By Michael Jegede
ERSTWHILE National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh was set to have a smooth ride to victory in the Anambra Central rerun election earlier scheduled to hold on March 5, 2016, before the sudden indefinite postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The suspension of the conduct of Anambra Central rerun poll came as a result of the decision of INEC to challenge the ruling of an Abuja High Court asking it to include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the exercise. The electoral body insisting on its position that only candidates and parties that participated in the cancelled election are allowed in the rerun in accordance to the law, as pronounced by the Supreme Court in its previous judgements, deferred the planned poll for March 5 indefinitely to appeal the verdict of the Abuja High Court.
The Anambra Central Senate seat became vacant after the Court of Appeal last December nullified the election of Mrs. Uche Ekwunife as the Senator representing the senatorial district, consequent upon an appeal filed by Umeh the APGA candidate. The Appellate Court ordered a rerun of the annulled election within 90 days from the date the judgement was delivered, disqualifying the PDP and its candidate.
Ekwunife had refused to accept that she cannot be part of the rerun poll. She tried to interpret the Court of Appeal ruling nullifying her election to suit her position, maintaining that she was not barred from participating in the rerun race. However, when the whole picture became very clear to her, she decided to dump PDP for All Progressives Congress (APC) and attempted to replace the party’s candidate, Senator Chris Ngige, who is now the Minister of Labour and Employment, all to no avail.
After the coast was clear for Umeh to clinch victory in the rerun poll, having successfully pushed Ekwunife out, rumour started spreading that the former governor of the State, Peter Obi was now interested in the Anambra Central Senatorial contest. Many did not believe it, because, Obi, a former member of APGA now PDP stalwart, had once said he will quit active politics after his tenure as Governor of the State in 2014.
At a forum after the nullification of Ekwunife’s election when her loyalists were yet to be convinced that she can’t fly the PDP flag in the rerun, Obi had said: “Umeh has worn long traditional cap for years without achieving anything. I am not contesting for any position but what I do is where there is good leader, I give my total support. We need somebody who is strong in the caliber of Uche. She will win. Those who caused the nullification made a great mistake.”
However, the battle now appears to be between Obi and Umeh. Obi, who was alleged to have masterminded the suit compelling INEC to include PDP in the Anambra Central rerun, cleared the doubts about his intention to contest in an interview with Odenigbo FM at Obosi in Anambra State. He confirmed that he is actually gunning for the seat of Anambra Central senatorial district in the Red Chamber on the platform of PDP. Admitting his entry into the race for the first time at the FM station, Obi disclosed that he only yielded to pressure by several prominent people of the State, including Ekwunife.
According to him, those who wanted him to contest believed his experience and exposure with wide connections would make him a good parliamentarian in the Upper Legislative Chamber.
Supporters of the APGA candidate do not see Obi’s decision to join the race as a threat. According to them, their candidate is ordained for victory in the contest for the Anambra Central Senate seat. They believe that Umeh, seen as one of the main pillars of APGA, is destined to be a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Umeh’s support base, not minding Obi’s declaration, has continued to swell as the candidate to beat. The thinking of most observers within and outside Anambra State is that Umeh as an outspoken, courageous and dogged politician would serve as a very potent voice for the entire Ndigbo in the Senate.
Hear what Igwe Innocent Obodoaka, the traditional ruler in Agulu community said while recalling that he conferred on the ex-APGA’s helmsman, his cherished traditional title of ‘Ohamadike’ because of his achievements: “Our ancestors have confirmed that you are destined for the Senate. Umeh has seen suffering for Igbo people and so God and our ancestors confirmed him as Senator designate. We gave him the title of Ohamadike. God will see him through and lead him”.
The APGA chieftain has received many of such endorsements from different individuals, groups and communities as that given by Igwe Obodoaka in Agulu. The South East Revival Group, SERG, for instance, in endorsing the Anambra Central senatorial candidate of APGA, argued through its Coordinator, Willy Ezugwu that “Umeh has consistently demonstrated his commitment to the Igbo cause as he sacrificed his comfort and opportunities for material gains to develop APGA as a platform that has the interest of the South-East at heart.
•Jegede writes from Abuja