As All Progressives Congress (APC) names Senator Chris Ngige its candidate for the November governorship elections in Anambra State, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that the entrance of the former governor has raised the stakes.
Everyone expects the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State to be an epic battle. But our investigation shows that most of the key players and stakeholders did not imagine the political theatre would, by now, have become as electrified as it turned out to be since Wednesday, August 21, 2013, when All Progressives Congress (APC), in the words of one top politician in the state, “ played a fast one on the rest of us.”
Feelers from the state confirmed that APC really jolted other political stakeholders that day when it announced former governor, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, as its candidate for the governorship elections.
The shock, according to a source, was partly because of the belief of both the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that the newly merged political parties in APC would find it difficult to arrive at an acceptable candidate. “We also did not expect a candidate like Ngige to emerge and to emerge so fast. We had reckoned on the emergence of a more neutral and perhaps less experienced candidate. The emergence of Ngige, I will admit, requires more work on our part,” said one of the strategists of a leading PDP governorship aspirant.
Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who broke the news of Ngige’s nomination, aware of such expectations from their opponents, had said the South-East caucus of the party agreed on the candidature of Ngige, adding, “The choice of Ngige was reached through a consensus. Those who thought we shall not succeed today have been disappointed.”
Even with Okorocha’s pronouncement, The Nation learnt that some stakeholders initially doubted the development. A source close to Senator Annie Okonkwo- led team confided that their opponents were taken unawares. “They thought Oga (Okonkwo) and Ngige had fallen apart and would not work together. So, when they learnt that Oga supports Ngige’s candidature, they were devastated.”
To confirm that they meant business, Ngige, the next day (Thursday) formally notified the Senate of his intention to contest in this year’s Anambra State governorship election.
In a letter written to the Senate President, Senator David Mark, Ngige said,
“I have concluded my consultations, and now find it necessary to officially inform this Senate that I will be an aspirant, and hopefully a candidate in the November 16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra State. Please wish me luck and offer your prayers for me, even if you are not of my party…
“I intend to use the vehicle of the Progressives – our newly merged political party – The All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
With his emergence, the political equation, ahead the November election, has changed tremendously.
His reason for joining the race
Ngige gave the first official reason for joining this years’s governorship race in Anambra State as far back as late March 2013. It was during a quarterly constituency briefing and distribution of gifts to his constituents in the Anambra Central Senatorial District, where he assured supporters that the hitches the progressives were facing then in their merger plan would “neither affect its purpose nor dampen the zeal of the founders to liberate the Nigerian masses.”
As the chairman, Steering Committee of APC in South-East then, Ngige expressed confidence that the party would wrest power from PDP at the centre and reposition the country to the path of development.
It was at that stage that he first opened up on his ambition for the coming governorship election, declaring that circumstances were compelling him to join the race.
He recalled that he came into the Awka Government House with a blueprint out of which, he said, he was able to do 20 percent before his exit through court judgment.
As he puts it: “Circumstances are compelling me to run for Anambra governorship election because I came to Government House with a blueprint and I was able to do 20 percent.
“Another government came in and did just seven percent in seven years and I want to ask who is going to do the remaining 70 percent?”
Also in the middle of June, Ngige again reiterated his agenda and why he is in the race. He said he is in the governorship race to help “uplift the people and give them a sense of belonging.”
He said this while addressing members of his federal constituency, Idemili North and South, during a thank you meeting at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Nkpor. “There is no big deal about being a governor any longer; I have been one before. My only urge in public offices is service. I seek to touch your lives in a positive way, so that you will smile again. By the end of this month, we will formally launch the All Progressives Congress (APC) South-East zone in Awka and we believe that it is the party that will make a difference here. APC will form the next government in Anambra State,” he said then.
In his speech at the event hen, the member representing the federal constituency, Charles Odedo, told their supportrs not to be deceived by people claiming that Ndigbo have no place in APC, stating that Ngige is one of the members of Board of Trustees of APC.
His political strength
Born 61 years ago (August 8, 1952), this medical doctor-turned politician is arguably considered, by his admirers and the leadership of APC, as one of the single most influential and popular politician in Anambra State today. Even his political opponents, according to grassroots electorates, do not seem to doubt this claim.
After his graduation from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1979, he began public life as a civil servant, serving at the National Assembly and State House clinics at different times. He retired in 1998 as a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Health and soon joined partisan politics, first as a founding member of PDP. By 1999, he was Assistant National Secretary and Zonal Secretary of the party in the South-East.
In 2003, Ngige was elected governor of Anambra State in very controversial circumstances, which ironically led both to his temporary downfall and later, to his soaring image as a political giant.
It all began when he suddenly broke ranks with his political godfather, Chris Uba. This action resulted to multiple allegations and counter allegations. It also led to embarrassing revelations about the modus operandi of the political godfathers in Nigeria’s political kingdoms. As a result, both Ngige and his estranged political godfathers were criticised and ridiculed.
The unfortunate political drama peaked after Ngige, as the sitting governor, was kidnapped in broad daylight in an embarrassing but unsuccessful attempt to have him removed from office. What followed was a series of political battles, show of political power and battle of wits as was never witnessed in the political history of the state before.
Ngige’s intriguing 33 months tenure as governor was to end, however, in August 2005, when an election tribunal, led by Justice Nabaruma, nullified his 2003 victory. Ngige appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal but the annulment was confirmed on March 15, 2006, in a judgment awarding victory to the now outgoing governor, Mr. Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Since then, Ngige, who later won a senatorial seat on the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has, in spite of the scandals that literally swallowed the period he governed the state, remained affectionately loved by the commoners, grassroots and the electorate in the state. One critical test of his popularity was during the last senatorial election in his Anambra Central Senatorial District. In that election, Ngige’s major opponent was a very popular former Director-General of National Agency for Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who later served as Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili. Besides her popularity as NAFDAC boss, Akunyili’s other edge was that she contested on the ticket of the ruling party, APGA. After what was described in the media as a “clash of the Titans,” Ngige, who flew the flag of the ACN, was declared the winner.
Now that he is to fly the flag of the mega party, which include ACN, part of the ruling party in the state (APGA), ANPP, CPC and others, interested observers are wondering if his political stature would lead to a defeat of the ruling APGA and PDP?
Ichie Udochukwu Izuchukwu, a retired civil servant and now community elder from Orumba told The Nation that the choice of Ngige is the only factor that can defeat the argument of zoning, which would demand the next governor coming from Anambra North. “You know Ngige is one politician that made great impact on all Anambra people. I can assure you that Ngige will win substantial votes from Anambra North not to talk of the remaining two senatorial districts. This is because in spite of the political show of shame that threatened his tenure, Ngige was busy constructing quality roads, opening up long forgotten rural communities in every part of the state. So, zoning or no zoning, Ngige is a strong candidate that should win Anambra election any day,” he said.
It would be recalled that the state has 21 local government areas with three senatorial districts in the state, namely, Anambra North, comprising Awka North and South, Njikoka, Dunukofia, Anaocha, and Idemili North and South Local Government Areas (LGAs); Anambra Central, made up of Onitsha North and South, Ogbaru, Oyi, Ayamelum and Anambra East and West LGAs; and Anambra South, consisting of Orumba North and South, Aguata, lhiala, Ekwusigo, and Nnewi North and South LGAs.
Ngige, who hails from Anambra Central would, according to insiders, base his faith on his performance in the 33 months he governed the state before.
A source close to Awka Government House, however, described the choice of Ngige by APC as “a sweet mistake.” The source, a top state government official, said any party that ignores the call to zone the next governorship ticket to Anambra North has missed it from onset.
It remains to be seen how far Ngige’s popularity and his party, APC can go to prove that claim wrong. Investigations reveal that even before the final registration of the party, when it did not have a specific flag bearer in the state, APC’s registration of new members has been very successful in all the three senatorial districts. Now that Ngige has been handed over the flag, it remains to be seen how other parties like APGA and PDP would attempt to counter the APC offensive.
