From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
National Assembly member for Awka North and South Federal Constituency, Chinedu Onwuaso, has dismissed the claims that the former state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, played a major role in his going to the House of Representatives.
Onwuaso, who is currently in the green chamber, said it was mischievous of anybody to claim sending him to Abuja when he was actually begged to take the party’s ticket in 2019 to help it. In this interview, the lawmaker threw some light on the political friction between him and Nwobu.
Stories are out there about your alleged friction with the former chairman of your party, Chief Nwobu. Sources said the disaffection dated back to 2019 and that it had something to do with how you got the PDP ticket for that year’s elections. What’s really going on between the two of you?
I may not want to say anything on this issue because these are relationships that are personal. It didn’t start from politics. And inasmuch as, at some point it came onboard, as you’re moving in politics, you have allies. Just like they say, in politics you have permanent interest. My relationship with Chief Ndubuisi has been very, very cordial. Right from inception, he is an elder brother and he started politics before me. So, I count that to him. And I came onboard when I did. In fact, as at the point I came onboard in politics, he wasn’t in PDP. He was the chairman of AC. I was contesting in the PDP. It was within the period of 2011 to 2015 when I was coming out for House of Assembly, Constituency A. Then, we started parleying. So, within that period, just like any other person in politics, if you need advice, you meet the stakeholders. One will say ‘okay, look, if you are doing this, why not do it that way?’ Throwing in one thing or the other, we became closer. And then that was the inception where he came back to the PDP. So, he now came to PDP as a major stakeholder. By then I was already the candidate of the House of Assembly, Awka South 1. So, I was already in the party; he didn’t bring me to PDP. That’s one notion I want to correct. We were friends just like I said. He was in politics before me. He had been the Local Government Chairman, Awka South before I even thought about going into politics. Just like they say, he who stands before you has a better experience. And so, there is nothing wrong in seeking advice. And then in 2015, we ran the election. Anayo Nnebe was the House of Reps candidate. I was the House of Assembly candidate for Awka South 1. Then Uche Ekwunife was the senatorial candidate for Anambra Central. So, we went round and did our campaign. They won. I lost. And I went back to my business wholeheartedly. This is what I want to do; not that somebody forced me to do it. And so, by 2017 governorship election in which OHO (Oseloka Henry Obaze) came onboard, I was more or less the major stakeholder of the PDP in Awka South 1 because every other person was in one party or the other. Then, the PDP had no offices. I remember that I paid for the nine wards in Awka South 1, their offices. I brought out N450,000. It was on that note that Chief Ndubuisi came onboard. By then I think he had a little issue in the ACN with Ngige and the rest of them. And we started forging ahead. And most times when they bring materials for campaign for Awka South to me, I will always insist that ‘look, now I have a major stakeholder; everybody is happy that somebody of that calibre has come back to the party to join us.’ Naturally, I was trained to respect people who are higher than me in politics and that’s what I do. And I will keep on doing that. So, it will never sever our relationship on that basis.
Was he instrumental to your going to the House of Representatives? There are stories out there that he made you. Some people say you’re just being ungrateful. How would you react to that?
Politically in 2019, nobody wanted to take the PDP’s form for House of Assembly, House of Representatives and even the Senate because then APGA won the 2017 governorship election. They got 21/21 as was the slogan then. I was part of the bunch that remained steady in PDP without betraying anything in PDP. So, on that basis, nobody wanted to. To be honest with you, I had contested three times for the House of Assembly in PDP and I lost. So, I wasn’t even thinking of going into any contest again in PDP or for elections. Not until there was nobody. And then, the push was that Chief Ndubuisi will become the chairman of the party. So, at interim first, he was the acting chairman of the party; fighting to be confirmed as the chairman. And as the acting chairman taking the party to an election, you don’t have a candidate in the House of Assembly from your state constituency. Nobody wanted to take it. You don’t have from your federal constituency. Nobody wanted it. You don’t have for the senate. You had to beg.
How? Did he beg you to come and take the PDP’s ticket for the election that year instead of you contesting and struggling for it with some other aspirants?
Like I always told people, I was playing tennis at Barnhill and he called me and said ‘Please’. Why did he call me? He knew that I had the capacity as a businessman. I was doing very well in my business. He knew that I had the heart to contest it if I wanted to contest. He knew that he couldn’t spend a dime for me because I had that capacity. That’s why he came for me. He called and begged. That was on a Saturday morning. He begged that I should please take the form because by Monday, there would be a closure on taking of forms. He called me on a Saturday and begged me to go and take that form; if not for anything, let me enlist my name so that he would save his face as the Acting Chairman. Let it be that he had a candidate. That was the genesis. Let me tell you, if he was very sure that that thing would work out very well, he would have taken that form himself. I am just saying this as an emphasis. But one, he counted on me. Peradventure I fail this election; he is safe; he has not contested anything. If I fail this election, it is my money I have spent; not his. It is not affecting him. If I win the election, he will take the glory. Based on those three pillars, that was why he sought me.
Were you the only person he reached out to for that purpose or were there other persons or party members?
I wasn’t the first person he sought. He sought from Awka North but nobody agreed. He went to Obizi, nobody agreed. I can mention names. When he came to me, he told me plainly that it was for face saving; that I should take it up. I reluctantly travelled to Abuja on Sunday. I picked Darlington Ekweli from Amikwo II. I said ‘come let us go’. There was nobody going for House of Assembly in Awka South 1. ‘Darlington come, go and pick the form.’ Darlington followed me on the same flight. We went to Abuja.
We slept in a hotel which I can still tell you today. On Monday morning we obtained our various forms. It was at that point of obtaining the form that Chief Ndubuisi called me and said ‘look, I want you to also obtain the forms for the three ad hoc delegates for the whole wards in Awka North and South.’ I told him that I didn’t have money for that; that I didn’t budget for that. He said ‘don’t worry I’ll send money to you now.’ He sent N500,000. N5,000 for 34 wards, if you calculate the amount; and then, there are certain money you pay for administration and everything. The whole money came up to N625,000. I now completed it and bought the forms; 3-man ad hoc delegates form.
So, at what point did your relationship with him get sour and why?
I was surprised that when I came back, the news was that he bought the form for me. I finished filling the form and submitted it the next day because we had an ultimatum for closure of submission on Tuesday. So, I bought on Monday, came back the same day, filled it and went back with it on Tuesday. It was on that flight that we got the announcement that the court had removed the former Borno State governor, Sheriff. That was where PDP started heating up. And so, apart from this, we went through the campaigns. Why I am telling you this is because a lot of things have been said; a lot of notions have been expressed. As of the time I came on board, the party was scattered. It was so scattered that the first campaign design was that I should start spending so that the party would be rejuvenated. And I didn’t look back from the point when that form was submitted. People who were in the party will tell you that the party came back alive especially in Awka North and South Federal Constituency. And let me even tell you. Even within that period, the same person sponsored another person to take a form after he had pushed me to do so. And he set it up as a competition and was telling me what I will do to satisfy the other party. That was when we started having some little… I said no, this was not what you told me. But I won’t delve into that. What I want to say is that finally, finally the election was run. It was after that incident that much fight was put on and he became the state chairman. And as the state chairman, his main aim was that he would not be disappointed in his constituency both federal and state. We fought to win. But if anybody will come onboard today and tell you, just like the rumour was going that he carried the campaign or he sponsored my campaign, I will just laugh. We have a campaign already here today, let him do the same. My team will tell you that at every meeting and in every budget that was presented here, all I needed to tell them was wait. That waiting is to bring what is supposed to be used to run the election. So, I want to leave it at that. As an elder brother, more experienced person, he performed his role. As for financing my campaign, I financed my campaign from the beginning till the end. I won that election because whatever I was told to do, I did it. Every spending that was mapped out, I did it so that nobody will lay the blame that because I didn’t run that campaign that we lost. That was why I brought out all it took to run that campaign. And to the glory of God we won that election. I will still respect him as an elder brother. I learnt a lot from him. But he should not say that he ran that election. I ran that election. All my team today can attest to that. And that is why when those issues came up, it was my team that reacted first because most of them were part and parcel of what transcended in that election. I just want to set the record straight. We don’t have any disagreement but you know sometimes, political disagreements come. It is not always all the time that you follow the same trend; sometimes you see things differently. Maybe now we are seeing things differently but it doesn’t stop us from seeing the something the same way tomorrow.