Anambra Guber Race - 11 aspirants Strategies Against Andy Uba …As Shock, disbelief trail Soludo’s disqualification in APGA ELEVEN ASPIRANTS in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who at the commencement of the congresses pledged to work for the realization of the party’s victory in the gubernatorial polls have taken their collaboration to a higher level. The 11 aspirants My Political Arena learnt at the weekend have obtained an injunction restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC from interfering in the ongoing congresses. The injunction is to be served on INEC this morning, authoritative sources in the Group of 11, G11 told My Political Arena at the weekend. The injunction it was learnt follows fears among the aspirants that INEC could intervene to the extent of declaring the ward congresses conducted by the Ken Emeakayi led mainstream of the party illegal. Indications to a possible decision by INEC follows the commission’s insistence that it only recognizes the Ejike Oguebego faction of the party which reportedly has the sympathy of Chief Chris Uba. There is little doubt among PDP partisans in Anambra that the coalition of aspirants which obtained the injunction is aiming its arsenal against Senator Andy Uba, the PDP’s candidate in 2007 and one of the most powerful forces on ground in the state. Senator Uba is presently the chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC and the 11 aspirants in the Emeakayi camp according to sources fear that Senator Uba may use his influence on the commission to get it to recognize the nomination congresses being organized by the Oguebego faction of the party. “We will not take chances and that is why we are going this way,” one of the aspirants involved told My Political Arena at the weekend. “INEC has no role in the organization of the congress and we do not want to take any chance on the issue,” the source told My Political Arena . 7 aspirants to participate in NNPP gubernatorial primaries NO fewer that seven persons are to vie for the ticket of New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, for the Anambra governorship election. The party has already chosen its candidates for the local government elections. National secretary of the party, Mr. Major Abu, who spoke during the presentation of nomination form to one of its governorship aspirants, Prince Leonard Uchendu at the party’s state headquarters in Awka, explained that primaries for the selection of NNPP candidate for the November 16, 2013 governorship election will hold on August 30, 2013. According to Abu, the party is collecting only N1 million from the aspirants because of its belief that asking the aspirants to pay so much money was a way of scaring good people who may have good ideas for the development of the state. Speaking after picking the form, Uchendu, who is the president general of Umuawulu Town Union in Awka South local government area of the state, promised to tackle the critical areas of social and economic sectors of the state if elected governor of Anambra State. He commended the incumbent governor, Mr. Peter Obi for the giant strides he recorded during his tenure and promised to surpass him if given the opportunity. APC in secret mobilization drive THE APC hierarchy had recently spread the word across the state to members that it had gotten the INEC voter’s cards for members. However, those who came to locations around the 21 local government areas of the state for the voter’s cards last weekend instead of the INEC voter’s cards were formally registered as members of the party. Indeed, in many places in the state at the weekend, members of APC were seen registering new members. Meanwhile, the assertion by two of the party’s leading gubernatorial aspirants, Senator Annie Okonkwo and Mr. Godwin Ezemo that they have adopted the former ANPP chairman in the state, Chief Pat Orjiakor as the interim chairman of the APC in the state is being hotly disputed by the camp of Senator Chris Ngige.Senator Ngige was not at the meeting where Orjiakor was adopted and his camp is believed not to be inclined towards Orjiakor, a source close to Ngige disclosed at the weekend. Shock, disbelief trail Soludo’s disqualification in APGA MANY people in Anambra State expressed shock weekend when information filtered in that Professor Charles Soludo did not make it at the screening of governorship aspirants at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja. While people wondered why any party would not like to field somebody like Soludo as its flag bearer, others said he ought to have known that Nigerian politics is not meant for people like him. Gov Obi struggles to wiggle out of the Soludo conspiracy GOVERNOR Peter Obi was yesterday desperately trying to divorce himself from the alleged conspiracy that disqualified Prof. Charles Soludo from the governorship race on the ticket of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. Prof. Soludo alongside five other aspirants including the erstwhile SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze were disqualified by the party’s screening committee on Friday. Since the news of the disqualification of Soludo from the APGA nomination contest, insinuations of a conspiracy orchestrated by powerful interests in the presidency have been abuzz. Powerful interests According to the speculations, the APGA top hierarchy was coerced to move against Soludo on the suspicion that he, Soludo would be antagonistic to Jonathan’s presidential aspirations in 2015. Commissioner for Information and Culture, Chief Joe Martins Uzodike, who spoke for the governor, described the insinuation as unfounded, adding that APGA, set up a committee to screen prospective candidates with clear guidelines and wondered why Governor Obi should be blamed for a job done by a committee he was not a member. Uzodike said: “Do you think the Governor himself is happy over the screening? How can he, when the immediate Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze whom he brought back from the USA was also screened out?” the Commissioner asked. He also described as untrue the rumour that Prof. Charles Soludo was screened out because of the interest of the presidency after it was rumoured that Obi was the one who brought him into APGA to replace him. According to him, the fact is that whatever happens in Nigeria is often interpreted not according to facts, but according to the people’s fancies, without even an iota of truth in most of them. On Governor Obi’s insistence that the governorship will move to Anambra North, the commissioner said people should understand it from the point of view of the fact that the governor would only support a candidate from the North, as he, according to him, does not have the powers to stick to that if the people of the state decided otherwise. He, however, assured that the governor’s preference for the next governor remains Anambra North. “Even as electioneering is gearing up, the Governor says it at any fora that he will only support a candidate from the North in the spirit of equity and fairness,” he said.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 08:18:28 +0000
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