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From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Chief Chukwudi Oli, a lawyer, recently declared his interest to contest the Anaocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia Federal Constituency seat on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2027 general elections.
A grassroots politician, the Oba Ezeafia na Nri had a chat with select journalists in his Nri country home in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State where he gave reasons why he wants to represent his people in the National Assembly. Daily Sun was there. Excerpts…
Why do you want to go to the House of Representatives for Anaocha, Dunukofia and Njikoka Federal Constituency?
I have been intentional in everything I do since I was born and everything I have done. I have made known my intention to run, to represent Dunukofia, Njikoka, and Anaocha Federal Constituency; the biggest constituency we have in Nigeria made up of 51 wards. Anaocha is made up of about 320 polling units. Njikoka is made up of about 231 polling units while Dunukofia is made up of about 165 polling units. This constituency is very dear to me. As a child and as a student of history, I have watched successive representatives. They have done well. You cannot perform beyond your capacity. But I feel that I am here for a reason. For all those who care to know, I have always introduced myself as a servant-leader. I am not that leader that wants to puff his shoulders. I am not that leader that wants to show that everybody is beneath me which we notice in today’s politics. I am that leader who wants to serve with the resources meant for the people. For me, my coming out to contest is rooted in capacity. I want to touch lives. My representation will not be in sharing Keke NAPEP. It’ll not be in putting solar lights. My representation will be rooted in building entrepreneurs. We want our youths to grow up having something substantial they do for a living. We want our youths to be the future of today. Our future is today. That is why I am out to serve. God blessed me after I obtained my degree in law and I started touching lives. I have looked around, with all due respect, every other person running this primary election with me, you can check their antecedents, you will see that one way or the other, they are looking for something to hold on to, to better their lives. God has blessed me. I am the only aspirant that has openly said that I will tell my people how much comes to them. The appropriation, when it is done, I will let my people know that this is how much we have. My services are rooted in accountability. Is it possible for you to steal when you are accountable? When you tell your people that this is how much we have and these are the projects that you want to do, you go down to the town hall meetings of each of the local governments for the purpose of discussing and deliberating on what you want to use their funds to do. It is not my fund. This fund is meant for all of us.
In a country where many people seem to believe in what they can see; things like Keke NAPEP, motorcycles and the rest of them, rather than good ideas that will bring greater prosperity if implemented well, how do you intend to convince ordinary people in rural areas about your ambition?
When I made a comment that my representation is not in sharing Keke NAPEP and motorcycles, what I simply meant by that position was that it is not limited to sharing all those things. This is what we are used to. We have to go beyond those things; because obviously it is not everybody that will be skilled and experienced to key into some other initiatives that I want to introduce. But certainly, we have to look at the issues at hand. There are some that when you give them Keke NAPEP it will be a source of livelihood for their families. We’ll give them. There are some that when you give sewing machines they will be able to place food on their table through it. We’ll give those people. The point I am only trying to convey is that my representation can never and will not be limited to sharing all those things. We must go beyond sharing all those things to building institutions. If you have institutions, our youths will be encouraged. The brain does not have limited capacity. It is what you feed in that the brain gives out. But if we limit ourselves to riding Okada, driving Keke and sharing rice and all those things, we are building people who will become liabilities to the economy because once he looks for that thing that you have given him which is tangible and he doesn’t see it, it becomes a problem. We want to build intangible empowerment that will remain in perpetuity just like in legal practice. You can practice law at any age until you stop discerning. Once you have the power of discernment, even at 80, 90; you can read and understand, you can make money. That is what we want to do. Certainly, there are those that will not fit into that category. We want to go beyond what they are doing but not to eliminate it in its entirety.
What is primary to you is the ticket of APGA and with the new law, you know that if you run for that ticket and miss it, there is a tendency that you will not be able to move to another party to contest. Have you considered those that you’re running against for APGA’s ticket? Again, we have seen antecedents of the leader of your party, the Governor, asking for what they call the conclave primary election. Are you comfortable with that?
Before I joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), I did my research; and I found out that every good thing we have in Anambra State, 70 to 80 per cent of them were done by APGA. I joined APGA fully convinced in my spirit that this is the party where I want to belong. It is beyond my contest. Yes, I am a lawyer. I have studied the Electoral Act. I will not be a political prostitute. If you like the ideals of a political party, you abide by it. The person who is my friend today and whom I look up to and I ask some certain questions when the going gets tough, Chief Ogochukwu Egolum, has been an APGA member from time immemorial and he has been with the party. And for me, Anaocha, Njikoka and Dunukofia Federal Constituency is one. The party is in my blood and I am not going to leave the party for any reason whatsoever subject to supervening circumstances. These are circumstances you cannot control. So, we are not God. We are human beings but we will do the ones that we can as human beings. On the second leg of your question, my brother I am not seeing anybody. I don’t want to know their names. I don’t even want to know who they are. I am only focused on myself because I know I have a vision. If they are running, fine. If they decide to do it by conclave, enclave; fine. For me, I want to be rooted in the grassroots. That is why I am taking my time to familiarise and to fraternise with the grassroots politicians because everybody is a stakeholder in this business. Like I said, the only way up is down. When the chips are down, there are certain factors you put into consideration before taking one or two persons into consideration for the position. My own duty is to fulfil my destiny and what God has sent me to do in APGA; that is, to put smiles on the faces of the party faithful, and to represent my people to the best of my ability. So for me, I don’t know anybody’s intention. For me, I don’t know what the leaders will do. The only thing I can tell you is what I can do. And that thing that I can do is rooted in capacity; representing my people; and I think it’s obvious to the blind. Ezeafia is new, but then, I can tell you that hardly will you mention Ezeafia in Anambra mainstream politics and somebody will tell you that they have not heard that name. It is God that made it like that. I will leave it like that for now.
You’re a lawyer. But I am surprised you have not said anything you will do concerning lawmaking in the Green Chambers if given the opportunity. We want to know what you want to do differently in lawmaking that others have not done?
You know why I have not bothered to say what I am going to do by way of legislative drafting and moving of motions. Lawyers are trained to, when you are in the university, substantive law. Then when you are out, the practical aspect of that substantive law kicks in. That is, procedural law. So, for me, my experience as a legal practitioner is not something I have to start advertising everywhere. There is what we call res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself. We have prepared bills that were eventually passed into law. We have represented lawmakers. We have done a whole lot related to lawmaking. I know what my people want. When I said to you people that I will come down to have a town hall meeting, you understand the needs of your people. From there you can now know to prepare a bill that will suit what your people need. Chukwudi Oli is not a neophyte in lawmaking by virtue of being a lawyer because these are all the things they teach us before you become a full fledged lawyer. I was called to the bar in 2005. From 2005 to 2025, is that not 20 years of active practice? I have not done anything in my life apart from litigation and recovery. I also do corporate practice. I joined the law firm of J-K Gadzama in 2006. I participated in a whole lot of presidential election petitions. I’ve been a litigator all my life until I started my own practice. I was going from one court to another. Even now, I still go to court. Some days I run back to Abuja because primarily, politics is not a profession. Politicking is what you do out of your own volition to better the lives of the people. My primary profession is legal practice.
