UPDATE FROM ANAMBRA: The Governorship Battle Begins

UPDATE FROM

ANAMBRA: The

Governorship

Battle Begins

The battle line is drawn

among the 5 major

contestants in the very

keen contest to replace

the outgoing governor of

Anambra State, Mr. Peter

Obi, by February next yea,

2013.

The top men are Chris

Ngige of All Progressives

Congress, APC; Willie

Obiano of the All

Progressives Grand

Alliance, APGA; Tony

Nwoye of Peoples

Democratic Party, PDP;

Ifeanyi Ubah of Labour

Party, LP, and Godwin

Ezeemo of Progressive

Peoples Alliance, PPA.

Below are the issues

playing out...

According to

Vanguard's VINCENT

UJUMADU, Obiano and

Nwoye are from Anambra

North senatorial zone, the

only area that has not

produced the governor

since Anambra State was

created in 1991, while

Ubah and Ezeemo are

from Anambra South.

Ngige is the only

candidate from Anambra

Central and the reason

politicians from the zone

did not seek the highest

political office in the state

this time around is

because by the time

Governor Peter Obi

completes his tenure next

year, Anambra Central

would have occupied the

seat for 11 years (eight

years by Obi and three

years by Ngige).

For the South senatorial

zone, the four governors

they had produced

namely, Dr.

Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Dr.

Chinwoke Mbadinuju, Dr.

Andy Uba and Mrs. Virgy

Etiaba, have jointly

occupied the Government

House for about six years.

Therefore, for Saturday’s

election, issues that will

be on the front burner

include the zone of the

candidates, the political

godfathers behind them,

their closeness with the

churches, programmes in

their manifestoes and

their antecedents, among

other considerations.

Anambra North (Obiano

and Nwoye)

The emergence of the two

candidates from a zone

noted for delivering bloc

votes during elections is a

source of concern to

stakeholders from the

area. When Nwoye and

Prince Nicholas

Ukachukwu from Anambra

South were engaged in a

legal battle for the ticket

of the PDP, many people

from Anambra North

somehow prayed that the

area should not be made

to face the problem of

splitting their votes

between him (Nwoye) and

Obiano. So, when Nwoye

eventually won at the

Supreme Court, the reality

starred them in the face.

On Saturday, the two, who

are in fact from the same

local government

(Anambra East, may have

to decide whether to go

for one person or vote

according to their political

leanings in which case

there will be the inevitable

splitting of votes in the

area. It was gathered as

of press time that

prominent people from the

area are still putting

heads together to resolve

the issue before the

election.

But if the two candidates

split the votes in the four

local government areas of

Anambra East, Anambra

West, Ayamelum and Oyi

which is the area

popularly known as

Omambala, whoever gets

the upper hand in the

other three local

government areas that

complete the zone

namely, Onitsha North,

Onitsha South and

Ogbaru, will carry the day

in the zone.

For the two candidates,

their performance in

Anambra Central will be

determined by the

personality of Governor

Peter Obi, who is totally in

charge of Anaocha and

Njikoka, two local

governments that can be

described as no go areas

for other politicians, in

which case, they have

become Obiano territory.

In Dunukofia, where

Prince Arthur Eze, the

billionaire sponsor of

Nwoye comes from, other

parties may try, but it is

PDP that will likely carry

the day. Awka North and

Awka South will likely be

shared among Obiano,

Ngige, Nwoye and Ubah in

that order. In Idemili North

and Idemili South, Ngige

will get the majority any

day, although the

influence of Senator Annie

Okonkwo, who abandoned

Ngige after he was

initially named his

campaign director general,

should not be underrated.

Okonkwo has already

pitched tent with Nwoye

and another advantage

Nwoye has is the massive

support from the youths,

who have already stormed

Anambra State ahead of

the election.

In the South senatorial

zone, with the position of

the Uba family still

unclear and with the loss

of the PDP ticket by

Prince Nicholas

Ukachukwu, the area will

be for grabs for the

candidates, although

Nnewi North and

Ekwusigo are very likely

to go to Ifeanyi Ubah,

Also, Obiano, Ubah and

Nwoye are also going to

make impact in Ihiala

local government. Ihiala, it

should be recalled, used

to be the traditional PDP

area, but it changed

during the second tenure

election of Governor Obi

in 2010, when the people

decided to vote for APGA

because of what the

governor did in the area.

This time, many

prominent people in the

area are said to be

supporting Obiano. For

Orumba North and

Orumba South, what will

determine the candidates’

performance is their effort

to sell their programmes.

Ezeemo is from Aguata

local government, but

whether he would be able

to stamp his authority

there and in other local

government areas in the

zone will be seen on

Election Day.

Powers behind the

candidates

APC – Senator Ngige , on

his own, is popular among

Anambra people, having

been in government at a

time the state was in dire

need for good leadership.

For this election, his

backers are the governors

of the APC states who

want to use the Anambra

election to prove that the

party is prepared to take

over the country after the

2015 election.

APGA – Unarguably ,

Governor Obi is the power

behind the candidate of

APGA. His performance in

the state in the past seven

and half years in all parts

of the state is the selling

point for the APGA

campaign.

Obi has mixed the

campaigns with the

commissioning of projects

and the flagging off of

new ones, including the

equipment of educational

and health institutions.

With the statement by

Obiano that he will

continue with the projects

started by Obi, there is no

doubt in anybody’s mind

that it is the same

government and if Obiano

can govern the way Obi is

doing if he wins, then the

state is on the part of

rapid development

because Obi has laid a

solid foundation for taking

the state to the next level.

With government

machinery at his disposal,

Obiano is having an easy

campaign and with his

academic excellence

which has been sold to

the electorate, he is the

candidate to beat.

PDP- Comrade Nwoye’s

campaign is being backed

by the oil magnet, Prince

Arthur Eze. Eze has said

that it is his desire to

ensure that Nwoye

becomes the next

governor of Anambra

State. The prince has

consistently said that his

interest is not what he

would benefit from

government because God

has already blessed him,

adding that his main

concern is to ensure that

a humble person like

Nwoye is in charge of

Anambra State.

LP- Ifeanyi Ubah is a very

wealth person who said

he does not need to

enrich himself any longer

through public office. His

reason for seeking to

govern the state, he said,

is to help the less

privileged persons and

thousands of youths

roaming the streets in

search of jobs.

PPA- Ezeemo too has no

godfather and he is

enjoying the wealth he

acquired abroad. He was

even said to be the

person funding the APC

before he fell apart with

the leaders of the party

over the ticket of the party

for the governorship

election in Anambra State.

Role of church

The church is playing a

major role in this election.

Remarkably, the four most

popular candidates,

Nwoye, Obiano, Ngige and

Ubah belong to the

Catholic Church and they

have been wooing the

church for support.

The clergy also appear to

be divided over who to

support, but there are

indications that the

bishops may direct the

priests on who to support

among the four persons

vying for the exalted

office. As expected, the

candidates have been

making mouth watering

donations to the various

churches to solicit their

support.