Obiano’s thorny road to retain guber seat

APC, PDP others mount critical pressure

If the current fierce struggle in Anambra State over the November 18, 2017 gubernatorial election is anything to go by, then incumbent governor, Willie Obiano and his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), have to realise the imperative of mustering efforts to retain their position.

This is because since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) endorsed the timetable for the election, Obiano and his party have not rested. They are now the subjects of discussion in any gathering within the state.

A source hinted that though the scenario playing out is in line with Anambra politics, the governor may not have envisaged that the battle over his office could be so fierce with all that he has put on ground in the past three years to redefine the state and lay a solid foundation.

One of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bart Nwibe, said last week that there was nothing on ground to justify the support the people gave the Obiano in 2014.

Nwibe, who was reacting to a statement credited to the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof Charles Soludo that there was no vacancy in Government House, Awka till 2022, wondered the yardsticks he (Soludo) used to assess the governor.

Explaining that there was need for a change of governance baton using the coming polls, the politician stated: “Obiano has performed woefully” and made reference to the three multi billion naira bridges still ongoing in the state, as a replica of those constructed about 50 years ago. He stressed that the “style, form and design of the bridges lacked modernity.”

He therefore stated that the structures may be demolished if he becomes the governor of the state should they fail structural test.Besides, the conspicuous absence of APGA in a meeting organised by INEC in its Abuja headquarters last week, to discuss some critical political issues in the country, sent tongues wagging on the health status of the party.

The APC, which now prides itself as the strongest opposition in Anambra raised a concerned citizen’s alarm that: “APGA is on a life support machine, but a conclusive proof that those who hang their hope on what used to be a political party are building on nothing.”

The APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Okelo Madukaife, described the absence of APGA in the meeting as the first salvo towards returning “to the trenches to sabotage Anambra Central senatorial district for phony business ends as well as death of the party.

“But most importantly, APGA cannot in all honesty point at anybody today that can be referred to as its national chairman, an index of party maladministration. As a party is run, so is the government under the control of the party. APGA controls only one state in Nigeria now, where the state confiscates local government funds for Government House,” he alleged.

Furthermore, he said: “We admit that it is not only APGA that has this challenge of not knowing who their national chairman is, but others are at least making attempts to resolve theirs not APGA. How can APGA do same without imaginative ideas and when the crème de la crème of the nation they claim to stand up for, without concrete proof, are everywhere but within the ailing party called APGA?”

Madukaife reiterated his party’s earlier stand that: “any seat in the National Assembly that does not emerge from the APC for the South East to take full advantage of the 2019 scenario, which vista has come into sight with the fixture of election date and the visible acceleration of political dynamics, is a colossal waste.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the state, Prince Ken Emeakayi, had earlier asked the State House of Assembly to impeach Obiano over alleged constitutional breaches.

He said the governor contravened Section 190(2) of the 1999 “having taken the pains to draw the attention of the State Assembly to these gross violations, and instead of doing the needful of investigating same and acting in accordance with the specific laws and remedies thereto, a retinue of named state government agents and some named members of the Assembly chose to take turns in the various media of to malign, castigate, abuse and call him all manner of names.”

Emeakayi noted that the ugly situation climaxed on Feb 23, 2017 when the governor personally called him late in the night on the phone allegedly threatening his life.Said he, “In addition to calling me unprintable names, Obiano, the state’s legislators and APGA and their agents, have invested so much energy and precious government time and resources in asking which faction of the PDP Ken Emeakayi belongs.

“Assuming but without conceding that Ken Emeakayi is not the chairman of PDP in Anambra, will that in any way exonerate anyone that has offended the law from being punished accordingly?”

Emeakayi in a letter to the governor raised questions on Obiano’s purported recent absence from office for a long period without transmitting a formal letter on his plans to the Assembly. He also questioned the failure of the government to conduct local government election and instead has been planning to install handpicked cronies into the council. This, he noted contradicts Section 7, 54, 59, and 64 of the 1999 Constitution.

The PDP stalwart also drew the attention of the governor to the provisions of the Constitution that prescribes right to life for all citizens, hence should not be denied of same right by anyone.

These certainly are making the governorship contest interesting. The clouds are gathering especially with the increasing number of aspirants eying the position of the governor.

But a chieftain of the APGA, Ugo Onwudili, said the vituperations are not new, stressing: “Obiano has warmed himself into the hearts of Anambra people. The only way to deny him reelection is to engage in all manner of propaganda to win the sympathy of the electorate.”

To him however, “Certain outbursts are better ignored since the governor and the party are focused on winning the November election. Obiano remains the candidate to beat in any free and fair exercise in the state.”

The State Commissioner of Information, Tony Nnachetam, said the government was studying the allegations with a view to making its position known soon.But National Publicity Secretary of the APGA, Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, said that the party remains one of the most organised and focused in the country noting that “such was responsible for the dominance it has had on Anambra state. APGA remains the only political party with a clean bill of health. There is no magic about the performance of the government except to say that we have always insisted that our manifesto would remain the template.

“We are the only party that has, through a clear manifesto, exhibited a clear developmental plan for this nation as has been showcased in Anambra in the past 11 years of APGA administration in the state. If Nigerians give APGA the opportunity to be at the centre, I can assure you that what we have achieved in the state and what we have done in Gwagwalada area council, Abuja can be replicated at the centre.”

Obi-Okoye said that the party would as usual prosecute the governorship election as it had done before now, stressing: “Obiano has giving Anambraians a reason to continue to trust and believe in him. APGA will not succumb because there are evidences of the governor’s performance in every part of the state.”