Anambra 2013: APGA, PDP, APC battle over consensus candidates In the embattled All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the two reconciliatory committees set up by Chief Victor Umeh and his rival Barrister Maxi Okwu are said to have reached a temporary agreement to retain the former as national chairman, withdraw all litigations that are pending in court, while Governor Peter Obi picks a gubernatorial candidate with the endorsement of Umeh. Choked by the timetable for the November 2013 gubernatorial election in Anambra which was made public by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties in the state are battling to settle for consensus candidates to fly their flags. Aside the short time frame given to the parties to organise primary elections and present their flag bearers for the election, pockets of internal crisis have reduced their options and given rise for consensus candidacy. In the embattled All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the two reconciliatory committees set up by Chief Victor Umeh and his rival Barrister Maxi Okwu are said to have reached a temporary agreement to retain the former as national chairman, withdraw all litigations that are pending in court, while Governor Peter Obi picks a gubernatorial candidate with the endorsement of Umeh. Against this backdrop, the more than 20 gubernatorial aspirants from APGA and Anambra North Senatorial zone in particular have been reduced to four while those from Anambra North Central have reduced to five instead of 17 two months ago. A source from the reconciliation committees told Saturday Independent “It is very likely that Victor Umeh will win his case and the option is to accept him as national chairman and go for consensus candidate. We are looking at Anambra North for our flag bearer and most of the aspirants are ready to agree on that consensus and we have already impressed upon those of the South and Central Senatorial Zones to step down for an aspirants from the North and most of them are already thinking in that direction.” It was also gathered that Governor Peter Obi is considering four aspirants. They are Dr. Chike Obidigbo from Oyi Local Government Area, Barr Chinedu Idigo of Anambra East Local Government Area, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Paul Odenigbo of Anyamelum Council Area and the current SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze from Ogbaru, all in Anambra North Senatorial zone. Emerging reports about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) indicate that the trio of Professor Charles Soludo, Senator Andy Uba and Nicholas Ukachukwu have not accepted the national leadership approach that two out of three of them to step down. They however insisted that none of them would fly the flag of the party but can settle for a consensus candidate that do not belong to any of the political camps. Top on the list are Senator Emma Anosike from Anambra East Council Area, Barr. Mike Ikegbunam from Anyamelum Council Area while former chairman Tony Nwoye could not be considered due to alleged issues he has with most party stakeholders who accused him of stepping on toes while he was chairman of the party. Should the trio of Soludo, Uba and Ukachukwu agree to the proposal of the national leadership of PDP, the contest would be between Anosike and Ikegbunam the source confirmed. “We want somebody that has not offended anybody. We want a candidate that is neutral and not those that have issues with people,” this paper was told. While APGA and PDP appear to have a headway, the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) is already facing harmonisation problems over what the interim executive in Anambra would look like. As a result the party has been considering former Governor Senator Chris Ngige as a likely candidate. But some stakeholders are of the view that primaries must be conducted, and Engr. Godwin Ezemo, Ngige and Engr. Hyjers Ifeanyichukwu allowed to contest. According to the state chairman of the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Prince Chuba Ikeagwu, “There must be internal democracy in APC and we will not give room for the imposition of candidates. Yes, Ngige is good but the process by which he will emerge must be democratic.” National leadership of APC which made Ngige the arrowhead of the party in the South East still insists that they cannot afford to lose the first election, hence the choice of Ngige who is generally seen as a popular choice. The consensus issue in the other parties has swollen the ranks of the Labour Party, and as at the time of this report five gubernatorial aspirants have collapsed their campaign organisations into that of Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah. According to Chief Aron Nwakor who spoke on behalf of the aspirants, “You see what is going on in my former party PDP is a shame and we cannot take it anymore. The same thing is going on in APGA and even this new one APC. So after we must have spent money mobilising people for the party. Somebody would come from nowhere to take the flag."
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:39:23 +0000
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