Tag: APGA

Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, examines the ongoing peace efforts in All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and reports

 Following months of severe internal wrangling among its leaders, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is making frantic efforts towards mending its fences, a development many say might have been informed by the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

Sources say some chieftains of the party who met recently at the Enugu residence of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, agreed to pursue the path of peace, as well as reorganise the party ahead of the 2015 general elections.

These decisions, which came after about seven years of crises which started following the expulsion of Chief Chekwas Okorie, APGA’s founding national chairman, from the party by a faction led by Chief Victor Umeh, the then party’s national treasurer, are aimed at rebranding the party ahead of the general elections.

Following Okorie’s exit, Umeh had emerged as the party’s national chairman after the national convention of the party, which was held in 2005.

The confusion within the party continued until February 8, 2013 when the entire National Working Committee, NWC of the party, led by Umeh, was sacked by an Enugu State High Court, presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Innocent Umezulike.

The court declared the February 10, 2011 election and the party’s national convention that produced the Umeh-led National Executive Committee as “unconstitutional, null and void” just as it restrained Umeh from parading himself as the National Chairman of the party henceforth.

Consequently, on February 17, 2013, at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State led the National Caucus meeting of APGA to appoint Mr. Maxi Okwu as its new Acting Chairman and Alhaji Sanni Shinkafi as Acting National Secretary.

Okwu until his appointment was the National Chairman of Citizens Popular Party, CPP, while Alhaji Shinkafi was the National Secretary of APGA faction, led by Chief Victor Umeh. The party also appointed the former Minister of Health, Dr. Tim Menakaya, as its Acting Chairman, Board of Trustees, (BoT)

Sources say the governor is solidly behind the reconciliation move. He is of the opinion that all aggrieved members of the party should be approached. He wants the party to be repositioned ahead of the 2015 general elections.

To flag off its reconciliation project, the national leadership of the party recently paid a historic visit to its founding National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie. The APGA delegation, led by its interim national chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu, said the aim of the visit was to apologize to him over the injustice he suffered, which eventually led to his removal as the party’s national chairman.

Full of emotion, Okorie said he was glad that his vindication was coming while he was still alive. He said despite the spirited efforts he made to effect reconciliation, those who were working against him never gave peace a chance.

Party sources say the visit to Okorie is just one of many of such visits liened up by the leadership.

“It is not only Okorie that will be visited. Quite a number of angry party chieftains will play host to our leaders in the following weeks. It is all part of our effort to bring back the real owners of the party.

“The bottom line however is that we are not talking about factions here. Let me tell you that even Umeh and Massalla will be approached for reconciliation. They are part of the real owners of APGA. Just like Okorie, we want them in one united APGA.

Tim Menakaya, the only surviving member of the party’s original board of trustee, BOT, who is now the board’s chairman, is very optimistic that the reconciliation effort of the Okwu-led NWC will yield positive fruits.

“Have you ever been so pessimistic that the problems you have cannot be overcome? It borders on one single thing, as soon as the party is well organised and all the functionaries are in place, the crisis will be over and we will move on. For me, I am optimistic that we can achieve peace,” he said.

While leaders of the party are exuding confidence in the ongoing peace process, observers of the politics of APGA are cautious about predicting the eventual outcome of the process.

“Apologies alone will not eliminate grievances, and the roads ahead will be neither short nor smooth for a party like APGA that spent the last seven years on infighting and litigations. Justice must be done and be seen to be done if APGA is not to fumble this chance for peace,” Itchie Goddy Nwosu, a chieftain of the party in Anambra said.

The concourse of events and actions in the only Igbo dominated political party in the Nigerian political firmament is, to put it mildly, unfortunate.

It is a great disservice not only to the memory  of late Chief Emeka Ojukwu, but to the Igbo race at large that people he trusted and worked with are today fingered as the very people planning and executing the dismemberment of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as a party and thus engineering the political, social and economic emasculation of the Igbo people in the Nigerian nation.

There is no gainsaying the fact that it does happen occasionally in history when few people, because of personal aggrandizement, take up arms against their people and against the general aim, objective and aspirations of their people. Such individuals are occasionally made to return to the path of social/political rectitude in order to avert the wrath of their people.

A political school of thought for example, which hold Governor Peter Obi responsible for the current development, is of the view that the actions of the governor amounts to political betrayal of his kith and kin.

Those who promote this school of thought also allege that Obi’s actions will also trade off the Igbo people by destroying a major platform for the propagation of their political choices, aims, views and aspirations.

In fact, Obi’s present actions is not only against the Igbos but also against certain persons, who we know helped to bring him from political wilderness and oblivion to the marvelous political light that he enjoys today. One of such personalities is Chief Victor Umeh.

Those who know will attest that Obi was about to be drowned and was at the very point of political asphyxia, having sucked much political water, when personalities like Umeh offered a helping hand.  Umeh provided the tabula in na frangio for Obi’s political safety in his dire moments. The details are there for all to see.

Suffice it to say here that the course taken and chosen by Obi at the twilight of his governorship in Anambra State is the very meaning of political suicide or Havakisi.

It will be recalled that it was APGA as a political party that provided the platform for Obi to contest gubernatorial election in Anambra State. The same party also afforded him the opportunity of a second shot at governorship. This was mainly through the instrumentality of Umeh, who supported and stood by him and made sure the party leadership under him gave Obi the ticket for a second term. If Umeh had acted otherwise, Obi would have been no more than the somnambulist of a vanished dream, politically.

Real politicians here in Anambra also know that it was Umeh that really campaigned for Obi. Although Obi was seen by some people in Anambra State as some form of a political cross and burden for APGA, Umeh successfully led Obi’s campaign train and implored the masses of Anambra State to give Obi a second chance. This way Obi sailed through against a strong opposition made up of Dr. Chris Ngige, Prof Chukwuma Soludo and others who were more popular than him.

The journey

In the beginning, when Obi came to Umeh, wanting to vie for governorship of Anambra State, he was not known politically. Then, he was like a fish out of water.

But today, some governor’s men unaware of how Obi and Umeh’s political relationship began have alleged repeatedly that Umeh contributed nothing to Obi’s election. This is far from the truth. In fact, since the erstwhile Health Minister, Prof. ABC Nwosu, introduced Obi to Umeh, and urged Umeh to assist him achieve his governorship ambition, Umeh literally took Obi by the hands and navigated him through the murky political waters of the time.

For the records, it should be made known that Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu joined APGA on 26/12/2002 while Obi declared at Onitsha for APGA on 8/10/2002. It was within this period that Umeh dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s to pave the way for Obi’s ascendancy in APGA, even as a late comer. It is also to the credit of Umeh that he embarked on all the transactions and other actions which finally secured Ojukwu’s support for Umeh in 2003.

It is recent history and it is still clear in mind that Igwe (Justice) Eze Ozobu, then the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, facilitated Chief Ojukwu’s entry into APGA to give the Igbos a strong bargaining political platform.

Unlike Obi who is more a businessman than a politician, Umeh is a thorough bred politician.

Umeh was elected the State Treasurer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State in 1999. His election was based on his competence, sagacity, honesty and impeccable character. In that capacity, Umeh contributed tremendously to the growth, development and success of the PDP as a political party  in Anambra State. It was on the basis of his competence and ability that the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed him a member of the Board of Nigerian Film Corporation, Jos, a position in which he served with distinction. Chief Umeh resigned from this position in 2001 to join hands with Chekwas Okorie and others to form and register APGA.

Before his sojourn into politics, Umeh was a renowned Estate surveyor. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and he consulted for UTC Nigerian Plc, CCB Nigerian Limited, Innoson Group of Companies and others.

Obi, as stated earlier, also benefitted tremendously from due process, rule of law, democracy and a strong Judiciary in 2003.

Then, a PDP candidate was returned as Governor in Anambra State. It was the Judiciary which nullified Ngige’s election and returned Obi as the duly elected candidate in the election and ipso facto as the Governor of Anambra State.

When Obi assumed office as the governor of Anambra State; the PDP-controlled House of Assembly impeached him and his deputy, Dame Etiaba, took over. Again, it was to the court that Obi ran to for adjudication on the validity or otherwise of the impeachment. Mercifully, the court declared the impeachment illegal and reinstated Obi as Governor of Anambra State.

After all the Political Hullaballoo, Obi again approached the court for an interpretation of the exact length of his tenure. Like a darling, the court cuddled Obi and held that his tenure began when he took his oath of office and not when he ought to have been sworn in, in May 2003. In the aftermath of this decision, Dr. Andy Uba who had been massively elected as Governor by Anambrarians was sacked as governor only about two weeks in the saddle. Obi resumed his position as governor.

To all intents and purposes, Obi is the Judiciary’s darling. He was a man literally made by the courts. He was a great beneficiary of the rule of law and due process. Otherwise, who was Obi to stand against the PDP political machine and Armada in Anambra State between 2003 to 2007? If the law did not protect Obi, he could have been consumed and decimated by the PDP political arsenal and gigantic structure in Anambra State. His opponents could have eaten him alive and raw, literarily speaking, if bruteforce, connection, patronage and wealth were the deciding factors.

Current matter

The law is no respecter of persons. True, the Enugu High Court delivered a judgment dissolving APGA’s NEC and other organs. True, the said judgment declared Umeh’s election in 2011 as APGA Chairman null and void but Umeh has appealed against the decision to the Court of Appeal.

By this doctrine, all the parties should wait until Umeh’s appeal to the Court of Appeal is heard and determined. Constituting a new NEC for APGA and handpicking persons as officials of the party, when the appeal is still pending, seems rather lawless to me.

Governor Obi or whoever constituted the alleged NEC should know better than to make a mockery of the court and to pretend as if Umeh did not file an appeal.

In continuation of his brazen arrogance, Obi has been in dalliance with the Presidency, using APGA as a shield. The world knows that Obi has no mandate of APGA or its supporters to use the party to advance his selfish agenda in the Presidency. Obi is not APGA. APGA is different from Obi. Obi merely became a governor under the platform of APGA. President Jonathan should remember that, APGA, as a party, and not Obi, adopted him as her Presidential Candidate in the last elections.

I think Umeh has no ill-feelings towards the presidency as Jonathan’s tenure had the approval, support and mandate of APGA under Umeh’s chairmanship.

• Prince Okpala, a political analyst, wrote in from Awka, Anambra State