Anambra 2014: PDP Guber Primaries Now For May 2013

Senator Andy Ubah at Ihiala recently

*galvanizes to upstage crises-ridden APGA
*begins ward sensitization tour
The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has fixed its 2014 Anambra state governorship primaries for May next year.
Consequently the party yesterday kick-started its ward and grassroots sensitization tour in the state geared towards upstaging the ruling All progressives Grand Aliance (APGA).
Addressing the mammoth crowd that turned out at the maiden leg of the tour at Oye-Ukpo, headquarters of the council of Dunukofia LGA yesterday, the state chairman of the party, Prince Ken Emeakayi told the members to work hard to ensure a smooth sail back to the Awka Govt House, come 2014.
Smarting from its peaceful midterm congresses which had been acknowledged by the party headquarters as outstanding, Emeakayi noted it’s their mandate to take back the state via the people’s power, and return to their winning ways, through what he tagged “operation deliver your polling booth”.
He lamented that the state’s growth and development has stunted in the last seven years of APGA leadership in the state. The party’s governorship primaries, according to him has been fixed for next six or seven months, that is May or June next year.
Emeakayi reminded the party faithful that they were all the potential delegates to the primary to elect the governorship candidate. They were therefore urged to desist from political prostitution where they canvass for attention of the aspirants, instead of concentrating on their mobilization for the aspirants to be attracted to their industry. He wondered how they expected someone who could not recognize them when in need of their services and assistance would be expected to recognize them when he eventually wins.
The chairman praised the roles of Dr Alex Ekwueme and Prince Arthur Eze in seeing to the restoration of the peace through his executive of the party in the state.
A chieftain, Dr Ramas told the members to remain united, charging them to use the former crisis as a tool with which God cemented the party further. He insisted the need for a far reaching change in the state, pointing out there was yawning gap in youth empowerment and job creation presently.
Prince Eze in his goodwill message presented by Chief Vincent Ilogha, the Ogne of Ukpo, charged the executive not to betray the implicit confidence reposed in them by the members to give a transparent and purposeful leadership.
The Vice Chairman(Central), Amechi Onowu described the commencement of the tours as the beginning of the party’s journey towards recovery of their mandate to return to the Government House and leadership in the state’s legislature.

Who Is Apga Chairman, Maxi Okwu Or Victor Umeh?

Who Is Apga Chairman, Maxi Okwu Or Victor Umeh?

17 Apr 2013

After a long drawn bitter struggle for the soul of the All Progressives Grand Alliance between Chiefs Chekwas Okorie and Victor Umeh, which had split the party’s rank and file down the line and which ended as Okorie finally accepted his faith, surrendered the party’s registration certificate and formed his own party, I had thought the South-east-based party had seen its worst. I was wrong; we were all wrong, because I know I was n’t alone in that thought.

Now, another leadership struggle is on and the too warring chairmen are proxies of the two governors produced by the party who are fighting a supremacy battle for the control of APGA machinery.

Umeh, who was on February 10 restrained from parading himself as APGA chairman by a state High Court in Enugu presided over by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Innocent Umezuluike, was on Monday reinstated by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu pending the determination of his appeal against the lower court. Meanwhile, shortly before the court ruling, Maxi Okwu was elected the party’s chairman at a national convention held at the Women Development Centre, Akwa, Anambra State attended by some leaders of the party including, and expectedly, its Deputy National Leader, Anambra State Governor Peter Obi. Now, Umeh claims he is APGA chairman, just like Okwu, who even had to abandon his own party CPP to hop on APGA.

Okwu says Umeh’s reinstatement is a hoax, Umeh says Okwu’s election at a convention in Akwa is a nullity. Only the court can help resolve the matter. But what has inflamed the APGA leadership crisis is the emergence of the opposition merger All Progressives Congress.

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha who has some hold on Umeh believes in the merger and insists APGA is part of it. But Governor Obi who ostensibly has brought up the Okwu’s chairmanship is opposed to the merger, being an ally of President Jonathan, and says APGA is not for APC.

Obi condemns killing of Nwike, Anambra’s ex-deputy governor

From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi yesterday condemned in strong words, the killing of the former deputy governor of the state, Dr. Chudi Nwike, describing it as not only pathetic but crude and inhuman. Dr. Nwike who until his death was the national vice chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), South-East, was killed in Delta State by those suspected to be kidnappers who abducted him from Anambra and demanded N30 million ransom.
Describing his death as a great loss to Anambra State and Nigeria, Obi said, “by this death, the state had lost another experienced voice in terms of advice about governance.” Wondering why some people could still take other’s life without compunction, the governor said that such acts were vestiges of barbarism the country was trying to wipe out.
He however, stated that such callousness strengthens his resolve to continue to fight crime of whatever shade in the state and further described the perpetrators of the dastardly act as barbarians. Obi assured Nwike’s family that Anambra State Government sharedå in their sorrows and prayed to God “to strengthen them in this trying period.”

Anambra Elections: The past, present and future

By Chioma Gabriel
As the clock ticks for the exit of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state from office, the issues in the politics of Anambra state of South-East Nigeria are becoming more intriguing by the day. Since  the dawn  of democracy in 1999 , the case of Anambra state has remained confounding.
For one thing, it is the only state that has paraded five governors under controversial circumstances in the dispensation of 1999-2007. The chronicle of its governors ranged from Chinweoke Mbadinuju who became governor from 1999-2003. He was of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Dr Chris Ngige became the governor of the state from 2003 to 2006 on the same platform of PDP but he was removed in March 2006 when the Court of Appeal in Enugu asserted that his election victory in 2003 was rigged.

Ezeife, Etiaba, Mbadinuju, Ngige, Uba and Obi

He was succeeded by Peter Obi of All Progressive Grand Alliance,APGA, who in turn was ousted by a faction of the Anambra State House of Assembly on November 2, 2006 and was replaced by Virginia Etiaba his Deputy at that time. However, the circumstances became more confounding and on February 9, 2007 Mrs. Etiaba handed power back to Obi after the Court of Appeal had nullified Obi’s removal.
The governorship election of April 14 2007 where Andy Uba, the candidate of the ruling PDP was announced the governor was declared illegal on June 14, 2007 by the Supreme Court of Nigeria which replaced him with his predecessor Peter Obi, citing  illegality in Andy Uba’s election on April 14, 2007
Indeed, the political history of the state has been checkered since 2003 when Dr Chris Ngige became governor. The  issue he had with his political godfather, Chris Uba held the state hostage for months and brought about a lot of carnage and destruction.
In the Ngige era, the destiny of the entire State was reduced to a personal quarrel between two individuals until the two men at the centre of the crisis were persuaded to sheathe their swords
What made the Ngige and Uba problem more bizzare was that their struggle was over the actualisation of an agreement they both swore to before the Okija shrine. But as fate would have it, Dr Chris Ngige was removed from office on March 17, 2006, barely a year to the next election.
The situation was so bad that a presidential committee was set to resolve the issue after which Dr Chris Ngige and his estranged political sponsor, Mr. Chris Uba pledged to forget their differences in the interest of the State .Dr Ngige then pledged to make more sacrifices to engender peace while Uba said that Anambra would never be turned to a war theatre again.
Peter Obi made a triumphant entry into the scheme of things after the court ruling on the issues surrounding the election that produced Ngige  as governor .
He held sway in the state as Governor from March 17 2006 till November 3 2006 but the bickering between him and the PDP- dominated House of Assembly eventually saw him removed from office.
A vacuum was created as to who would become the governor between Mike Balonwu of the House of Assembly and Dame Virgy Etiaba, the then Deputy Governor.
The line eventually fell for Dame Virgy Etiaba in pleasant places as the controversy was resolved following her official recognition by the Federal Government. Many thought Etiaba would reject the offer but she made a volte face and took an oath of office as the governor of the state on November3 2006.
However, her tenure as Governor was short lived. On February 9, 2007, she was ousted from that position after a court nullified Peter Obi’s removal. But before then, her party APGA had fielded her as governorship candidate for 2007 guber elections because Peter Obi’s case was still undecided.
But  Obi was to get a supreme court ruling  which extended his tenure till 2010.
He contested and won a second term in office which was again plagued by petitions and court actions. But like a cat with nine lives, he scaled through. Presently, it is only days for him to conclude his second term having made history as the only governor from the state to serve a second term in office.
As the date for the next guber election in Anambra progresses, there has been a litany of problems and political bickering involving almost all the major political parties in the state especially APGA and PDP.
At present, so many of the issues are still unresolved and as the 2014 gubernatorial election approaches, the problems seem to be  gathering momentum.

Anambra condemns demolition of govt property in Onitsha

Anambra condemns demolition of govt property in Onitsha

By Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka 

ANAMBRA State government has condemned the demolition of the state veterinary quarters and other structures located at the GRA, Onitsha, by some indigenes laying claim to the land.
The affected areas are along Plot 14, Ring Road, Bent Lane behind judges’ quarters, Regina Nwankwu Avenue, Park Road and Enugu Road, all in GRA, Onitsha.
The Ekwerekwu family of Onitsha had on April 5 allegedly called for the demolition of structures on the affected plots, insisting that they were out to reclaim their land, which also housed the Police Barracks at Enugu Road, Onitsha.
The Commissioner for Lands, Mr. Okoli Akirika, who went on inspection at Onitsha yesterday to ascertain the extent of damage as a result of the demolition, said even if the lease of the affected areas had expired, there are proper ways of doing things.
He argued that the government is not against any person espousing any possessor’s right, but certain things should be done within the ambits of the law.
“This is government property anchored and situated on legality and we expect that whoever wants to espouse any right should do so within the ambit and procedure as prescribed by the law.
“We are open to complaints and petitions which could be legitimately lodged at the ministry so that we look at it for determination on its merit. If there will then be need to release property back to the owner, re-acquire the property or pay compensation, government shall do that.”
The commissioner stressed that the Governor Peter Obi-led administration is anchored on decency, legality, responsibility and responsiveness.
Although Akirika refused to ascertain the monetary value of the property damaged and when government acquired the land, he stressed that “this is something that involves landed property and is essentially been governed by documents.”
Reacting however, one of the lawyers to the original owners of the land, Mr. Azubuike Anyakwo, who came to the demolition site, told the commissioner that the action was carried out on the order of a court.

Nigeria: Anambra - Why We Can't Hold LG Elections Now - SSG

By Clifford Ndujihe, 14 April 2013

Anambra State is one of the 17 states that do not have democracy at the local council level. The Nigerian Governors' Forum, recently, advised such states to shape up and conduct council polls. In this interview, Secretary to the Anambra State Government, SSG, Oseloka Obaze, who is from Anambra North and considered to be eyeing the governorship seat, says the state cannot hold council polls now because of an avalanche of pending litigation. He also speaks on the need for Anambra North to produce the next governor among others.
On the Governors Forum charge to Anambra and 16 other states to conduct council polls.

We have spoken about this severally. We are constrained in holding the election because there are several cases before the law court and being a law-abiding government that believes in due process and the rule of law, we will not be in contempt of court to proceed to hold an election when those cases are not resolved.
I have said it often time that if those who are in court withdraw the cases from the state and the Attorney General of the state confirms that those cases have been successfully withdrawn then there is nothing that will disturb the conduct of the election, the governor will proceed to call for an election and Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) will proceed to conduct the election. So there is no problem there. The fact is that you cannot put the cart before the horse in this case.
On clamour by Anambra North to produce the next governor.

It is not a clamour rather it is a clarion call to discuss what has been the entrenched equilibrium and lack of equity in the way the state has run since 1991. Since 1991, the leadership of Anambra State, the governorship has been dominated by the South and Central senatorial zones and the Northern senatorial zone has so far not held any governorship position and it is believed that this the time we allow somebody from the North to emerge and take that position.
It is not zoned by any means but it is at least a shared view by well-meaning Anambrarians, some of them from the South, some of them from the Central, a view shared by the leadership of Anambra in the person of Governor Peter Obi and a view shared by the people of the North which is comprised of the people of Omambala, Oyi, Onitsha and Ogbaru and the discussion is still ongoing and I think it is a vibrant discussion.
What we said is that charity begins at home because it will be an anomaly for Igbo who continue to canvass for an Igbo Presidency, seeking equity and equilibrium to turn around at home and marginalise their kit and kin or refuse to grant the same benefit of being able to run for the governorship.
So that is the reality. But mind you, nobody has said that only the people from Anambra North senatorial district should run to the exclusion of the people of the South and Central. I have not heard that. All they are saying is that we must reach a meeting of the minds which say yes for a change. We want somebody from Anambra North to emerge. At the end of the day it is the electorate of Anambra that will vote. It is not something you can impose on anybody.
On speculations that he or his brother has Governor Peter Obi's backing to become the next governor of the state.
In politics, people can speculate what they want. I am from the North and my brother is from the North. But I cannot compete against my brother neither would he compete against me. But I think that even His Excellency, Governor Obi has said that he does not know who will succeed him and that it is only God that knows who the next successor is and I think at this point, it will be presumptuous for anybody to think that they know who is going to succeed Peter Obi, that is something that is left to the Anambra electorate and free and fair elections.
We saw what happened in Edo and Ondo states. If we have free and fair election, the right person will emerge and Anambra electorate will vote with their conscience that is the way I see it. Based on speculation, it is a democracy and people are free to speculate what they want. I know that neither I nor my brother has declared that we are running for any office.
On job creation efforts of the state government.
Unemployment is a global problem, it is not peculiar to Nigeria, it is also not peculiar to Anambra State but it is a challenge we face. What we are trying to do as you have observed, is that we have not employed in the state government for a while; we are going to open that up in months ahead.
Hopefully, we are starting with 3000 people perhaps in the educational sector. Generally, unemployment is addressed when you create wealth, build industries which allows people to be employed, and people who are employed earn income and invest it, they generate more wealth and then cut down the level of unemployment.
It's simple. We need to hasten whatever we are doing to allow more foreign and domestic investors to come into Anambra State, establish their businesses and employ more people. But we also have to understand that we face a unique challenge. We have a large labour force of largely unskilled labour.
Our people who are on the street hawking materials are not employable unless you are going to employ them as truck pushers. You cannot employ them as vigilante because they lack basic requirement to that. For the youth, those have already missed boat will have to find a way to accommodate.
The most important thing is to keep the younger ones in school where they are educated sufficiently to continue to the higher institutions or even if they don't go the higher institutions, they can go to the vocational schools where they come out as skilled labour. We have experienced a diminution of artisans, people who perform the highly needed menial jobs, lay ties, carpentry.

APGA: Umeh's Faction Restates Stand against Political Parties’ Merger

APGA: Umeh's Faction Restates Stand against Political Parties’ Merger

16 Apr 2013

• INEC must investigate Obi, says Ezugwu

By Segun Awofadeji in   Bauchi

The Victor Umeh-led All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has reiterated its stand that it will not merge with any political party in the country ahead of the 2015 general election.

The party  National Secretary, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi told journalists in Bauchi at the weekend that the party would not lose its identity to merge with any political party, adding that it will field a presidential candidate for the 2015 elections.

“On the issue of merger, we have been saying it times without number that APGA has not joined merger with any political party. APGA will field a presidential candidate in the 2015 general election, APGA is not in All Progressive Congress (APC)” Shinkafi stated.
Shinkafi, who was in Bauchi to condole the family of the state APGA chairman, Alhaji Danjuma Musa, said however that Governor Rochas Okorochas of Imo State had in his individual capacity joined the merger bandwagon.

He added, “So what we are trying to tell you is that we are not part of the merger, we will retain our identity as APGA, but we will hold talks with any progressively-minded political party to go into alliance.”
He further explained that APGA as a political party in line with the Electoral Act as amended would not lose or surrender its identity to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to go into merger with three other political parties.

Shinkafi, who also said APGA would deal decisively with any erring member of the party especially those that opted for the merger, stressed that punishments relating to such offences being committed by members were clearly spelt out in the constitution of the party.
“So nobody is above the law, nobody is above the constitution of the party and the party has supremacy over any individual or a governor, even (PDP) is bigger than Jonathan, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is bigger than Tinubu, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) is bigger than Buhari,” he said.

Shinkafi decried a situation whereby governors of the PDP are ganging against the National Chairman of the party, Bamanga Tukur, and are even calling for his removal.
He recalled that the recent Court of Appeal judgment that upheld the Victor Umeh-led national leadership of APGA was a clear manifestation that the party was supreme over its members.

Shinkafi similarly expressed dissatisfaction over the way and manner the Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, tried to sell APGA to the PDP, describing him as insincere person who has one leg each in both APGA and the PDP.
The APGA scribe further alleged that the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan by the party in the 2011 elections without any monetary condition or otherwise had fetched personal benefits to Obi and his tribe.

“After the election was fought and won, Jonathan gave three ambassadorial nominees to APGA, one Special Adviser, 28 other political appointments, all these were carried away by Obi, all those positions were given to Igbos, none was given to Hausa, South-south, South-west, nobody from these parts of the country was appointed a cleaner,” he said.
He opined that if Jonathan wanted to relate with APGA, let him relate with the party not an individual as Obi is saying bye-bye to his tenure which expires on March 17, 2014.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of APGA and the Secretary General of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Chief Willy Ezugwu, has called on the INEC to as a matter of urgency investigate the Obi-led national convention of the party conducted last Monday.
Ezugwu made the call in Enugu yesterday while describing the convention as an eyesore, adding that he was still confused at the role INEC played in monitoring the proceedings at an unholy time of 1a.m.

“We are calling on INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to investigate the fraudulent conduct of the convention purported by Obi and also the authorisation of the INEC personnel that monitored the proceedings of the 1 a.m. to 7a.m. during last Monday’s convention
“How did INEC itself got entangled in this because I doubt if Jega himself was given adequate notice of information to be part of such a deal to monitor a convention at that unholy time or is INEC no longer a public institution?” he asked.

Ezugwu also wondered why Obi should applaud the illegal convention and while his cohorts should discredit the Court of Appeal ruling where three judges gave a ruling for stay of execution and ordering the reinstatement of the national chairman and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
“I do not see any reason why Obi should support such an illegal convention by applauding it and his aide, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr Joemartins Uzodike, disregarding the Monday Appeal Court judgment by describing it as "judgment in futility."

He also called on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the 24 impostors claiming to be state party chairmen of APGA that signed the notice of the congresses and convention, citing a similar case which is now pending in court where Sadiq Massala claimed he had the mandate of 20  NWC members to remove Chief Victor Umeh from office but INEC later discovered the 11 of the so-called signatories were impostors.

He asked Obi and his lieutenants to desist from destroying the party which they all laboured to build.
“Obi and his cohorts must refrain from destroying APGA and disobeying court judgments since he himself was a beneficiary of the same court judgments,” he said.