Since he said the South-East should forget the 2015 Presidency, Senator Arthur Nzeribe has been the target of acidic criticism from his kinsmen, some of who accused him of not having the interest of Ndigbo at heart. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports on the politics of the flamboyant politician and his many controversies
To Senator Arthur Nzeribe, controversy seems to be a necessary manure that nurtures his political tree. In fact, since the billionaire joined partisan politics in Nigeria, during the Second Republic of the 1980s, his reputation has been coloured by unending controversies, most of which he allegedly enjoys and looks out for.
It began in 1983, when the international arms dealer allegedly spent N12m to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu. Before then, not many imagined that such a large sum could be used for a senatorial election.
So, the glamour he brought to the then Nigeria People’s Party (NPP) made him very popular from onset, not only within the NPP and the eastern states, but also thoughout Nigeria. It was also to mark the roots of the controversies that have combined to define the image of Nzeribe and that of his politics.
When he reportedly donated helicopters for the presidential candidate of NPP, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, he understandably attracted the kind of attention that had been given to only few politicians before his entrance into the game, as many observers began to ask questions concerning the sources of his wealth and what he was worth.
If the source of his wealth has contributed to the controversies associated to him, his utterances and actions, most of which are usually considered unconventional, have been fuelling the tempo of his politics.
For example, Nzeribe, in 1993, dared critics across the nation, when at the peak of military dictatorship he declared himself as a prominent supporter of the Association for a Better Nigeria, a hotly criticised organisation which backed General Ibrahim Babangida’s alleged life presidency bid.
In fact, Nzeribe has, throughout his political career, remained that daring, ready to say what even the most radical activists would think twice to say and doing what he knew would certainly raise people’s eyebrows.
So, when he suddenly withdrew to his shell in his palatial home in Oguta, Imo State, after losing his senatorial seat, his political supporters and opponents alike, who seem to have missed the controversies his actions and comments easily generate, have been curious to know if he has truly retired from active politics or at least, what he was up to.
They had to wait until June this year, when Nzeribe’s unmistaken hidden hands was again clearly spotted in the local politics of Imo State.
His return:
Although he did not speak so much in his usual style in the months preceding the yet-to-be concluded Oguta bye election in Imo State, informed political observers alleged his involvement in the intrigues and controversies that preceded the bye election.
Before that stillborn election, Senator Arthur Nzeribe, known to be one of the country’s controversial politicians, had, for some time, avoided making direct comments both on the politics of the centre and that of his state.
But The Nation’s investigation on the intrigues that surrounded that election showed that it was primarily a political battle between Nzeribe’s loyalists and that of Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The political show of power between these two had led to a long legal tussle that helped to keep the election in limbo.
The legal battle was as a result of the total cancellation of results from the council in the heat of the 2011 Imo general elections that brought in Governor Rochas Okorocha to power.
While the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Walter Uzonwanne, is backed by Okorocha, Dibiagwu, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, is said to be backed by Senator Nzeribe.
After the prolonged legal battles, the June 22, 2013 bye-election still ended a stillborn.
2015 Presidency debate
While the Oguta zone political puzzle remained unresolved, Nzeribe seemingly confirmed his return to the national political ring when he told Igbo advocates clamouring for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2015 that they should forget the dream, since, according to him, they lack the necessary unity to get the country’s Presidency.
Speaking in his Apo residence in Abuja on Wednesday, July 23, 2013, Nzeribe also gave as his second reason for his position the allegation that his kinsmen cannot lay claim to the position because of their inability to speak with one voice.
”Until we start speaking with one voice we cannot get the Presidency. We should not try it now, we are not just ready for anything like that, we must first put our house in order,” he said.
He also came hard on the leadership of his party, recommending radical reforms as a way of saving the party.
If reactions to his criticism of PDP is yet to come, that of his view of his kinsmen’s unpreparedness has since generated heated controversy, thus welcoming Nzeribe back to the familiar ring.
First to react was Njiko Igbo, a socio- political group, in Igboland. The group in a statement signed by its Director of Operations, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, said, “No Nigerian civilian president or prime minister has ever launched himself to power on the springboard of ethnic unity since the advent of the Nigerian state. By taking the position that he has taken, Senator Nzeribe has demonstrated that he lacks any measure of grasp or apprehension of central executive power politics in this country. Having been a participant in the political game, as Nzeribe clearly had been, does not confer such understanding.
“It is hard to resist drawing the conclusion that Senator Nzeribe came to his erroneous and inflammatory conclusion having been seduced, induced or deceived by personal and selfish considerations rather than by considerations of what is in the best interest of Ndigbo and indeed Nigeria in general. But it must be emphatically stated that a hundred, a thousand, a million Arthur Nzeribes cannot and will not break the Igbo spirit nor weaken the Igbo resolve.”
It added, “It is curious that this nation has been in a quasi state of war for over two years but the voice of Nzeribe has been silent. Ndigbo have been bombed and butchered in their places of worship and business in some sections of this country by nihilistic Islamic fundamentalists and yet the voice of Nzeribe has remained silent. The corpses of dozens of young men who were clearly victims of extrajudicial executions were recently plucked from Ezu River in Anambra State and yet Nzeribe did not call a press conference to condemn it or demand answers from the Nigerian state.
“History has no record of Nzeribe’s intervention either publicly or privately in the organised anti-Igbo massacres in Kano in 1980, Maiduguri in 1982, Yola in 1984, Gombe in 1985, Kaduna in 1986,etc,” the group lashed.
Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Dike, in a chat with the The Nation, however, defended that “What Nzeribe said may be a bitter pill to us, but is it not true? Do we really control any political machinery that can win the Presidency in 2015? If you ask me, my answer is no. This has been the vintage Nzeribe since he joined politics. You may hate his bluntness but this attitude has not changed style.”
As Nzeribe’s recent comments generate such verbal exchanges, the question most political observers are asking is if his return will add any positive value to the polity or if he should just be dismissed as a political spent force seeking vain attention.
