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Following the demise of the first executive governor of Osun State and lawmaker representing Osun West Senatorial District at the red chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke in April 2017, the constituents of his senatorial district were saddled with the duty of exercising their franchise to select a capable hand to take over the mantle from him. This they did on Saturday, July 8, 2017.
It is no longer news that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otunba Ademola Adeleke, defeated the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Mudashir Husein, in nine of the 10 local government areass that constitute the senatorial district and was accordingly declared winner of the election. Considering the fact that the APC controls the Federal Government and also holds sway in the south-western part of Nigeria (Osun State inclusive), it becomes important to rethink the circumstances that led to the party’s loss at the said polls so as to determine what lessons should be learnt from same, in view of forthcoming elections, particularly the upcoming gubernatorial elections in Anambra State.
On the circumstances of the Osun West senatorial by-election, it was obviously a fight between the APC and the PDP, without removing the fact that other political parties also participated in the election. Of course, any political party that wishes to win an election is expected to field its best candidate, since no reasonable trader goes to the market with wares that he believes would not appeal to majority of his customers.
The process, which produced Husein as the APC candidate was very controversial. Backed by the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and some heavyweights in the echelons of the party’s hierarchy at the national level, Husein emerged from the primaries as APC’s standard-bearer despite the fact that the party’s screening committee had earlier disqualified him on the grounds of his presumed failure to resign his appointment as a commissioner with the Osun State government.
Indeed, the majority of APC stalwarts at the state level, for several reasons, preferred that the ticket were given to Otunba Ademola Adeleke (who at that time was running for the position on the platform of the APC). First, he belonged to the Adeleke family, which enjoys maximum support from the electorate at the grassroots. Again, he is from Ede North Local Government Area, which, combined with Ede South Local Government Area, has the highest number of registered voters out of all the local governments in the senatorial district. What is more, the circumstances surrounding the death of Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke sympathetically made the party delegates at state level opt for his brother, Otunba Ademola Adeleke, as a suitable replacement.
Against the voice of reason, last-minute manipulations ensured the re-classification of Husein as being eligible to contest the primary. This situation, coupled with the shifting of the primary to Oshogbo rather than Iwo (the headquarters of the senatorial district), thus rendering the entire process susceptible to manipulation, forced Adeleke to withdraw from the primary and defect from the APC to the PDP, where he was welcomed with open arms. At the end of the PDP primary, Adeleke emerged the party’s candidate. The result is now history and holds a strong lesson for all actors in the electoral process, which is the fact that, in an election, it is a party’s choice of candidate that matters most. A party may have a strong base in an area, but the wrong candidate would spell doom for the party.
Now, to the forthcoming gubernatorial contest in Anambra State. There is no gainsaying the fact that the current Anambra political environment is an elitist one, replete with several political gladiators and heavyweights, even within the fold of the APC. Truth be told, the APC structure in the South-East is not as formidable as it is in the South-West, and in Anambra State, the APC is yet to win a gubernatorial election.
The fact that the incumbent Governor, Chief (Dr.) Willie M. Obiano, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) desires a second tenure in office further exacerbates the situation. And the Supreme Court in its judgment delivered on July 12, 2017, has determined the PDP leadership crisis and declared the Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction as the authentic leadership of the PDP. By this fact, the PDP’s position as a formidable contender in the governorship election is restored, considering that the PDP in Anambra State has several political heavyweights. Thus, the APC now has much more work to do, if the party must take over the government of Anambra State.
Unless the APC gets it right by fielding the most popular candidate at the grassroots, a repeat of the Osun experience, where the party lost to the PDP, would be unavoidable. To defeat the incumbent, APC must jettison partisan politics and critically consider some salient issues that will ensure their success at the polls.
First is the issue of zoning. The zoning arrangement in Anambra State presupposes that the governorship position would be rotated among the three senatorial districts in the state. Since the inception of democracy in 1999, Anambra Central Senatorial District has had 11 years in power and Anambra South, under Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, had just a single term of four years. Considering that Anambra North has had a single term of four years with an overwhelming agreement on lack of confidence and abysmal non-performance, equity requires that the Anambra South Senatorial District, precisely the Ihiala LGA, where Mbadinuju comes from, should be given the opportunity of completing a second term in office. Besides, the incumbent governor is from Anambra North. To field a candidate from the same senatorial district would simply result in a situation where majority of the electorate would prefer to vote to retain the incumbent for a second tenure rather than experiment with a new figure from the same district.
Sir (Dr.) Obinna Uzoh, KSG, is the answer to this situation. Not only is he from Anambra South Senatorial District, he is also from Ihiala LGA.
Second, the place of the Church in Anambra’s political equation cannot be taken for granted. For any political party to succeed in the gubernatorial election, it should be able to draw massive support from the Catholic and Anglican denominations, these being the dominant churches in Anambra State. Of all the aspirants under the APC fold currently, none is widely accepted by the Catholic, Anglican and other religious denominations like Uzoh.
He has done so much for churches and other non-religious organisations and has been recognised by the Pope as a Knight of St. Gregory (indeed, he is the only Papal Knight in the race) and has also been recognised by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) as a distinguished friend and patriot, as a result of many years of accomplished achievements to God and humanity. Other religious and non-religious bodies have also bestowed him with deserved honours.
Third is the question of mass acceptance and support by the electorate at the grassroots. The Osun-situation has shown that it is not enough for the candidate of the party to be ‘anointed by the party’s leadership in Abuja.’ Though a good relationship between a candidate and the central leadership of the party would mean well for the cause, the support of the electorate at the grassroots shouldn’t be ignored.
Uzoh surely is a man of the people and is popular and respected at the grassroots. Indeed, he has done so much for the good people of Anambra State and beyond with his personal resources and this has endeared him to the people. Sir (Dr.) Obinna Uzoh, KSG has awarded scholarships to several students in primary, secondary schools, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities across the country, with special scholarship award to indigenes of Anambra State in Medicine, Law, Accountancy, Engineering, etc.
He single-handedly built and donated a three-storey building to the Law Faculty of Madonna University, Okija, Anambra State, constructed and equipped several computer and science laboratories in secondary and tertiary institutions in Anambra State, and also distributed textbooks and instructional materials to schools across the state. He has established small-scale enterprises for indigenes of Anambra State, provided boreholes, rural electrification and donated transformers to towns and villages in Anambra. He singlehandedly built the All Saints Catholic Church, Ihiala, and completed the St. Silas Anglican Cathedral, Ihiala. He built and donated a three-storey youth hostel at the Holy Family Youth Village, Amansea, Awka, to the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha for use by students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
Uzor also singlehandedly built and donated an ICT and skill acquisition centre at the All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha, sponsored/donated drugs for free medical outreaches to St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, for some selected towns and villages in Anambra North senatorial zone, donated relief materials to flood victims in Anambra East and West local government areas, Ogbaru Local Government Area and Ihiala Local Government Area, and assisted Amansea community with potable water during the Ezu River pollution incident. Indeed the list is endless.
Several respected and incontrovertible personalities have testified about the philanthropic character and antecedents of Sir (Dr) Obinna Uzoh, KSG. The Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. (Dr.) Val M. Okeke, in an exclusive interview with an international media outfit, stated as follows: “I have closely followed Dr. Obinna Uzoh’s activities towards the less privileged and they are edifying. He has assisted many indigent students through scholarship. He has built houses for the poor, built hostels for students, churches for worshippers of different denominations and he identifies with the poor and the lowly. Right now, he is renovating one of the dormitories at the Onitsha Prisons. He has not excluded the rich, his friendship cuts across the poor and the rich. He has identified with the government, states and federal. He is a good man in all sense of definition.”
Similarly, His Excellency, former Governor Peter Obi, CON, while extolling the exemplary qualities of Uzoh, stated as follows: “Remarkable too is your spirit of philanthropy, which has continued to earn you goodwill in Anambra State and beyond. You have equally excelled in missionary work, contributed in many ways to Christian youth development, which you most recently demonstrated by building and donating a multi-million naira hostel edifice to the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha at Holy Family Youth Centre, Amansea. This gesture of yours is a challenge to other wealthy Anambra citizens on how best to give back to the society.”
The above facts eloquently bear testimony to the fact that Uzoh is the man APC and the good people of Anambra State need for the job. He is the square peg fit for the square hole. He has the charismatic qualities necessary to turn around the fortunes of the APC in Anambra State for the better and deliver to the good people of Anambra State the desired dividends of democracy. Indeed, Uzoh is the man of the people and with him Anambra shall be great again!!!
