Special Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, looks at the issues and personalities at play in the rerun election for Anambra Central Senatorial District.
It is not for nothing that electoral contests in Anambra Central Senatorial Zone almost draw the same attention as governorship election in the state. This is especially considering the calibre of aspirants and candidates that usually go for available positions and slots in the district. The situation was not different during the last general elections.
Aside the individual strength of the three dominant political parties in the area – All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), permutations by political observers, even before any contest, add to the anxiety and often desperation over who would eventually carry the day.
In the last senatorial election, the three parties presented candidates; but battle was essentially between former National Chairman of (APGA), Victor Umeh, and Mrs. Uche Ekwunife of the PDP.
The APC candidate who was then representing the district at the National Assembly, Dr. Chris Ngige, carried out his campaign in a manner that suggested that he was not keen at returning to the upper lawmaking house. There were indications that he was looking at the bigger picture of his party clinching the presidency, which, according to his supporters, appeared more important.
At the end of that contest, Ekwunife was declared the winner – an action that prompted Umeh to petition the outcome at the elections petitions tribunal. The tribunal, however, upheld Ekwunife’s election. But Umeh, who would not take the verdict, approached the Court of Appeal, which, on Monday, December 7, upturned the judgement of the tribunal. The court, in its judgment, called for fresh election, thereby nullifying the victory of Ekwunife in the said election.
Umeh had gone to the tribunal praying it to declare him winner of the said election after cancelling some results he alleged were manipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of Ekwunife.
Observers have been commenting on the judgment. While some see it as fit and proper, others insist that the appellate court granted the APGA candidate what he did not ask for. They argue that the court ought to have either declared Umeh winner or upheld the declaration of INEC, rather than cancelling the entire election, given that the APGA flag-bearer never prayed for the conduct of a fresh election.
On their own, Ekwunife’s supporters demand that the National Judicial Council (NJC) should review the rulings of the appellate court judges, alleging bias in the entire process.
Though it is not clear at the moment if Ekwunife has submitted any petition to that effect, agitation for a review is being sustained by her supporters. This is also as Umeh’s supporters are calling for investigation of INEC officials who conducted the election.
Umeh on the beat again
Whichever way the argument goes, for Umeh, the court’s verdict offers a fresh beginning as he braces up for the task ahead. It will also offer his party, APGA, opportunity of having one of its own inside the Red Chamber of the National Assembly, if he wins in the rerun election.
It has, however, been estimated that this will not come easy. In fact, observers of certain uncanny developments within APGA are of the opinion that Umeh needs to go back to the drawing board and reconcile the incidences of cracks in the party which reportedly contributed in denying him victory in the last election.
There were, for instance, insinuations that some aggrieved members of the party worked against his ambition following the outcome of the party’s local government primary election.
Part of the allegations was that those who emerged flag-bearers of the party at the end of the primaries were shortchanged while non-card-carrying members and those who had no business with the primary election became candidates.
There are also members who allege that despite their contributions to the victory of the party in the last gubernatorial election in Anambra, strangers were brought into government, leaving them in the lurch.
Observers note that those pockets of grievances may work against Umeh in the rerun election, if not thoroughly resolved. Besides, there are internal intrigues in the constituting wards and constituencies that analysts note may count in ensuring that APGA earns a smooth sail at the poll.
But with Dozie Nwankwo’s victory at the tribunal and Court of Appeal, it is estimated that the euphoria may come handy in ensuring victory for the former APGA chairman in the Anaocha-Dunukofia-Njikoka Federal Constituency which he (Nwankwo) represents at the House of Representatives.
The story may, however, not be the same in Idemili North and South Federal Constituency where Obinna Chidioka of the PDP is in full control.
Idemili North Local Government Area has the highest number of registered voters in the senatorial district put at over 160,000. The argument by informed observers is that in the event of a candidate in the exercise scoring up to 100,000 votes, it would be pretty difficult for him or her to be upstaged. The area, currently under PDP, may thus offer veritable fishing ground for Ekwunife.
In similar vein, Awka North and South Federal Constituency is still under the control of the PDP with former Anambra Speaker, Anayo Nebe, representing it at the National Assembly.
Even with these apparent odds, Umeh seems equal to the task. With enticing strings of victories that he has chalked from various court rooms, he has established himself as somebody with unyielding spirit.
APGA, as an institution, also owes him immense gratitude and should offer him a rewarding gift with resounding victory at the election, commentators have argued.
His leadership of APGA had, while it lasted, ensured consolidation for the party in Anambra. It had, for instance, ensured re-election of Obi as governor, and had won more seats in Anambra legislature in 2011 elections.
The party also made commendable in-road in Imo, ensuring the election of Governor Rochas Okorocha, in addition to more members in the state’s assembly. Okorocha later defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that fused into APC. Even then, APGA, under Umeh, also made appreciable impact at the national level, giving the party its first senator, Chris Anyanwu, who, however, later crossed over to PDP.
Obiano back to trenches
It is in this regard that many suggest that Governor Willie Obiano should put in more than a passing interest in the election. Obiano’s influence had incidentally worked for APGA in the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections. Though he was not a candidate for the polls, Obiano’s presence accounted for the party winning most of the seats in the state’s legislature.
It is expected that he would be back in the trenches in the Anambra Central Senatorial election rerun.
Aside the governor throwing his weight behind Umeh as pay-back for standing by him during his emergence as APGA governorship candidate and eventual triumph at the polls, there is an angle of politics of prestige in the on-coming battle.
It is widely believed in some quarters, for instance, that the outcome of the contest will go a long way in establishing his hold on Anambra politics. “This is an opportunity for the governor to announce to the whole world that he is now a man of his own and capable of directing the state of affairs in the state,” volunteered an APGA state executive committee member, who asked not to be mentioned.
In a way, this falls into the thinking of many. With relations between Obiano and his predecessor, Peter Obi, who has joined PDP, not in the best of forms, the rerun election becomes more of a proxy war between the two. While Obi, who has barely disguised his backing for Ekwunife, may use the contest to settle scores with his estranged godson, who has lately stood up to him, Obiano may see it as an opportunity to announce that he is the new sheriff in Anambra politics. Besides, the turn-out will speak volumes on how far the governor may go in his re-election in 2018.
Ekwunife on familiar terrain
Going by her litany of feats in Anambra politics, Ekwunife could be said to have been rightly described as an amazon that cannot be underrated in any political contest.
Her wealth of experience in politics has always been her advantage at all times. Her opponents have alleged that her victory in the last election was due to the influence of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience (his wife) and Obi.
Perceptive analysts, however, interpret this portrayal as an unfair dismissal of the erstwhile lawmaker who parades a well-oiled political structure that has been intact since 2007, when she first contested for the House of Representatives seat.
Ekwunife also has this pedigree of gaining political mileage across political parties. Her constituency projects and foundation while in the House of Representatives also work for her.
There is also the expectation that she will count on her goodwill with her high profile party members in the state to do the leg work for her.
The combination of Senator Andy Uba, Ifeanyi Uba, Senator Stella Oduah, Nicholas Ukachukwu, former Governor Obi and PDP foot soldiers who are veterans in successive political encounters in the state, could be a huge asset for her.
Ngige on the wings
It is not clear if Ngige will take part in the election.
There are however feelings that with the crisis in the Senate, especially the litigations against Senate President Bukola Saraki working against him, the South East may be positioned for his office if Ngige contests and wins.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that APC leadership is giving this emerging permutation a serious consideration.
Their thinking, according to sources, is that Ngige would be a better alternative and that his emergence would provide the party an opportunity of having a firm grip on Anambra before the next governorship election.
With Ngige as Senate President and another minister of APC extraction from Anambra State, it would produce a strong template for the APC to wrest power from APGA, promoters of the agenda are said to be reasoning.
The snag with this permutation, however, is that it may see two south easterners – Ike Ekweremadu (Deputy Senate President) and Ngige – occupying the two prime positions in the upper legislative house. Analysts see this as politically unviable in Nigeria.
Incidentally, APGA as a party would certainly not go to sleep while the APC hatches its plans.