2019: Southeast politicians and the scramble for VP seat

Talking politics, the Southeast is quiet. Not many political actors from the geopolitical zone would readily consent to formal interaction with journalists. They are keeping their opinions about the goings on in the nation’s polity to their chests. The few that give out opinions for public consumption do so with tongue in cheek. Yet, there is a tumult of political activities concerning the zone taking place in the cover of secrecy and outside the precincts of the zone.

The two prominent issues that are engaging the attention of forward looking political actors in Southeast include the throwback to the 2015 governorship elections and scheming for the 2019 vice presidential position.

Among Southeast politicians across the political divides, there seem to be a quiet acceptance of the assumed zoning of the vice presidential slot to the area. This tacit acceptance has therefore fueled anticipation and plots by some notable actors to position themselves effectively so as to be the beautiful bride when ‘come comes to become’.

Apart from the recent meeting of Igbo leaders in Owerri under the umbrella of Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo, the political atmosphere in Southeast has been in quietude, a reverse from its boisterous nature during the Jonathan years.

There is no doubt that the politics of the immediate past era negatively impacted on the clout and credibility of the umbrella socio-cultural organization. As such, the Owerri meeting was more like a lifeline to Ohanaeze than animation to the politics of the region. It becomes apparent then that the covert plans by some politicians for the VP positions remain most ardent.

Delayed Ambition
AT the build up to the 2015 general election, based on the promotion of zonal support for the then president Goodluck Jonathan, politicians from the zone were barred from accepting the position of presidential running mate, particularly on account of the spirited agitation by the north for the return of presidential power to their zone.

Consequently, given the bandwagon effect of the campaign for Jonathan’s second term presidency, most politicians jettisoned any pretension for the post of vice president. The position of the state governors, most of who were of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform made matters very acute. Nobody wanted to show exception in the much pretended show of popular support for the president. A lot of people still recall how on September 27, 2010 some Southeast leaders under the aegis of Igbo Summit, were locked out from Imo Concorde Hotel, venue of their planned meeting, by orders from ‘above’, to prevent them from resolving zonal support for a presidential candidate from the north.

Again, just as fear of the governors helped to diffuse the ambition of any of actor from the zone, those who wanted to advance to the presidency, were occupying one political post or another. More over, some of those in that category were either governors with eyes on the senate or other appointments or in the senate.

But overall, it happened that most of those attending the Owerri meeting were pro-north Southeast politicians who did not see a viable space to express their ambition, even for the vice presidency. Over and above that, their clarion call for Igbo presidency in 2015 made any pretension for VP superfluous.

Prominent among those attending the botched Igbo Summit were; second republic Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; Senator Ken Nnamani; former Central Bank Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo; Prof. George Obiozor; Chief Simeon Okeke; former governors of Ebonyi, Imo and Anambra, Dr. Sam Egwu, Achike Udenwa, Dr. Chris Ngige; Senator Ben Ndi Obi; Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa; Prince B. B. Apugo; AVM Luke Ochulor (retd); Mrs. Chinwe Obaji among others.

The pro-north politicians clamoured for support of a northern presidential candidate in 2011, believing that that was the shortest political strategy to actualize the 2015 date for the emergence of a Nigeria president of Igbo extraction. But the point in their argument and workability of their strategy went with the wind, as the viable political platforms, especially PDP and ACN, were beyond their control and influence.

However, after that delayed ambition, the clock seems to have run full circle. Southeast supported Jonathan in 2011 and 2015, thus excavating every ground upon which the argument for a president of Igbo extraction would have been renewed. In the zeal to return the then president Jonathan to a second term, even the fact that Chief Chekwas Okorie was standing on a ready platform in search of the presidency did not sway the governors to allow the people free choice during the election. A grand fantasy was created, conveying the deceptive notion that every vote in Southeast was programmed for PDP.

And so with PDP’s astonishing loss of the presidency in 2015; most politicians in the zone now see the once despised VP position as their best bet. Even as they secretly strategise and innocuously position themselves for the VP slot, these political playmakers leave tell-tale signs of their aspiration. So far, the winks of the following juggernauts in the dark have succeeded in attracting attention.

Ken Ugwu Nnamani
Senator Nnamani emerged as president of Nigeria’s Senate in 2005, shortly after the occupant of the office, Senator Adolphus Nwabara, quit that exalted chair over accusations of corruption. Although it was Nnamani’s first term in the senate, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that was in the majority defied the ranking order and tagged the senator representing Enugu-East senatorial district to replace Nwabara as president. Going by PDP’s zoning arrangement the senate presidency was allotted to the Southeast.

Nnamani came into the senate presidency at a time of great national apprehension about an underhand plot by the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to make his term in office elastic. Bolstered by powers pecuniary and potent, the third term agenda was threatening national political peace, such that given the docility of the citizenry, the possibility was becoming obvious.

Those who felt that Obasanjo’s schemes could pull back the hand of democratic progress looked up to the National Assembly, notably the senate; for escape. It was against the background of such ominous plot that Nnamani came to the centre stage, applying legislative dexterity that was buoyed by his many years sojourn in the land of democracy, US. He steered debates and discussions on the constitution amendment process, which was poisoned by the odious tenure elongation appendix, such that by the time he unexpectedly put the matter to question, the bill was defeated. Just as the ‘nay’ votes exceeded the ‘ayes’, Nnamani’s political image ballooned. Ever since, the one term senator has retained the goodwill of Nigerians based on the simply way he decapitated the dangerous out growth.

Nearly a year after a new democratic regime was inaugurated, the former president of senate founded the Ken Nnamani Leadership Centre, through which he continued to champion issues of good governance and democracy. In February 2016, through a well circulated letter, Nnamani announced his exit from PDP. “Without any iota of bitterness in my heart, I have decided to disengage from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and consequently step aside from partisan politics in the interim,” he wrote.

Many believed that his resignation from the party that gave him position and acclaim was due to the shocking defeat PDP suffered in the 2015 presidential election. But anticipating that line of reasoning, Nnamani had declared his frustration over the debilitating political corruption that has afflicted the former ruling party. He had stated: “I recall that the virus of corruption of values and mission was what those colleagues of mine and I set out to cure through the formation of the PDP Reform Forum in 2010/11. We worked hard to draw up a new direction for the Party.”

But no sooner had the former number three man turned his back on his former party than speculation became rife that he was on his way to joining the new ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Was Ken getting himself prepared for a new role in the APC? A lot of people in Southeast believe that he was warming himself for a big role in the ruling party in 2019, especially in the light of plans by President Muhammadu Buhari’s footsoldiers to ensure his second term in office.

Senator Nnamani gave credence to such speculation when he led some politicians in APC from the zone to meet with the president. Sources however disclosed that the president was not too pleased that those endorsing him for the new role included the very people that demanded gratification from him when he sought the 2007 presidential ticket in his former party.

Senator Ike Ekweremadu
Ike Ekweremadu has been circulating in Nigeria’s senate for the past 13years. Four years after he won election into the Enugu West senatorial seat, he was elected the deputy president of senate. At the build up to the 2015 general election, opposition to his fourth term in the Red Chamber had gained momentum. It all began with a feeble aspiration by the publicity secretary to Ohanaeze Nd’Igbo, Mr. O. A. U Onyema to replace the deputy senate president through a power sharing arrangement between the various components of the senatorial zone, notably the Udi/Ezeagu bloc. Onyema had argued that having occupied the various turns of the Awgu/Oji River bloc in Enugu West senatorial zone, 2015 was the ample time for Udi/Ezeagu to take their turn and represent the zone. Later, when the immediate past governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sullivan Chime, showed interest in the senate seat, Onyema retreated to the background, at least, because he does not seem to parade the deep purse needed to dislodge an incumbent.

When push came to shove and the presidency intervened, Chime was said to have been asked to choose between selecting his preferred candidate for governorship and Enugu West senatorial seat. To further constrict his choice and coral him, Chime was reminded that the then president wanted Ekweremadu back in the senate for ‘strategic reasons’.

Upon his surprise return as deputy president of senate after the vanquishing of PDP at the 2015 poll, Ekweremadu began anew his plots for the next political destination during the zoning of the offices of the various positions for the party. He was accused of working for a zoning format that would favour his desire to be the running mate to a presidential candidate. Knowing that he is done with the senate, the fourth term senator is oiling his machinery for the ambition.

Dr. Ogbonnia Onu
The first time Dr. Ogbonnia Onu campaigned to be president of Nigeria was in 1999 when he was used to balance out the schemes for the military orchaestrated political transition to democratic rule. As governor of old Abia State, Onu spent most of his time building bridges of goodwill through freebies and gestures to powerful Emirs and traditional rulers in the northern part of Nigeria.

Although his tenure as governor of old Abia was short-lived, Dr. Onu has created the image of a peaceable politician. It is this dove-like quality that the current minister of Science and Technology believes would grant him the opportunity to pair with a northern candidate in 2019. However the minister has been engaged in battle wits with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the party’s structure in Ebonyi State.

After running for governor of Ebonyi unsuccessfully for two times, the minister’s following seemed to have petered out as most of his loyal acolytes switched camps and allegiances. In the 2015 governorship poll, his kinsman and former supporter, Chief David Umahi Nweze, emerged as governor. This has added new challenges to the minister as he seeks a comfortable base to support his aspiration for a higher office in 2019.

At the victory of President Buhari, the minister had very high hopes that he would be appointed Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), an opening that he felt would have brought him back into national consciousness for political consideration. When Onu presented his book late last year, the quality and caliber of those that graced the occasion raised anew the speculation that he was a sure bet for the post of presidential running mate. The minister believes that his staying power in opposition all the years of PDP’s extravagant rule, places him head and shoulders above any other candidate in the zone, especially against the background of the anti-corruption stance of the present administration.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige PHOTO: NAN

Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige
For Senator Chris Ngige, talks about his pairing with current governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmed el Rufai, has never waned since May 29, 2015. The political understanding between el Rufai and the APC strong man in Anambra predated the 2013 governorship in Anambra. Those in the know said el Rufai was convinced that he would make it in 2015 as governor of Kaduna State and wanted Ngige to mount the saddle in Anambra and from that pedestal serve as the oracle of Southeast in 2019, when they hope to clamour for a generational shift in Nigeria’s leadership.

As electoral fortune smiled on APC in the presidential election, it was also said that the Kaduna governor initially wanted the current minister of Labour and Employment as the minister of FCT, so as to not only complete the reinforcement of obedience to the federal capital master plan, but also bring him closer to the seat of power. Part of the argument, sources said, el Rufai advanced was that since no person from the Southeast made it to the senate on APC platform, it would make for political inclusion to make an Igbo the FCT minister for the first time in recent history.

The unstated ambition of the Kaduna governor has been at the root of his squabble with some presidential inner men in the presidency. Ngige has set his eyes anew on the Anambra governorship from which it is expected he would launch out in 2019 on the project of integration, while assisting his party’s presidential candidate in flying the flag.

It is against this background that the minister is said to have prevented the party executive from convening meetings so as not to give new entrants the opportunity to “begin to influence things”. Apart from Senator Uche Ekwunife, the member representing Anambra east/west in the House of Representatives, Tony Nwoye, recently crossed over to APC where they hope to contest the 2017 governorship. Ngige believes that the Anambra governorship seat would further boost his chances for the number two seat in the land.

Okorocha

Anayo Rochas Okorocha
Right from the word ‘go’’ Owelle Rochas Okorocha saw the governorship seat of Imo State as a stepping stone to the main thing. The second term Imo State governor had aspired to the nation’s presidency in 2003. Okorocha has done his own bit of political adventure and adventurism. Shortly after he fell out with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, when he was removed from the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the governor experimented with his presidential ambition on the platform of Action Alliance (AA). He used his campaigns to be president to exhibit his showmanship.

When some politicians in the zone tried to sideline him in the APC scheme of things by lining up behind another possible VP candidate to visit President Buhari, Okorocha did not betray his disappointment and pain. Like other highly placed APC stalwarts in the zone, Okorocha is aware of the plan by Buhari’s people to pair him up with a Southeasterner.

The recent reunion meeting of Ohanaeze in Owerri was Owelle’s way of getting back at those who are trying to push him aside from the next big thing. Okorocha had in one of the caucus meetings held by Southeast leaders in APC, before the appointment of ministers, was said to have warned Dr. Onu that in the event that he failed to clinch the SGF position and accepts ministerial appointment, he should forget about angling for any other thing coming to the zone, in allusion to the vice presidency.

To some extent, the minister of Science and Technology believes that Okorocha contributed to his loss of the SGF appointment, but believes that the north would prefer to work with him rather than the Imo State governor. On his part, Okorocha has continued to reach out to the north through his philanthropic activities and construction of mosques, after the fashion of the late M. K. O. Abiola.

When some of his antics were being interpreted as a cover for his presidential ambition, the governor came out to rebut the speculation, stressing that President Buhari should be supported for a second term. Being a serving governor, Okorocha believes that he has a secure constituency to pick the vice presidential ticket. However the scheming for VP has been adduced as reason for the cold shoulder some Southeast governors extend to Okorocha, particularly over his chairmanship of the Southeast Governors’ Forum.

Senator Anyim Pius Anyim

Senator Anyim Pius Anyim
Senator Pius Anyim is another former president of senate that has his eyes trained on the VP slot. From May 29, 2015, when he left office as SGF in President Goodluck Jonathan, Anyim has maintained a low profile. Those close to him recall how in 2003 the former senate president gave a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to Buhari’s presidential campaign, saying that that singular show of goodwill is still fresh in the president’s mind.

Not long ago, Anyim was said to confide in a friend that the APC federal government would get Ekweremadu out of the way, saying that on account of that possibility, the Ishiagu-born politician hopes to occupy the lacuna to be created in the leadership of PDP in Southeast. Anyim is among the VP contenders lining up behind a potential presidential material from the Northeast.

Ever since he left office, the immediate past SGF has kept out of public glare by concentrating on the gigantic educational project he is putting up in his home town. The project being handled by construction giants, Julius Berger PLC, is said to include Primary/Secondary Schools.

As far as finances is concerned, Anyim would give what it takes to fight for the presidency in 2019, particularly when his political rival from the state, Senator Sam Egwu, was only interested in netting a second term berth in the senate. Anyim and Egwu waged a ferocious political battle over the position of national chairman of PDP in 2008, which led to the choice of Prince Vincent Eze Ogbulafor as a compromise candidate.

Peter Gregory Obi

Peter Obi
Mr. Peter Obi is neither loquacious nor ostentatious. The former Anambra State governor has succeeded in attaining greatness through simplicity and political slyness. The soft-spoken former governor garnered the support of Anambra after several attempts were made to emasculate him. After retrieving his mandate through a prolonged and tortuous legal battle, Obi redefined governorship in Anambra State by adopting an indirect leadership method. Through Presidents Generals (PGs) of Town Unions, the then governor ensured that funds meant for development projects were put into good use. Again, in the rehabilitation of schools, he used school principals instead of contractors.

His adoption of extreme parsimony and frugality earned negative appellations, but later won him the admiration of the masses. By the time Obi was pushed out from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), upon which platform he governed Anambra for eight years, he garnered the necessary goodwill for political relevance. That could be why shortly after joining the then ruling PDP, Obi was said to be in line to replace Senator Anyim as SGF. However, when the PDP presidential flight crash landed, Obi remained visible in the party, joining efforts to rebuild the party structure in Anambra.

With the curious removal of the Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial district, Ekwunife, whom he supported, and the vacancy created by the sudden decampment of the former from the party, Obi was inundated with requests to join the senate race. It was said that virtually all the men that matter in PDP joined in demanding that Obi contests the senate seat to join his colleagues in the Red chamber.

However as the moves to drag obi into the senate continue, some of those who showed initial interest in getting him to the senate started back pedaling. During the talks to remedy the botched PDP convention in Port Harcourt, as the actors discussed possible scenarios for 2019, one of the prominent senators from the zone, who was also showing active interest in the VP position, flinched when Peter Obi’s name was mentioned in glowing terms. The particular senator started withdrawing his support for Obi’s senatorial project.