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The battle gong is sounding in Anambra State. It is all about the gubernatorial election slated for Saturday, November 18, 2017. Since the return of the Nigeria to civil rule in 1999, Anambra has carved a niche for itself in the nation’s history book for some reasons, in opposite directions.
Many people remember Anambra as a state given to too much money in politics. It was in Anambra that godfatherism was elevated to a high level. Early in the life of the experiment on civil rule between 1999 and 2006, names like Emeka Offor and Chris Uba raged like wild fire.
Emeka Offor, a business mogul, was said to have sponsored Chinweoke Mbadinuju with conditions that reduced the governor to a figure head in office. However, by the time Mbadinuju realised himself and resisted the godfather by refusing his rubber-stamp status, he lost his position. With the fall of Mbadinuju, another set of godfathers led by Chris Uba, who tapped Chris Ngige, a medical doctor-turned politician, to step in as the new governor. At this time, Uba was so influential that almost all those who held one political appointment or the other in the state, or those who won elections into the state House of Assembly, National Assembly and all the appointees at the Federal level owed their allegiance to the then enfant-terrible.
Somehow, Ngige decided to “rebel” against the moneybags despite his oath to mortgage the state.
The conflagration that ensued as a result of the battle for the control of power plunged Anambra into a huge mess. It was in that era that Nigerians got to know that idolatry has been brought into the nation’s politics.
Ngige confessed that he was taken to Okija shrine to swear to an oath of allegiance to his godfather. Assassination attempts were made on his life, and every other thing that happened in the Ngige era remains history.
Then entered Peter Obi, a technocrat with private sector background. With the solid support of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Obi won the 2003 gubernatorial election on the platform of a political party that was largely unknown in the S/East at the time APGA.
After so much legal battles, he settled down to work
His sterling performance, mingled with the staunch support of Odumegwu-Ojuwku who, at the time presented obi one more time to the people of Anambra, pleading with them for one more favour in returning Obi to the Government House in Awka.
Obi had made a mark in the Banking sector. Anambra people had no problem accepting Willie Obiano. They were pleased with the level of performance by Peter Obi and concluded that it was nonsensical to change a winning team.
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What has changed? A lot
Unlike in 2013 when Obi threw his moral and financial weight behind Obiano, today a lot has changed. The two men have sicne parted ways, political.
As it is said in politics – there is no permanent friend or foe but permanent interest- Obi has since dumped APGA, a platform that gave him political relevance and by extension, he is now seeing things from different perspective from Obiano, having joined the PDP shortly after leaving office.
Unlike in 2013 when Obi’s support for Obiano was absolute, his opposition to the governor’s re-election bid is with serious bile.
Not long ago, he was quoted as saying that he would sacrifice the last pint of his blood to ensure that Obiano is not returned as governor.
Is Obiano amused at the threat? Hardly!
Obiano is not taking the threat lying low. Pundits say he would downplay the seriousness and weight of the threat at his own peril. The reason, they say is obvious.
“Don’t forget that Obi did a lot of good things to the Christian community in the state, particularly the Catholics who dominate in the state. I don’t think that Obiano has matched that. Obi’s footprint in the educational institutions in the state is also massive. He returned some of the schools built and run by missionaries to the Churches. With this, Obi became like a mini god in Anambra; and that singular good deed, among several others, is fresh in their memory. There are those who believe that Obi is being unjustly treated even when they have not sat down to diagnose the problem or reason for the so-called strain relationship existing between the two leaders.
“So, many people in the state still see Obi as the defacto commander in Anambra and despite the fact that he is not contesting, they think it is a battle between Obi and Obiano. The governor himself knows this much and that’s why he is not sleeping on guard,” says an indigene of the state who asked not to be named.
Allegations and counter allegations
From the moment the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rolled out the timetable for the November election, lots of allegations have been flying from all corners against those considered strong candidates of powerful parties. It would be recalled that the emergence of Oseloka Obaze as the standard bearer of the PDP ruffled some feathers, chiefly, those of Ifeanyi Ubah, who alleged that he was a better PDP than Obaze.
Ubah had traced his commitment to the party to the days of President Goodluck Jonathan, particularly his immense contributions to the party during the presidential campaigns for the 2015 election.
Moreover, Peter Obi, immediate past governor of the state, accused Obiano of non-performance, saying he was leading the campaign against his re-election bid because the governor has not performed creditably in office. Although, Obi was accused of demanding a huge sum of money from Obiano and the refusal of the governor to acquiesce to the alleged request may have riled his predecessor into leading the “away with Obiano” chanters.
Obi denied the allegation, describing same as infantile and an attempt to smear his hard-earned reputation.
Last week, Obaze alleged that the administration of Obiano had squandered N590billion in four years. He further alleged that under the present administration in the state, education was no longer farring well. According to him, “If we have dropped from number one ranking in national examinations to sixth and seventh positions, then the system needs to be fixed…”
By the same token, Sylvester Nwobu Alor, a founding member of the ruling APGA, accused the governor of running a very “disappointing government.” Alor alleged that Governor Willie Obiano has a lot of explanations to make on some of the policies of his administration and their executions.
But those in Obiano’s camp say that the conglomeration of allegations were simply a ploy to deceive the unsuspecting masses of the state and to hijack power, by “some power-drunk cabal” who see themselves as the only people with ideas to govern Anambra.
Albert Okoye, a member of the Obiano Youth Movement (OYM), an organisation made up of APGA youths, said because the group had see through the shenanigans of some political actors in the state and the extent they can go to frustrate INEC from delivering a free and fair election, the OYM decided that it would take it upon itself to “resist rigging, in any form, with the last pint of our blood to ensure that Governor Obiano is not only re-elected, but continue with his good works. So, we know their mindset and we are prepared for them. There is no vacancy in the Government House, Awka until after four years from the day Obiano will be sworn in for his second term.”
Promises, promises and promises
As expected, all the 37 candidates of various political parties cleared by the INEC for the November 18 have continued to tour the 21 local government areas of the state, selling their manifestoes. While some claim that the incumbent administration has not been strong in the area of job creation, promising to create massive employment opportunities for the people; some are promising to scale up security in the state. A number of the candidates have promised to put smiles on the faces of civil servants and pensioners through prompt payment of salaries and other necessary allowances. It has been a deluge of promises to woo the electorate.
A retired civil servant in Anambra, who spoke with BDSUNDAY on condition of anonymity, said: “There is nothing different from what they said 12 years ago and what they are telling us now. We know them, politicians, when they are looking for our votes, they come with an angelic aura but when it is our own turn to make demands of them, they turn their back at us like black demons. Going to vote in any election in Nigeria is simply a fulfillment of righteousness, because we know them by their fruits.”
Zebulon Agomuo
