Anambra 2014: Their eyes on Obi’s seat Even as lull and uncertainty continue to trail the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for November 16, at least by the activities of politicians, there are still indication that some politicians are warming up to take the seat currently occupied by the state Governor, Mr. Peter Obi. About ten of the people who are jostling to take the seat are considered to be serious contenders. TONY OKAFOR reports from Awka that there are still many who are still thinking through their ambitions. But here are the 10 front runners so far. Uche Ekwunife: She is currently the only female contestant in the race. She is at the present in the House of Representatives on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). She is a two-term House of Representatives member. She was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before she joined the Progressives Peoples Alliance, PPA and contested the governorship of the state in 2010. Although not successful in the 2010 race, where she scored about 9,000 votes out of about 200, 000 valid votes cast in that poll, she ran the best campaign in the period under review. Ekwunife is known for her doggedness in anything she wants to achieve. But Ekwunife may find it difficult to get a platform to fulfil her dream as the Governor of the State, Peter Obi, who is the major single financier of APGA, has vowed that the Anambra North district will produce the next Governor of the state. Ekwunife is from Anambra Central zone that had produced two governors of the state in succession, in Chris Ngige and Peter Obi. Besides, Anambra is one society that has not fully embraced women leadership. CHRIS NGIGE: Chris Nwabueze Ngige is a medical doctor. He is a solid politician. He knows the political terrain of the state like his palm. He was governor of Anambra State from 2003-2006 before he was ousted by Peter Obi through court judgements. During his reign as governor of Anambra State, he was nick-named “the road master” because of the network of roads he constructed in the state, especially in Idemili area of the state. Again, the people of the state always stand up for him in any occasion because of the way he silenced certain god fathers in the state whose penchant then was to collaborate with some elected officials to loot the state’s treasury. Because of his stoic stance to protect the state’s funds, he lost favour with some big wigs in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and thus, forayed into the Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN). He pulled his supporters to his new found political platform in which he contested the 2010 governorship election of the state. He came third in that year’s poll, trailing behind Obi’s APGA and Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s PDP. Not satisfied with the result, Ngige dragged Obi, the winner of the poll to court. The outcome of that action is still shrouded in controversy. Continuing fighting, in 2011, Ngige contesded the Anambra Central Senatoral District election and was declared the winner against highly rated Professor Dora Akunyili , a former Minister of information and the APGA candiadate in the poll. But some are of the view that Ngige may not make it in the 2014 governorship in the state. Even within members of his ACN, some are of the view that Ngige cannot continue to be a “persistent contestant in every election. Hear one of them,”Since 2003, Ngige has contested all the election that had come. It is not his birth rights; we need to try other people, who are younger.” Besides, Ngige is from Anambra Central zone that had been on the saddle of leadership of the state since 2003. AKACHUKWU NWAMKPO: He is little known in Anambra State before his appointment as a Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on technical matters. He prides himself as the President’s governorship candidate for Anambra 2014. He is a native of Okija, in Ihiala Local Government Area. His ambition to become the Governor of the state has metaphorically driven him crazy. When some parts of the state were flooded, he announced himself to the state with his programme “Anambra Response”, a platform many saw as his governorship campaign outlet, rather than a programme to help victims of the flood. Most of his functions in the state recently ended up ingloriously. A rally believed to be organised by him tagged “grand rally” was stopped by the police following controversies it generated in his party - the PDP. This development somehow revealed that he may not be Jonathan’s anointed candidate after all. A Chieftaincy title ceremony organised in his honour recentlty was shunned by prominent politicians in the state. This, again, to many is another danger signal. Besides Akachukwu is from Anambra South zone that had produced four governors of the state: Chukwueme Ezeife, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, Dame Virgi Etiaba and Andy Uba. DUBEM OBAZE: Dubem Obaze launched himself into Anambra State politics when Governor Obi appointed him Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy matters in 2006. He continued to serve in that capacity until last year, when he was relieved of his duty, apparently to enable him to go and prepare for his gubernatorial ambition. As Commissioner,Obaze acted as de facto Governor of the state. He delved into town union crisis and won “by fire and by force”. He was 100 per cent in control of Local Government Affairs and funds. This made him so powerful in the state. He is favoured by the current political equation and equity in the state. He is from Ogbaru in Anambra North Senatorial zone where the thinking of the majority is tilting towards producing the next governor. However, some were not quite satisfied with the way he handled the affairs of local governments and town union during his reign as commissioner. Besides, grapevine has it that his elder brother, Oseleka Obaeze, who is currently the Secretary to the Anambra State Government, is better favoured by some big forces in the APGA . ALEX OBIGBOLU: A medical doctor and grassroots politician is from Onitsha in Anambra North Senatorial district. He is one of the most experienced politicians in the state. Obiogbolu is one politician that is domiciled in Anambra State for 365 days of the year. The problems and prospects of the 326 wards in the state are on his palm. His admirers call him the OBAMA of Anambra State because of his eloquence, political sagacity and problem-solving ingenuity. He is an unrepentant PDP member since inception in 1999. His major undoing is the crisis in his party. When he contested the PDP gubernatorial primaries against thickly- rich Andy Uba in 2007, he made the latter sweat in his undies. His “turn-by-turn” political philosophy has given rise to the current clamour to zone the guber race of the state, for the first time in the history of the state. If the crisis in his party would be resolved and may be, a strong financial sponsor behind him, Obiogbulu is the man to beat in this year’s governorship polls. ANDY UBA: Andy Uba does not need introduction in Anambra, nay Nigeria. He had navigated through the territorial waters of controversy at one time or another. One of them was that he had the record of being the shortest ever tenure as Governor in the country if not in the world. He was in office for 17 days as the governor of Anambra State. The incumbent Governor Peter Obi, sacked him through a Supreme Court Judgement that upturned his (Uba’s) declaration by INEC as the winner of the 2007 governorship polls in the state. During his short stay as governor, Andy Uba showed remarkable commitment to establish a cargo airport in the state to further boost commercial activities in Onitsha and other parts of the state. With time, people are gradually having sympathy for him to rule the state because of his mien and quick to accepting defeat and misfortune each time he is confronted with one. His major problem in the race is that he comes from Anambra South zone that had dominated the governorship of the state. Again, the Uba family has become somewhat a recurring problem to the people of the state at one time or another. But, he has enough resources to turn his enemies to friends overnight. But he may have scores to settle in PDP. IFEANYI UBAH: He is a business mogul from Nnewi in Anambra South Senatorial district. His wealth opens gates for him. As far back as 2011, he had begun his foundation, which many correctly suspected as a political campaign platform. In 2012, he began with kerosene sales at very cheap rate to the Anambra masses who applauded his gesture at the most auspicious time when kerosene scarcity crippled many homes. Shortly after, he added distribution of rice and much later allocation of vehicles to political to teeming political loyalists. He tries in different fora to distinguish his own UBAH from that of the popular Uba family. He would say my own ‘Ubah is with an H.’ (Ubah). He is from Nnewi while the popular “Ubas” are from Aguata; though in the same Anambra South Senatorial zone. He has the favour of Victor Umeh’s faction of APGA. Before this time, he was an obscure figure in Anambra State politics. His major crisis is the crisis in his party- APGA. Again, he is from Anambra South Senatorial zone. Besides, when the veil was lifted on his Capital Oil Company, and he was picked by the EFCC, many started having a second look at him as a person to entrust with the leadership of the state. NICHOLAS UKACHUKWU: He is multimillionaire from Osumenyi in Nnewi South Local Government Area. Many cannot distinguish between his arrogance and philanthropy. In the 2010 governorship race in the state, he vowed not to contest any other elections in the state if he failed in that year’s poll. For him, God told him that he would become the Governor of the state that year. But that prophesy failed as his Hope Democratic Party (HDP as it then was) only won in his village. He is another recurring decimal in Anambra election since 1991. Most people are literally tired of him as far as Anambra politics is concerned. One of his former followers described him this way: “This man doesn’t know what he wants. Today, he is in PDP; tomorrow, he is in ANPP; next tomorrow, you see him in HDP. I don’t know why he should not concentrate in his business. Anambra has grown beyond a diploma holder being its Governor.” CHUKWUMA SOLUDO: He doesn’t need introduction. He is a first class material in anything he finds himself. At the young age of 38, he had become a Professor and acclaimed international scholar. In 2010, he tried his hands in politics, vying for the governorship of the state and came out with bruises. But sources say he still wants to lead his state to actualise his ambition: African Dubai/Taiwan for his native land-Anambra. It was gathered that he may fly the flag of the Labour Party in this year’s governorship election in the state. For many, Soludo is the governor that can sustain the legacies put in place by the present government in the state but Anambra is place that diminishes professors, politically. It happened to Professor ABC Nwosu in 1999, Professor Soludo himself in 2010 and Professor Akunyili
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 12:09:44 +0000
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