The clout and calibre of aspirants in Anambra Central Senatorial District present it as a zone to watch in 2015 polls, writes Editor, Politics/Features, EMEKA ALEX DURU.
With the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) drawing the curtains on collection of nomination forms for various offices, activities in the run-up to February 2015 general elections are beginning to take shape. And as they do, they come with considerations that, many say, would go a long way in determining the actual direction of events.
By next week, for example, President Goodluck Jonathan would make public his intention to stand for re-election. This is notwithstanding the fact that the National Executive Committee (NEC) and other organs of PDP had earlier in August adopted him as the sole presidential candidate of the party.
But even with his adoption, the build-up to the 2015 electoral battle is picking up in the states. Going by bookmakers’ permutations, there are some states that have been designated catchment areas for PDP and others enclaves for the rival All Progressives Congress (APC). Anambra, though not featuring in the governorship election, is counted among the states considered as battle grounds for both parties. Even the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which may not be filing out for the presidential election, is not leaving any stone unturned in consolidating its hold on the state’s politics.
A particular area that is figuratively referred to as “zone of death” in the countdown is Anambra Central Senatorial District. The tag is not without cause. Aside Imo State, whose governor, Rochas Okorocha, belongs to APC on account of his defection from APGA, Anambra Central is the only senatorial district that APC brag about in the entire South East region. Senator Chris Ngige, who represents the zone at the National Assembly, has, incidentally, come across as a grassroots politician that earned his goodwill and following on account of his considered focused leadership during his stint as governor of the state. There are indications that he would seek a return to his job at the Senate, especially as he has not encountered any known opponent on the platform of the party, so far.
Victor Umeh, APGA National Chairman, who has expressed interest in the Senate seat, is also from the district. Riding on the wings of the November 2013 governorship electoral victory of his party in the state, his clout in Anambra politics has been on the increase. Though there have been muffled voices from other aspirants for the seat from the zone, none has exhibited the audacity that Umeh has shown in going about their aspiration. Unconfirmed sources, in fact, hinted earlier last week, that the party leadership in Anambra might have decided to parcel out the slot to him as a parting gift and compensation for his gruelling encounters in saving APGA from going under.
PDP, our reporter learnt, is not taking the unfolding development lightly. Some of the confessed supporters of Jonathan from the state are incidentally from Anambra Central. They include Arthur Eze, Nicholas Ukachukwu and Peter Obi, former governor who claimed to have resigned his APGA membership last month to mobilise support for Jonathan’s re-election.
PDP and these party chieftains are, incidentally, not oblivious of the enormous task confronting them in the event of Ngige and Umeh emerging senatorial candidates of their parties. By the close of the date for collection of nomination forms last week, some aspirants had officially expressed interest on the party’s senatorial ticket. Among them were Uche Ekwunife, a member of the House of Representatives who recently resigned from APGA for the PDP; Annie Okonkwo, erstwhile senator, who until recently was a member of APC; Sylvester Okonkwo and Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, political scientist and founder, Nigeria-Belgium Business Forum (NBBF).
Each aspirant comes around with a rich resume that can earn him or her the party’s ticket. Aside their individual network of contacts and relative financial war chest, PDP is also said to be considering the ability of the eventual candidate to deliver victory in a contest with Ngige and Umeh.
Some critical factors are thrown up as issues of consideration in arriving at a possible candidate. Among these are the antecedents of each aspirant, their acceptability ratio in their immediate constituency and loyalty to the ideals of the party.
Considering her repeated return to the House, Ekwunife, House Committee Chairman on Ecology, looks good to go for the office. What may easily count against her, however, is the relatively low impact her representation has wrought on the state and the zone. South East has been at the receiving end of erosion and ecological disasters in the country. Not much has, however, been heard of her committee in addressing the menace in terms of enabling legislations.
More than this obvious shortcoming, the frequency of her movement from one party to another readily gives her out as lacking in loyalty and conviction to any political party. The lawmaker has on occasions, for instance, moved from PDP to Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) to APGA and back to the PDP.
This is also the limiting factor on Annie Okonkwo, who has travelled from PDP to Accord Party (AP) to PPA to APGA to APC and back to the PDP. The two are seen as political adventurers who are in regular contest purely for their interest and not on the basis of any identifiable ideology.
Okonkwo’s last outing with APC may also count against him. He, it was, that Ngige beat to emerge senator in 2011 when he was seeking a return to the upper lawmaking chamber. Even in APC where he had angled for a national office, there were indications that it was the looming image of the senator that drove him out of the party.
Sylvester Okonkwo’s aspiration, alleged to be at the prompting of Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, presents him as a stranger to the Anambra Central electorate. He is also from the same ward with Annie, a factor that, many say, may see the latter working against him if he emerges the candidate. The two are said to be in the race essentially to settle scores with each other.
This may, perhaps, present brighter prospects for Obiora Okonkwo. Coming from a state where the church is a critical factor in political calculations, his position as political and economic adviser to the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan See of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, stands to his advantage. Incidentally, he is said to have received the endorsement of the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion for the job.
Okonkwo’s leadership of Nzuko Ime Obi, the umbrella group of leading political and economic elite in Idemili North and South councils of the state, is also a factor that the PDP may give consideration at the primaries. The area, which is known for its dense population, has always played significant role in emergence of any winner in Anambra governorship or Central senatorial contest. It is said to account for almost 50 per cent of votes in the seven councils in the zone. Supporters of Okonkwo, who is said to have been endorsed by traditional rulers from the zone on account of his development politics, count on the block votes from the area to swing victory for PDP, if he eventually emerges the candidate of the party.
He is also seen as a bridge-builder in Anambra politics, given his friendly disposition to the various PDP tendencies in the state. Okonkwo, in an interaction with our correspondent, maintained that his aspiration is not to own the party or dominate its structures, but to ensure its stability for it to remain triumphant in future elections in the state.