From Ndubuisi Orji,Abuja
About five weeks to the November 18 Anambra State gubernatorial election, the dust raised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary is yet to settle.
Some PDP stalwarts, especially governorship aspirants who lost out, are yet to come to terms with the nomination of a former Secretary to the State Government ( SSG,) Mr Oseloka Obaze as the party’s governorship candidate.
The former SSG had garnered 672 votes to defeat three-time governorship hopeful, Dr Alex Obiogbolu and chairman of Capital Oil, Mr Ifeanyi Ubah, who polled 190 and 94 votes respectively.
Prior to the primary election, the party screening committee had cleared six of the seven aspirants who obtained expression of interest and nomination forms to participate in the exercise. Those cleared included: Obiogbolu, the senator representing Anambra North senatorial zone, Stella Oduah, former minister of State for Transport, Prince John Emeka and member of the House of Representatives representing Onitsha North /Onitsha South Federal constituency, Lynda Ikpeazu.
Chairman of the Screening Committee, Adamu Waziri told journalists that while Ubah “barely got” cleared, Obaze was given a conditional clearance pending the approval of his waiver application by the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC).
Waziri, who is also a former minister of Police Affairs, said the seventh candidate, Mr Akolisa Ufodike was disqualified for having dual citizenship. However, Ufodike was cleared to participate in the exercise by the Appeal panel, while the former SSG was given a waiver by the party leadership, thereby setting the stage for the primary.
But in a twist, Emeka,Oduah, Ikpeazu and Ufodike withdrew from the governorship race few days to the PDP primary. With the exit of the quartet from the battle for the Anambra PDP ticket, it became a straight fight among Obiogbolu, Ubah and Obaze. Eventually, the former SSG won the contest with a wide margin.
However, the outcome of the primary is been trailed with allegations of manipulations.
Specifically, Obiogbolu and Ubah lodged an appeal with the party National Caretaker Committee, challenging Obaze’s victory.
In his petition, Obiogbolu contended that the former SSG was not qualified to contest the primary election, as he has neither spent the mandatory two years in the party nor obtained a waiver as at the time he was cleared to participate in the exercise, as enshrined in the opposition party constitution.
On the other, the Ubah’s petition was based on an alleged manipulation of the delegates list. Indications that the Anambra PDP primary would not be devoid of controversy emerged about 72 hours to the exercise when a chieftain of the party, Chief Linus Ukachukwu raised the alarm that some PDP big wigs had concluded plans to tamper with the delegates list that would be used in choosing the party’s candidate.
Ukachukwu alleged that in bid to ensure the emergence of a particular aspirant as the PDP standard bearer in the November 18 poll, some serving governors elected on the platform of the party planned to substitute the names of legitimate delegates.
He warned that anything short of a free and fair primary, conducted with the authentic delegates list, would not be in the interest of the party.
According to him, “things should be done well. I am speaking as a stakeholder. They should adopt the result of the delegate congress, apart from that everything will capsize.”
Daily Sun reliably gathered that in their determined bid to stop Obaze as the PDP standard bearer in the Anambra poll, the quartet of Obiogbolu, Ubah, Oduah and Emeka had given the party’s national leadership the option of picking any one of them as candidate.
However, after reviewing the petitions against the former SSG, the PDP National Caretaker Committee affirmed his candidature and urged all aggrieved party members to bury their differences and work with Obaze in the interest of the party.
But that appeal seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as aggrieved aspirants are still at daggers drawn with Obaze.
For instance, Ubah has vowed to take his case to the court. The Capital Oil boss told journalists in Abuja recently that it was only the court that can determine who the PDP candidate in the Anambra poll is. He pointedly accused some leaders of the party of manipulating the process.
Ubah contended that “the recently concluded Anambra PDP governorship primary election conducted on August 28th, 2017 was all but a show of shame, as it was marred by obvious irregularities, leaving little to be desired and more questions than answers from the relevant authorities and party officials.
“In the quest for justice, I submit myself to fight this illegality and injustice for my sake as well as that of anyone who aspires to contest on the party’s platform and I hope that justice will prevail in the end.”
In quick response to Ubah’s tirade, the PDP national leadership issued him a query and subsequently suspended him for a period of one month for launching a “vitriolic” attack against the party leadership in the aftermath of its governorship primary in Anambra State.
Apart from Capital Oil boss, Daily Sun reliably gathered that Obiogbolu may also be heading to the court to challenge Obaze’s candidature.
Analysts say the controversy over the emergence of the PDP candidate is not different from what was obtainable in the Anambra chapter of the opposition party in the past.
Since 2003, PDP primaries in Anambra State have always been trailed by controversy. It got so bad during the 2010 primaries. The emergence of former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),Professor Chukwuma Soludo as PDP flag bearer in 2010 ruffled feathers within the party, as a lot of governorship aspirants defected to other political parties, where they contested the election, as such the PDP went into the election with a divided house.
In 2014, the situation was not any better. Two factions of the PDP in Anambra held parallel gubernatorial primaries, which produced Senator Andy Uba and Tony Nwoye as governorship candidates. While the PDP National leadership accepted Uba as the validly nominated candidate, Nwoye took his case to the court. Few days to the governorship election, the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, pronounced the latter the authentic PDP governorship candidate in the 2014 Anambra governorship poll.
Again, like in 2010, the Anambra PDP went to the 2014 election with a divided house. Apparently worried by the implication of endless tussle over PDP ticket, chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi said there must be an end to litigations in the Anambra PDP.
Makarfi appealed to aggrieved aspirants to sheath their sword.
Speaking when he received the report of the Anambra PDP governorship primary in Abuja recently, the PDP National chairman appealed to those that lost or are still aggrieved over the outcome of the primary to sheath their sword in the interest of the party.
“There must be a winner and a loser in any electoral contest. But a political party is a family. When a winner emerges, everybody goes with the larger family and you move forward. While congratulating the winners, we are also asking others that either withdrew or lost to cool down and come together for the sake of the party. If it is not your luck today, tomorrow, it can be yours.
“There is no need making a mountain out of a mole hill. Anambra State should turn a new leaf and stop this problem of running to court to address every political challenge,” the PDP leader admonished.
But the division in the Anambra PDP seemed to have widened. Last Monday as the party was flagging -off its campaign in the commercial city of Onitsha, some aggrieved party members were busy with their own parallel rallies in Onitsha and other part of the state. The parallel rallies, lead by former chairman of Anambra PDP, Chief Ken Emeakayi, who was recently suspended from the party for four years, and Humphrey Nsofor reiterated their opposition to Obaze’s candidature.
The Nsofor group took their opposition further by purportedly suspending Professor ABC Nwosu and Iyom Josephine Anenih as chairman and secretary of the Anambra PDP caretaker committee respectively.
Recall that weeks earlier, Iyom Anenih had raised the alarm that some of its members were making moves to create schism in its fold, so as to whittle down its chances at the poll.
Anenih, in a statement had said the plot to create division in the party is championed by those who believe that they must always call the shots in the state.
“These subterranean moves, as we have learnt, are being championed by some disgruntled persons who believe that Anambra State must be at their beck and call. They are bent on creating parallel bodies that will stand as a counter to the constituted Caretaker Committee of the party in Anambra State and further,seek a partnership with opponents of the PDP to scuttle our brightest chance ever,” she stated.
Pundits argue that the current state of affairs in the Anambra PDP is not in the interest of the party in the run-up to governorship poll, especially as the party is said to have bright chances of winning the contest.
Regardless, a member of the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), Chief Okey Muo Aroh said despite the controversy that has trailed Obaze’s emergence, the party’s chance in the November 18 remains very bright.
He said opposition by a few PDP members to Obaze’s candidature would not prevent the party from winning the governorship contest.
Aroh said in as much as the contribution of every party member is needed to ensure victory for the PDP in the governorship election, no one individual can hold the party to ransom.
He told Daily Sun:” I don’t see any major obstacle. We have what it takes to win the election. Any aspirant that is still opposed to Obaze’s emergence as our governorship candidate is like a general without an army, beecause all their supporters are with Obaze.”
Analysts say to avoid the pitfalls of the past, the leadership of the PDP at the national and state level must intensify efforts at reconciling all aggrieved members before November 18, as that would appear to be the surest way to win the much coveted governorship seat.