Anambra APC and the Changing Times by Jude Atupulazi

 

Not long ago the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra State was among the few parties waxing their muscles in the state during elections.

Indeed at some stages the party looked a serious threat to the ambitions of others despite being dubbed a ‘Yoruba’ party and despite its leader in the state, Chris Ngige, being described as a one man army. Indeed, the APC posters and billboards adorned all parts of the state. But alas, that is no longer the case today.

A look at billboards and posters across the state will reveal that it is only in Idemili, Ngige’s home base, that posters and billboards of APC aspirants can be found. I have yet to find any outside Idemili. Even the party’s icon in the state, Ngige, is still apparently testing the waters before making a public pronouncement on his ambition. What we hear now about him are just rumours about his contesting or not.

Is it then that APC has done something wrong or is it that the party has lost its allure? Yet still, does that spell the end of APC in Anambra?

One is bound to ask these questions as only PDP and APGA aspirants have been having a field day with their posters and billboards everywhere. Their party headquarters have also been a beehive of activities with their aspirants storming there with hordes of their supporters to pick nomination forms which PDP and APGA have brought down home for their aspirants. Conversely APC’s forms have remained in Lagos.

Perhaps the APC people have read the writing on the wall and decided to pitch tents with PDP and APGA.

Well, it is certainly changing times.

Is Anambra PDP Cursed?

At every opportunity the PDP people in Anambra will tell you that Anambra is a PDP state. It does not matter to them that they have remained outside the seat of power in the state since 2006 since Peter Obi, former state governor, regained the seat stolen from him by PDP.

But besides their claim, is their seeming perennial inability to put their house in order ahead of every election. If they are not having many warring factions, the other factions are voting against the chosen candidates.

In the 2010 and 2014 guber elections, some PDP people worked for Obi and APGA to drive home their disenchantment with the way they lost out in the PDP primaries.

It all started in the 2010 guber poll when they worked against the candidacy of Prof Charles Soludo, former Central Bank governor who was foisted on the party from above. In the end Soludo was soundly beaten, even losing in his local government.

Now the PDP in Anambra is at it again. Three factions are battling it out for who will emerge as the authentic group. There is the Ejike Oguebego-led faction sponsored by erstwhile Anambra political godfather, Chris Uba. There is also the Arthur Eze faction which fronts his nephew, Prince Emeka Eze as the factional chairman; while Ken Emeakayi whose tenure as chairman lapsed in October is believed to be enjoying the support of the party’s national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh.

None of these factions is ready to surrender to the other, with a fight reported to have broken out at one of the faction’s gathering recently.

As the general elections draw near however, it is clear any faction finally chosen will not get the support of the other two.

It is this factor that has always seen PDP losing the guber slot to APGA since 2010 and as they have refused to learn from history, it has become pertinent to ask whether the party is under a curse in the state.

This believed curse can be traced to the greatest electoral robbery orchestrated by the party in 2003 when they overturned APGA’s massive victory here with the help of a certain Chris Uba who was then in his prime as the ultimate political godfather of Anambra State.

In that election, even though APGA clearly swept the poll in the state, PDP with the help of INEC overturned it and dared APGA to go to court. In the end virtually all the APGA candidates lost at the tribunal, leaving only Peter Obi to claim the ultimate victory to become the state governor.

Given what has been obtaining in PDP since then one may therefore not be too far off the mark to begin to believe that perhaps the PDP is still paying for the sins it committed in 2003. If that is so, there is no doubt that the long starved party supporters will be praying God to have mercy on them and allow them a sniff at the seat of power at government house in Awka.

But with what is playing out at the moment, there seems no end to the wait for that to happen and that means APGA may continue to be the major beneficiaries of the PDP infighting.

Notice Me Aspirants

I have never ceased to be amazed at the ploy of some aspirants to be known in politics. These are people who everybody knows have no chance of ever winning even the ‘smallest’ electoral seat. Yet they are always the first to jump the gun at the start of every election.

Whether they win or not, you can always hear the being addressed by the title of what they contested for. Thus anyone who vies for councillorship, chairmanship, assembly or federal house seat is addressed as ‘Hon’.

Those who contested and lost hopelessly for the gubernatorial seat answer ‘Your Excellency’. It’s as if that was what they had in mind when they set out to contest.

However methinks it’s time these poseurs gave us some breathing space so that we concentrate on the serious candidates.

Political grammar

This may not be a classroom but I am often pissed off by the inability of our politicians to learn. I’m especially pissed off when they consistently use some expressions wrongly even after hearing them used correctly in foreign news media.

A great example here is the people referred to as ‘woman leaders’. It is very wrong indeed as the correct usage is ‘women’s leader’. Why?

If we recall, the dresses worn by women are called ‘women’s wear’. The shoes worn by men are called ‘men’s shoes’. Why then don’t we call them ‘woman shoe’ or ‘man shoe’? It’s because it’s wrong.

Thus the correct way to address a woman who leads other women in a political setting is ‘women’s leader’.

Another knotty issue is the one we call ‘ministry of women affairs’. The correct usage is ‘ministry of women’s affairs’.

Then there is the notion that any person who gets the party’s endorsement becomes a candidate rather than an aspirant. It is wrong. Any person chosen to be the standard bearer of their party is called a nominee, while candidates and aspirants are those still hoping for be nominated as their parties’ standard bearers.

As I said this is no classroom but our politicians should not mislead our impressionable young ones with the wrong expressions.         

Back Pass

Re: Waiting for Buhari

Buhari didn’t win the presidential election when he had a Christian Running mate. Is it now that he went for a Muslim and didn’t see anything wrong with it that he will win?

What will he tell Igbos and Christians that will be news to them?

On APGA’s continued reaction to to Obi’s defection, I think the grave visitation is becoming a show of idolatory. The national chairman of APGA, Victor Umeh, is taking this defection too far. On Thursday October 30, the news media reported how Umeh went to Zik’s grave to weep and invoke his spirit on Obi and Okorocha.

Sir Umeh was quoted as telling Zik’s son that whatever he said was as good as Zik saying it and the reply he got was that Igbo and APGA needed to go into a healthy alliance with the ruling party as it would benefit the interest of Ndigbo in the country.

I hope with this reply APGA will stop the grave visitations and concentrate on the 2015 elections.

Ichie Egbunonu, Abagana.

APGA let Ojukwu rest. You have said it all. I am among the people who see APGA’s visits to Ojukwu’s grave over Obi’s defection as a form of idolatry. I believe APGA has cried enough and it’s high time they moved on and think of ways to improve without Obi.

He made his decision and he clearly owes no body any explanation for that.

Chika-Ilo Chisom, Nimo.