval staff and head of the civil service of the federation as well as how the president personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Calabar-Katsina-Ala super highway a few days ago, you will then know that something is about to happen.
“I won’t be surprised if our governor ends up in the APC,” he explained.
Tinubu positions Umahi for 2019
The PDP has been losing some of the seats it won in the general election. The victory of five of its senators has been voided by tribunals across the country.
Its hold on Akwa Ibom is shaky as the tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, October 28 ordered a rerun ballot in 18 out of the 31 councils for the governorship election.
The govenorship election in Rivers was also voided.
The fate of many more states controlled by the PDP remains unknown.
One of them is Ebonyi, where Umahi’s defection to the APC is reportedly being facilitated by APC chieftain, Bola Tinubu.
A source said Tinubu is trying to position Umahi as an instrument for power struggle in the South East in 2019 against former Governor of old Abia State, Ogbonnaya Onu, now a ministerial nominee.
Tinubu is allegedly uncomfortable with Onu, who happens to be an independent minded politician like Chris Ngige, among Buhari’s ministers from the South East.
When Onu was being positioned for the post of secretary to government of the federation, Tinubu allegedly blocked it and instead backed Babachir Lawal, who got the job.
Tinubu is also said to be in the middle of the leadership squabble in the Senate and is making a deft political move to ensure he would not have any obstacle for whatever ambition he may nurse for 2019.
A top politician from the South East told TheNiche that “Onu is from Ebonyi State and as minister, he will be the rallying point not just in his state but probably in the entire zone.
“But people like Tinubu, whose expansionist ambition knows no bounds, are doing everything humanly possible to cage him.
“They are plotting to persuade [Umahi] to join the APC so that he would act as a major check on Onu’s political moves especially as we approach 2019.”
He said the game plan is to ensure that Umahi hounds those from the state who are loyal to Onu thereby making Onu look like a General without a troop.
Okorocha
Other forces in the South East may also be funded to face Onu head on.
One of those likely to do this is Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who has never been an ally of Onu.
Okorocha, the source said, is also interested in the 2019 presidential ticket of the APC and does not want any political rival from the zone.
He explained that this was the reason Okorocha opposed the appointment of Onu as SGF and preferred his former Secretary to State Government, Anthony Anwukah, for the job.
Okorocha aligned with Tinubu and Umahi to work against Onu in that enterprise; which paved the way for Lawal to emerge as SGF, a position he is putting to good use now in the interest of the anti-Onu camp in the APC.
Umahi in Lawal’s good books
Umahi allegedly reached out to Lawal recently to help him out of his electoral troubles. The tribunal delivered judgment in his favour on Friday, October 16.
Lawal has also spoken of the good relationship between himself, Tinubu, Umahi, among many other political big wigs in the country.
He painted Umahi in the mould of a great investor in human beings and philanthropist at a reception organised after his thanksgiving service at the Blantyre Street branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) on October 17.
Lawal said Umahi had sent truckloads of Abakaliki rice to Adamawa State Governor, Jibrilla Bindow, for distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state.
He also disclosed that Umahi sent some money to him (Lawal) during the last Sallah celebration through his (Umahi’s) aide-de-camp.
Said Lawal: “Really since the time we [Umahi and I] met, I don’t know why, our spirits locked on. And you see that he has been good; he’s somebody I know that when am in trouble I can always run to him.
“He is in the PDP, he’s Igbo but he sent a trailerload of rice to my governor for the IDPs in Adamawa State recently. May be he did not want me to say it.
“Again, one day I was just in my office looking and sounding broke, he just said ‘during the Salah, I am going to send Ebonyi rice to you.’
“I said I don’t want Ebonyi rice, I have too much rice in my house; I don’t even know what to do with the rice.
“But his ADC came later and said oga sent me to you. I said what is inside that thing and he said money and I said bring it my friend.
“If you have no investments in human beings like most politicians in this church do, you will end up nowhere.
“If you look upon your friendship just within your community, you just look at your religion, those within the same church for friendship; I don’t think you are going anywhere.
“I don’t want to come out categorically and say it but I know that I am secretary to the government of the federation today; those people that I mentioned were the first to plant the idea in the mind of the president.
“Those people were the ones because if it had been left to Northerners, it’s doubtful if they will take a man from Kilba, a Christian, and make him secretary to the government of the federation. It’s doubtful.
“But these friends of mine, even though I am not ambitious, know that I am not ambitious. I just want to eat today and find my way; I am like Rauf.
“But by the grace of God, I am today secretary to the government of the federation; something I did not look for.
“People say it’s hard work or dedication but it’s lie. It’s just that the grace of God will just pick you for a position.”
Lawal’s disclosures continue to create ripples among Ebonyi people who are alleging that Umahi’s largesse was in return for the favour Lawal did for him at the tribunal.
Some questioned the rationale behind the “gift” of rice to IDPs in Adamawa when Eboyi has its own IDPs in Ezilo and Amagu Ikwo as a result of communal clashes.
Umahi ditches Anyim
Umahi may have switched loyalty again, moving against his godfather, Anyim Pius Anyim, former SGF.
Umahi, who was two term deputy to former Governor Martins Elechi, aligned with Anyim before the April election, and got federal might behind his bid.
Elechi’s former Chief Press Secretary, Onyekachi Eni, had alleged at the time that his principal was suffering from a gang up from the powers that be in Abuja, allegedly spearheaded by the Anyim.
He alleged that Anyim was plotting to seize control of the state’s machinery and use it to back Umahi to become governor.
Sources said Umahi is now eyeing the APC, ditching Anyim, his benefactor, and embracing a new one, Tinubu, who is angling for the 2019 presidential election and wants to get the South East behind the plan.
