JONATHAN SUPPORT APGA IN THE FORTHCOMING ELECTION. Party insists on Nwoye’s nomination, writes INEC •We’are watching, says Ngige As the date for the Anambra State governorship election approaches, indications have emerged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have decided to concede victory to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the ruling party in the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed November 16 for the election and the political parties have held their primary elections to pick their candidates. Daily Independent reliably gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan has tacitly agreed to concede victory to APGA and has convinced the national leadership of the PDP under Bamanga Tukur to come on board. However, the decision is said not to be going down well with some members of the party in Anambra State. Jonathan is said to be using the election to reward Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, for the huge support he has received from him. Obi has given more support to Jonathan since he became President than even some PDP stalwarts. During the 2011 general elections, the Governor openly campaigned for Jonathan while APGA refused to field a Presidential candidate. Besides, Obi has used his position as chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum to garner support for the President at the regional level. Daily Independent reliably gathered that the thinking of the President is that a win by Obi’s anointed candidate will be more beneficial than a victory to a PDP candidate with doubtful loyalty. The President is said to be adopting the template used in the governorship election in Ondo State where the Presidency and the PDP leadership supported the candidacy of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party rather than the candidate of the PDP. The same support was given to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in 2012 in Edo State. While APGA picked Willy Obiano, former Executive Director of Fidelity Bank, the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC) elected Chris Ngige, Senator representing Anambra Central, and former Governor of the state as its candidate. The Labour Party has also picked businessman, Ifeanyi Uba, as its candidate. But while the other parties seem to have tidied up their nominations, PDP is still embroiled in crisis of confidence, with the party producing two candidates –Andy Uba and Tony Nwoye – both laying claim to the ticket. Both contenders are products of the factionalisation of the party in the state. While the Ejike Oguebego-led faction recognised by INEC produced Uba, the PDP-endorsed Emeakayi faction threw up Nwoye, a former students union leader. The PDP has since suspended Uba and four others for conducting a parallel primary election. But a Presidential source who spoke to Daily Independent anonymously said what is happening in the PDP is only but a smokescreen, insisting that the party was not interested in the governorship election. The Presidency is said not to be comfortable with Uba, a known godson of President Olusegun Obasanjo. “The Presidency does not trust Obasanjo and considering the relationship between Uba and the former President which is more like that of father and son, the thinking in Aso Rock is that it will be better to hand over the seat to Obi even if he is a member of APGA because he is more PDP at heart than most members and he is a die-hard supporter of Jonathan. “A win for Obi means that the state will be safe for Jonathan in the 2015 Presidential election. “So, it is the PDP leadership and the Presidency that are causing the confusion in Anambra PDP and it is deliberate. “The fact remains that the party is not interested in winning the ballot. At the end of the day, they may not even field a candidate. The case will be in court until the election is over. “The battle is expected to be between the APC and APGA with PDP playing a proxy role. Jonathan and the PDP leadership have vowed to ensure that Obi wins,” our source said. However, when contacted, Senator Ben Obi, Anambra-born PDP chieftain and Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Relations, said he was not aware of the arrangement. “I am not aware of the arrangement. That is not even a political reality,” he said. Asked why he believes it is not a political reality, Obi said: “INEC has not even told us who the candidates of each of the political parties are.” But Ngige, the APC candidate said he has heard of the deal. “I have also heard about it but I don’t want to believe the story. I heard it from the rumour mill but I don’t want to believe because in the last two governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, the President had called for one man, one vote and that was what happened. “So, we need one man one vote and we will be watchful.” But Ngige said what was happening in Anambra PDP and even APGA was strange. “Both parties have two candidates each and that is strange. Our legal team is looking at the issue.” Reminded that the templates in Edo and Ondo are the same the President is alleged to be using in Anambra, Ngige said his party will adopt a wait and see attitude. “We will be very watchful and see if it is doable. I dont know the degree of support Jonathan gave to Oshiomhole in Edo because I was there to monitor the election and the Governor won hands down. The only thing I know is that the Federal Government controls the security but they are paid with tax payers’ money and they belong to everybody and therefore should be neutral. “Besides, I am not the President’s enemy, so he cannot work against me.” But then, in spite of all the intrigues, the PDP has written to INEC, insisting on the nomination of Tony Nwoye as its candidate in the election. In a letter to the commission dated September 13, PDP’s counsel, J.K. Gadzama, drew the commission’s attention to reports in the media where it was alleged that Andy Uba had been upheld as the party’s candidate for the election upon court order. In the letter signed by Joe-Kyari Gadzama, and Managing Partner, J.N Egwuonwu, it was deposed that the judgment of the court ordering the parties to the dispute on the legitimacy of the Anambra State PDP executive should maintain the status quo did not in any way infer that the nomination of Nwoye through the primary conducted by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) should be upturned. While noting that the conduct of governorship primaries is the exclusive function of the national executive committees of political parties as stipulated by Section 87 of the Electoral Act, the letter said a change of leadership even if enforced on the party cannot alter the job procedurally done by the INEC which produced Nwoye as the party’s candidate. While appealing to INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, to maintain the integrity of the commission under his watch, PDP referred to the order of the Federal High Court asking the parties in Anambra State to maintain the status quo. It wrote: “Sadly, this order of court, most especially the third paragraph which states that the 1st and 2nd defendants (PDP and INEC) should recognise and deal with the 1st plaintiff (Ejike Oguebego) in all matters in Anambra State has been badly misconstrued and the position of the court deliberately and mischievously misrepresented.”
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:33:34 +0000
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