Ebonyi 2023 and Umahi’s many sided battles

Ebonyi State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legal adviser, Chief Mudi Erhenede’s recent appearance on Channels Television signature programme, Sunrise Daily, exposed the simmering political unease in the state.

Erhenede alleged that the state governor, Chief David Nweze Umahi, was using strong-arm tactics through the instrumentality of the Ebubeagu security outfit to intimidate members of the opposition party in the state. He further disclosed that attempt to redefine the zoning arrangement in the state was a ploy by the governor’s allies to inject political confusion in the state.

From 1998, Erhenede has been an active participant in the socio-political activities of his state-in-law, where he has continued to ply his legal practice after the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

Prior to Erhenede’s television appearance, politicians in the state had been apprehensive about the implications of Governor Umahi’s defection to the federal governing All Progressives Congress (APC) midway into his second term mandate on the platform of PDP.

Right from his days as acting state chairman of PDP, state chairman and deputy governor, Umahi has been at the forefront of major political battles in Ebonyi State. For instance, in 2007, after the emergence of Chief Martin Elechi as Governor Sam Egwu’s successor, Umahi was drafted into the party to settle the supremacy battle between Chief Okeagu Ogada and Chief Joe Obinna Ogba over the chairmanship of the party.

Although he was elected as the party chairman, Ogba had resigned from office to contest for the PDP governorship ticket alongside other appointees of the Egwu cabinet, including the then Health Commissioner from the same Ishielu Local Government Area as Ogba.

Having vacated the position of state chairman, the then legal adviser of the party from the same Ebonyi Central Senatorial District, Barrister Okeagu Ogada, who was one of the conveners of PDP in 1998, was elevated to take Ogba’s place.

During the PDP governorship primary held at the Abakaliki Township Stadium, in a bid to avoid the surprise emergence of the then Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly and Senator representing Ebonyi Central, Barrister Julius Ali Ucha, and particularly, the then Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ambassador Frank Nchita Ogbuewu, Egwu allegedly prevailed on all the aspirants to step down for Elechi.

It should be noted that after Egwu assured that only God and Ebonyi people would determine his successor, Ogbuewu resigned his appointment as Minister and rolled out a massive campaign structure, which propelled Egwu to empower his loyalists and appointees to pick the N5.5million expression of interest and governorship nomination forms.

However, when he noticed that the strategy of crowding the field of governorship contest was not stunting Ogbuewu and Ucha’s support bases, Egwu decided to call his men to fold camp and shore up support for the elder statesman, Elechi, believed to have been endorsed by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Troubled tactics
FOLLOWING the eventual emergence of Chief Elechi as PDP governorship standard-bearer, Governor Egwu had a big trouble in his hand, which revolved around settlement of the promissory notes handed over to the appointees that withdrew from the contest.

To solve the puzzle, Egwu, through the then Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Ozor Nweke Ozor, ordered all those that resigned their appointment to seek the PDP governorship ticket back to their former posts.

However, while commissioners and Permanent Secretaries got back to their seats, for Ogba, it was not so. Ogada, who became chairman, refused to resign, even as he demanded from Egwu an explanation for the call on him (Ogada) to yield his post to Ogba.

On his part, apart from citing the SSG’s directive mandating former aspirants back to their former offices, Ogba claimed that since Ogada’s kinsman, Elechi, has become governorship candidate, it was morally odd for both the candidate and state chairman of the party to hail from the same community.

But calling the bluff of Ogba, Ogada clung to his post, just as the earlier Ebonyi Central Senatorial ticket promised him (Ogba) was withdrawn and handed over to the former Senate Chairman on Works, Ucha, for a second term in the Red Chamber.

After Elechi defeated Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Ogbuewu, who moved over to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) after the ambush by Egwu in PDP, the national leadership of PDP dissolved the Ebonyi State Working Committee.

Despite opposition from Egwu and his supporters, Umahi was appointed caretaker chairman, while the current member representing Ikwo/Ezza South federal constituency, Comrade Chinedu Ogah, was made secretary.

As caretaker state chairman of PDP, Umahi, in a bid to prove his detractors wrong, mobilised resources towards the construction of a permanent state secretariat of PDP in the state.

In less than seven months, the secretariat was completed and commissioned by the Prince Vincent Eze Ogbulafor-led National Working Committee, which showered encomiums on Umahi and promised to emulate the Ebonyi example by constructing a permanent structure for the national headquarters of the party.

Thrilled by the success story of the Umahi-led caretaker committee, as the state congress of the party drew nearer, Elechi showed favourable disposition towards transitioning the interim committee into substantive SWC.

The plot to make Umahi and co substantive party leaders sparked crisis, based on the alleged existing arrangement to have a person from Ebonyi north to mount the saddle as state PDP chairman. Some former local council chairmen, under the auspices of Association of Former Local Government Chairmen (AFLOG), led by Chief Sunday Adol-Awam and Iduma Igariwey, mounted stiff resistance.

And, in a bid to resolve the crisis, the Ogbulafor NWC sent Senator Jim Nwobodo to reconcile the aggrieved members of the party, especially as the 2011 general elections were barely two years away. Despite the intervention, peace could not return to the party as the state congress affirmed Umahi as state chairman.

Those opposed to Umahi’s emergence, including Ucha and Igariwey, among others under auspices of Concerned Eminent Stakeholders of PDP, defected to ANPP and teamed up with Dr. Onu, who had been made national chairman to confront PDP in the 2011 governorship poll.

In a world press conference at the Peoples Club field, Abakaliki, the Concerned Eminent Stakeholders said they have abandoned the carcass of PDP for Elechi and Umahi, assuring people of Ebonyi purposeful and genuine democratic governance.

Umahi’s transition, turncoat
IMPRESSED by his hold on the party structure, Governor Elechi adopted Umahi as his running mate for the 2011 governorship election, in which he was seeking re-election.

With Senator Ucha on the ANPP ballot, Onu was constrained to campaign against the PDP, which had his kinsman, Umahi, on its ballot and particularly Ucha’s preference for Hon. Irem Oka Ibom, as running mate instead of Onu’s candidate, Nwafor.

Having been elevated to the post of deputy governor, Umahi still maintained his contact with the party leadership, especially given Elechi’s purported promise of handing over to him (Umahi) in 2015. However, at the tail end of his second term, Elechi’s plot to renege on the promise pitted him against his deputy.

Falling back on the wide networks built during his years as caretaker and substantive chairman of Ebonyi PDP, Umahi mobilised stakeholders from home and abroad to snatch the PDP governorship ticket from Elechi and ultimately won the governorship poll.

Nonetheless, with PDP’s loss of the 2015 Presidential poll, Umahi started warming up to the new governing APC, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari. In November 2021, that is two years after winning a re-election on PDP platform, Governor Umahi decided to officially join APC.

While the governor pronounced Ebonyi PDP dead upon his defection to APC, the members of the party’s National Assembly caucus from Ebonyi, notably Senator Egwu and Igariwey, told the press in Abuja that Ebonyi remains a PDP state, since according to them, Governor Umahi left alone without the compliment of other leaders.

But armed with his power of incumbency and buoyed up with the federal might, opposition is worried that Governor Umahi’s confidence is founded on the possible use of coercive institutions, including Ebubeagu, to snatch electoral triumph in the 2023 showdown, thereby foisting his preferred candidate as successor.

Like the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who is angling for the PDP Presidential ticket, Umahi is a front runner in the race for APC Presidential ticket.

Apart from the APC ticket, Governor Umahi would be doing battle with PDP stakeholders in Ebonyi, particularly for the governorship and National Assembly seats, to prove that his defection to APC carries the full compliment of Ebonyi people.

Most of the governor’s former allies have suddenly turned adversary following his defection to APC. Prominent among the allies turned adversaries to the governor are the Odefa brothers, who rose to political prominence by serving enforcers to the governor. While PDP leaders emplaced Ali, the former Security aide to Umahi as the party’s Zonal Vice Chairman, his elder brother, the Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly, Odefa Obasi Odefa, at the weekend cried out that an impeachment plot is being hatched against him for not joining the governor in APC.

While it is left to be seen how far the Deputy Speaker’s cry for help would go to stave off his removal, those opposing Umahi know that he does not take prisoners, even as his understanding of the foibles of Ebonyi politicians places him in control.

Dazed opposition
Apart from Erhenede and Governor Umahi’s former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Bernard Odoh, not many politicians in the state have the foresight and grit to challenge the governor.

Many politicians in the state believe that the governor’s defection to APC left the PDP in confusion due to the absence of a diligent points man with means and political foresight.

The confusion in PDP is underscored by the calibre of governorship aspirants that have indicated interest to contest the party’s ticket. The perceived lack strong players or a united front for the battle leaves the impression of a weak opposition. Further, Erhenede’s charge against Ebubeagu security outfit underscores the perception that Ebonyi PDP chieftains, except people like Igariwey and the party’s legal adviser, are frightened already.

Not that alone, the calibre of governorship aspirants massing out on the scene, most of who could not differentiate between Scandinavia and Czechoslavakia, especially Ogba and Sylvester Ogbaga, shows PDP’s lack of competitive edge for the 2023 governorship challenge.

In the face of the ambition of the above aspirants, serious contenders like the former Minister of Health in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo, may be forced into energy sapping internal contest and possible emergence of a third force.

It could therefore be understood why Erhenede is crying out against the mooted new power sharing arrangement that focuses on the two main blocs in the state namely, old Abakaliki and old Afikpo.

That only voices from Ebonyi South are being raised against the two bloc zoning plan might redound to Governor Umahi’s advantage, because nothing stops the governor from doing a deal with the only strong politician standing in the South, Igariwey. Guaranteeing Igariwey’s return to the House of Representatives could make the former Afikpo council chairman to look the other way during the governorship and other polls.

The governor had earlier stopped the former member representing Onicha, Ohaozara and Ivo federal constituency from enjoying a third term in the Green Chamber, so as not to throw up any strong confrontation for the Ebonyi South Senatorial seat.

In the event that the two bloc zoning revision holds sway, Governor Umahi, who is running for Presidency on his record of achievements in the state would easily run over PDP. Only by putting forward a single candidate would PDP be competitive against an incumbent, who has the federal might on his corner.

By encouraging the two-bloc division, Governor Umahi seems that as a ready scheme to paralyse the two populous North and Central Senatorial zones. Neither Senator Ogba (Central) nor Sylvester Ogbaga (North), who had been in the House of Representatives for the last 20 years could stop Umahi’s candidate.

That possibility must have informed Erhenede’s call on Ebonyi stakeholders to convene a meeting to settle the zoning confusion. Whether the matter is resolved or not, 2023 would be an interesting election year once again in Ebonyi State.