Ifeanyi Ubah, a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the November 18 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, in this interview with OWEDE AGBAJILEKE alleges that the conduct of the primary was skewed in favour of a person he claimed was not a real member of the party. He also accused some chieftains of the party of impunity. He says that he will contest the outcome of the primary in the law court, stressing that not only that he is a better candidate than any of the aspirants in his party, the court will determine the real candidate. Excerpts:
What actually is your grouse with the recent primary held in your state in which you participated?
It is the process. Former Governor Peter Obi is the sponsor of the alleged winner, Oseloka Obaze. And he came to my house, spent about seven hours after the election to get me to rescind my decision to reject the result but I told him the impunity was so much. He is the one championing that. He’s also championing the cause of persuading people to buy into the fact that it was zoned to the North. And I say it wasn’t zoned to the North. South has ruled four times, Central eleven and North four times. So, equity demands that it will also come back to us.
Not only that, I am a better candidate than any of them. By all the things I have done in my state, I am closer to the people. I have a stadium that I built in two years, which the state has not even built in 25 years of her existence. I am the only one building a Catholic Cathedral in the whole country. And I have supported the party immensely in the past. In the 2015 election, I gave 60 percent visibility to the PDP without any form of support from the government. So, I see no reason why Peter Obi will bring somebody who is not a member of PDP. There is an interview he granted four months ago, saying that he doesn’t know the platform he will use to contest.
So, we also gave the clip to the appeal panel. We showed them the report of Bob Effiong which granted him provisional waiver pending when he will be cleared. So, the party did not convey any meeting prior to that primary to grant him a waiver. And it’s not the National Chairman that will give him waiver; it is the National Executive Committee (NEC). But there was no NEC meeting. We are party faithful. Once there is NEC meeting and his waiver is discussed, it will be made known to everybody. In line with our party constitution he wasn’t eligible to be part of that electoral process.
Did the delegates list you got from INEC tally with the one used for the primary?
No. In fact, looking at the foolishness of what they did, by the time they finished the election, at the primary you submit your list to INEC. So they submitted the list that they used to conduct the primary to INEC. Then we also applied for the Certified True Copy (CTC) to have that. And the electoral body also furnished it to us which is totally different from the one they used.
Two months to the primary, were you a member of PDP?
I am. I have always been a member of PDP.
It was rumoured that you had romance with some other political parties. How true is this?
I have always had romance with every political party in Nigeria. As a businessman, pillar of sports, I have sympathy for so many parties like YDP and others. But the point is that you have a party and I am businessman who works with Federal Government and I can’t tell you that I don’t have people from APC. They are free to come to my place. They are free to come and woo me. They are free to even ask me to support them. If I feel that I can support them, I will support them. No constitution in Nigeria stops me from doing so. But in this process and I will say it clearly that I have not entered any party office outside PDP. And if anybody has contrary information, they should tender them. But the party can come to my place and woo me.
Including Labour Party?
Yes, including Labour Party. I even contested under Labour Party. I was with them before PDP.
Can you confirm that the only card you are carrying is that of PDP?
I have my Labour Party card. I contested under Labour Party. But for today, I have PDP card.
How true is the allegation that you didn’t resign as member of LP?
If I didn’t resign as Labour Party member, it would have come to the Appeal Panel. And they would have thrashed it. And I don’t think I would have participated fully in the 2015 presidential campaign, getting to the rank of becoming the Deputy Director, Contact and Mobilisation of a presidential campaign. That is where the petition would have come.
With the outcome of the primary, do you think the PDP has what it takes to win the November 18 governorship election?
I think if we put our house in order, we will fight and get it, irrespective of what has happened.
How will this be achieved when the party has submitted the name of Oseloka Obaze to INEC?
We will seek redress in court. Because before now, four of us who are aggrieved aspirants, had a meeting together and said the party can choose any of us. We also went to the Appeal Panel. We told them that irrespective of our position, they should choose any of the four of us. So, I will be going to court to seek redress. Except the party comes back to us and amend the irregularities, only the court can determine the candidate of the party. Because they know that the person they have chosen is not qualified to be a candidate of the party.
What is the position of INEC monitors at the primary?
The constitution says INEC must observe. So, my duty was to tell INEC people on ground to look at their list so that they can observe it. If you watch the video, the man I was talking to was head of primary in INEC Anambra State.
Can we have the CTC of the delegates list you obtained from INEC?
You can go to INEC and apply. In any case, there is no need for that. We will tender it in court. But you can go to INEC today, pay N1,000 and get it. I can’t give it to you. It’s better that you get it straight from the source. Because it’s a public document obtained through Freedom of Information Act.
Are you going to court as a group or as an individual?
During the appeal, they said two of the four aspirants had no locus standi because they did not participate at the primary. But I am going as Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah because I have some other information personally obtained by me.
Have you exhausted all machinery within the party before heading to court?
From the point of being robbed at the primary, I have not talked to the press like I am doing now. I allowed myself to do internal consultations, meeting party leaders, sending text messages to almost all the BoT members and telling them to intervene. So, I have exhausted more than enough internal mechanisms. I am fighting a battle of myself and for the rest of Nigerians who might fall into this kind of issue tomorrow. If we continue to allow things like this, people will continue to suffer impunity. Imagine the kind of money we spent, the time we devoted to this, people that were disenfranchised and my political life. And people referring to you as a featherweight politician and a former SSG scoring 672 and giving me 94. It is a reference point tomorrow because people all over the world will say I am a featherweight politician. So, we are in this business to continue to fight for people. And we will continue to invest in party. And if I can get this kind of result, it means that I am nobody even in my state.
Are you seeking fresh primary?
It’s up to the court to decide. What my lawyers are pleading is that when we get to the court, we will present our case. When we finally enter court, I won’t be able to talk to you the way I’m talking to you.
