Can power shift from the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in this year’s governorship election in Anambra State? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the political career of the ACN contender , Senator Chris Ngige, and his chances at the forth-coming polls.
How far can Senator Chris Ngige, medical doctor and chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) go in Anambra State, as he joins this year’s governorship race? Since 2006, when he was deposed by the Court of Appeal, he has been nursing the ambition to return to the Government House. His supporters are also soaring daily. This attests to the fact that the senator from Anambra Central Senatorial District is not weak in personality and popularity. However, observers contend that the race will not be a walk over for any governorship candidate.
Contenders and pretenders
In recent times, many governorship aspirants on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have invaded the slippery political field drumming support for their ambition. Some of them are serious contenders. others are pretenders merely seeking for relevance. Instructively, no chieftain of the ACN has declared interest. This has lent credence to the belief that the party is united behind the candidature of the former governor, Ngige.
The governorship aspirants itching to succeed the outgoing governor, Mr. Peter Obi, include Senator Andy Uba, former Central Bank Governor Charles Soludo, House of Representatives member Hon. Uche Ekwunife, former Information Minister Prof. Dora Akiyuli, former federal legislator Emma Anosike and Chief Akachukwu Nwamkpo. Others are prominent businessman Dr. Obinna Uzor, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, a journalist and federal legislator Afam Ogere, and Secretary to Government Mr. Osekola Obase.
The majority of the contenders are from the APGA. They hope to profit from the power of incumbency wielded by the governor. However, the ruling party is engulfed with three crises. The first is that the governor is said to be championing zoning of the governorship and backing his SSG for the number one seat. Also, the party is being distracted by the protracted leadership tussles rocking it. Besides, the party is polarised by the merger proposal involving a section of the organisation.
Both APGA and ACN have not succeeded in wiping out the PDP from the state. Relying on the federal might, the PDP, whose arrow head is Senator Uba, is seriously mobilising supporters for another epic battle. Uba’s ego had been bruised in the past, when he was deposed by the court barely a month in the saddle as the governor. But like Ngige, his confidence was restored, following his election into the Senate. Also, like Ngige, he is a top contender.
Ngige’s third attempt
But eyes are on Ngige, whose popularity has not waned, since he left power seven years ago. This is because the anti-PDP sentiments as a rigging machine has not fizzle out. The indigenes are also seized by nostalgic feelings. Although he was a governor by default, he erected lasting legacies, which were acknowledged by Obi and other Anambra leaders. Reflecting on his tenure as governor, Ngige said that he served the state without blemish.
“The roads I constructed are everlasting. I served with diligence and sense of purpose. I can confidently walk on the streets unmolested and without an escort. I wanted to solve a lot of problems in the state”, he told reporters in Lagos.
Senator Ngige is on a familiar terrain. His supporters believe that he is known and tested. Today, he is the only flagbearer whose candidature will not be challenged by party colleagues. His party is known for time-tested philosophy and people-friendly programmes. It is a united platform not assailed by the peculiar internal squabbles that undermine political parties during electioneering.
In the past, Senator Ngige tasted the bitter pill. While in the saddle, he faced the odds. But, he did not flee from the battle. He was beaten, but not dazed.While the godfathers who installed him beat the drum of war, he ran to the people through the moral and pseudo-populist route, calling attention in a ceaseless manner to the ravaging marauders itching to pillage the treasury.
Ngige triumphed initially in the first leg of the battle. But,he kissed the dust during the second phase of the battle. The court legitimately deposed him as an impostor governor who entered the State House through the back door. Today, it is debatable now whether historians can list him as a past governor because, as the court ruled, he did not win the election.
Failed second attempt
When he recontested in 2010 for the governorship, he had become more popular. Those who sympathised with him did so because of his achievements in office. He had successfully converted his tragedy into a massive goodwill. In this second coming of Ngige, the forces against him were also formidable. Obi, who wanted a second term, became his first political foe. Apart from the advantage of incumbency in 2009, the governor was equally perceived as a good candidate aptly recommended by his moral antecedents and belief in prudent management. He had kept corruption at bay and fought the infrastructure battle in all the sectors. Obi has shunned ostentatious lifestyles and endowed the office with honour. He predictably defeated both Ngige and Soludo, the political upstart catapulted into the critical race by the intrigues in the PDP.
Battle against godfathers
Ngige may have been toughened by his past battles. He retains the memory of horror and tragedy as a governor held hostage in 2005 by his erstwhile godfather, Eselu Chris Uba, who had parted ways with him. When the heat was turned on him, he described Uba and his allies as the Goliaths of Nigeria, which ,he, the David of Anambra State, would be strengthened by God to defeat. Consequently, he was swallowed by the big storm that threatened to abort his career. It was a long siege and the tribunal verdict, which ousted him from office, positioned him very far from political safety.
With the Bible in his right hand, he took refuge in God. As he explored a religious dimension to the political battle he waged, he dare the local philistines who dragged him to the Okija shrine without public knowledge. Had he faced his senatorial pursuit initially, he would have the spared the ordeal of becoming a puppet governor tossed around by Uba and his foot soldiers for reneging on the unwritten agreement on fat returns on political investment. Anambra state is poor. So, when the benefactor, a politician with a business sense, came to demand for his cumulative loot, the governor was defiant. Ngige could not frantically deny the unofficial pact. But,he was torn between loyalty to the state and his godfather.
On the day of his inauguration, he sworn before the people to protect the lean treasury from the prime eyes of the looters. But, he had earlier assured the godfather to deliver the purse to him and the devil was the principal witness. The dilemma was which one should take precedent between loyalty to the few financial backers who bankrolled his election bill and the poor masses who voted in anticipation of a new lease of life.
The diminutive politician pulled the rug off the feet of his sponsors. His wits and force of character compensated for his physical minus. He rallied the people, but the fold was divided.
Ngige stood his ground, insisting that the N3billion allegedly demanded for by the godfather was outrageous. The lending process was unknown to the people. If it is granted, the implementation of the state budget may be crippled.
When the war finally broke out, Ngige became the first security officer who was boxed into insecurity. The governor was abducted on July 10, 2003.The act of perfidy was supervised by the police under the guise that Ngige had resigned from office. Nigerians decried the kidnapping. Thereafter, he moved swiftly to consolidate his position. His axe fell on his deputy,Chris Odey, and the speaker of the House of Assembly, Euchara Azodo. They lost their portfolios. The deputy was sacked, while the speaker was impeached.
Victim of judicial coup
The next hurdle was the court order by Justice Stanley Nnaji asking Ngige to vacate office because he had resigned. Sudedenly, he was left in the cold again. His orderlies were withdrawn .For 10 months, he relied on hired muscle men for protection. At a time, his life was in danger. Ngige was no more save in the state he was elected to govern. He was forced to flee to Governor James Ibori for refuge,accompanied by the local militants he had recruited as security aides.
His fate hung in the balance until the former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, restored his security. Justice Nnaji later had to answer questions before the national Judicial council(NJC) for wrongful dismissal of the governor.
The next phase of the battle came on November 10,2004.The State House was razed by thugs allegedly loyal to the godfathers. In flames too were the State Radio and office of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). The state was in chaos for nearly a week. The Federal Government was indifferent, until the public criticisms force the reluctant former President and Inspector General to restore order into the state of pandemonium.
Ngige regained recognition as a Chief Executive, but his feet were shaking in the party. He was sent out of the Federal Executive Committee meeting of the party in Abuja. It was ironic because he had been a leader of the party from the inception. In the pre-2003 period, he was an ex-officio member of the national PDP. Later, he and his godfather were expelled. But in a dramatic manner, Uba re-emerged as a member of the Board of Trustees(BOT). The last straw that broke the back of the camel was the nullification Ngige’s victory by the court. He lost power, but he retained his respect among the people he served faithfully, despite the distractions.
Defection to progressive camp
Ngige dumped the PDP and emerged as a progressive missioner in Anambra politics. “AC offers the cardinal programmes of free education, free health, affordable housing, integrated rural development and full employment. This is why it is better”, he once told party supporters during his last senatorial campaigns. In that senatorial election, he defeated his APGA challenger, Akuyili. In the Senate, he has not been a bench warmer. He has contributed to debates on the floor. In the Upper House, he is accorded the respect befitting an elder.
The politician has also added value to the ACN. Unlike those who defected to the party and later returned to the PDP, he has been consistent in the ACN. Today, he is one of the ACN leaders driving the merger.
Can he make a difference
in polls?
Senator Ngige is not required by the law to resign his seat as a governorship candidate. He is an Abuja politician with a formidable grassroots support. Recently, he organised an empowerment programme for the people of the state. Ngige declared that, at this stage, the acquisition of wealth is not a priority for him, but the welfare of the state. His philanthropic activities have endeared more people to him. Many of them recalled that, as the governor, he fought corruption and channeled the state’s scarce resources to its development. Observers contend that Ngige will not lack the resources to oil his campaign machinery. As a senator, he is a rallying point at home. Many people also believe that his party has better programmes. Ngige’s political base is expected to be enlarged in the state with the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The polarisation of APGA may also be to the advantage of the APC in the state, if succession battles weakens the ruling party.
