It is not in doubt that the name or should I say the brand Ifeanyi Ubah has retained its prominence in the triumvate of Anambra, SouthEast and Nigerian politics. Since his initial venture into the amphitheater of Anambra politics when he ran for governor on the platform of the Labour Party, Ubah has traversed the arenas of state, regional and national politics leaving his mark on such trails.
Since winning a Senate seat with an unknown party in the 2019 general elections or should I say a minority party, a feat which sent shock waves through the nation’s political structure. Such a feat before then stemmed naturally from the use of state or federal power as was seen when Senator Patrick Osakwe teamed up with the likes of James Ibori to give a political black eye to Mrs. Maryam Ahmadu Alli, wife of Ahmadu Alli then the National chairman of the PDP and the chief antagonist in the “ Ali must go “ protest of 1978. While Osakwe and his co conspirators had achieved such a feat using the Accord Party, Ubah’s success was of a different thread as he ran with no powers behind him save his charm and doggedness, readers would recall that he ran against a number of household names including a sitting incumbent.
By 2023, he was to repeat such a feat defeating the candidate of the party of the incumbent governor who is also from the same Senatorial zone. Ubah did not only go on to win the Senatorial seat, he also ensured that he procured the victories of his party in two federal constituencies and four state constituencies respectively.
Thus when rumors began to fly that Ubah would be joining the ruling All Progressives Congress, the party at the state received such news with immense fervor. When it dawned on the party that the news of his defection was true, the party’s tempo received a boost as Ubah’s entry into the APC has sent signals to a coterie of political watchers amongst which also includes the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Since joining the APC, Ifeanyi Ubah has brought a new level of energy and momentum to the party in Anambra. His influence, resources, and grassroots support have bolstered the APC’s presence in the state, attracting new members and rallying support for the party’s candidates. Ubah’s strategic alliances and political maneuvering have positioned him as a key figure in the APC’s drive to win the upcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra.
Ubah’s entry asides from being colourful in nature, giving fillip to the party’s structures across the 326 wards in Anambra has also revved up the party’s imagery in the eyes of Ndi Anambra which has begun to see the party as a viable alternative to end APGA’s 18 year hold on the state with Ubah’s larger than life political shadow looming over the incumbent Chukwuma Soludo. Ripples of such could be seen in the proxy war fought by the APGA led government when it suspended the Igwe of Neni Community for conferring on Ubah the traditional title of Odejimjim. Piqued by the fact that the Igwe had dared to confer on a potential gubernatorial contender like Ubah a title also possessed by the incumbent governor, the state government quickly dug up an unused law and decided to suspend the traditional ruler of Neni, a decision which was to earn Soludo the flak of a majority of Ndi Anambra.
That proxy war only exposed the Soludo’s administration’s fear of Ubah, and the thinking remains that imagine what an Ubah flying the flag of the APC in the guber election would do to Soludo’s desire for a second term? It is akin to what pundits predicted about a Buhari flying the APC flag post 2011, after he had polled 12 million votes with an unknown and newly formed Congress for Progressive Change,CPC. This logic was indeed unassailable and not only did Buhari go on to win the APC ticket, he also defeated a sitting President, the first in the history of this nation.
Ubah has gone on to make the APC thick in Anambra, just recently he hosted the national leadership of the party to a SouthEast Colloquium and a Mega Empowerment Rally. Both events which were held in his home town of Nnewi drew the creme de la creme of politicos all over the country.
For the colloquium which had as its theme, Demarginalization of the SouthEast and integration into national politics” the resonating message was that the SouthEast, particularly a state like Anambra was too important a zone to be left out of the national grid.
For the national chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje who graced both events with his presence, it is political miscalculation that has kept Anambra State in political dislocation, adding that it would continue to be so until the state dumps APGA, like the people of the South West did after realizing that Alliance for Democracy, AD, would not lead them to the center.
Ganduje said: “We are here for the South East colloquium, but I prefer to speak about Anambra where we are. Igbo are part of ingredients of national integration as they are the most travelled and most enterprising people in Nigeria. They are creative, innovation, competitive and this is the basis of Nigerian economy today.
Anambra is not making the progress needed because it has remained in APGA which is the only state it controls. Anambra has had Peter Obi, Willie Obiano and now Soludo, all from APGA as its governors, and that is 18 years of political dislocation for this state.
” Anambra needs to join the ruling political party and the people will be happy and better for it. Why should Anambra continue to live in isolation? If there have been superlative performances on that isolated platform it would have been a different thing. This is a vivid case of selfish politics.
“Other states have joined APC, but Anambra’s refusal to connect to the center has denied her people the infrastructure and other benefits. You have to be in the table to negotiate what comes to you and if you are not on the table, no one will speak for you. “Anambra is the only place where APGA is in government and the party has refused to grow.”
For Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, the timing of the colloquium could not have been better since the APC had agreed that the SouthEast region had been marginalized and that NdiIgbo ought to belong to the centre and not in the opposition.
“If we are craving a Nigeria where equity and fair play will prevail, then we must be in the room where the affairs of the country will be discussed. We must rise from this room and resolve to be a part of the ruling party.
“We must go with capable men and women who will enjoy acceptance. We only need to understand the Nigerian political demography and create a corridor that we can use to exit from this political isolation.
“I’m here to welcome Ifeanyi Ubah into our party. He has proven to understand the dynamism required to navigate the political sphere. He came to the Senate through an unknown political party and if he can associate with a known political party, he will do more.
“A time will come when those who helped Igbo escape political marginalisation will be counted. I want to be counted as one who participated in creating an escape corridor for Ndigbo to escape marginalisation,” Governor Uzodimma said.
For Ubah, the colloquium and the mega empowerment rally were both a testament to his efforts to bridge the gap between NdiIgbo and the centre in order to attract immense democratic dividends. He highlighted the passage of the SouthEast Development Commission bill as one of such efforts promising to do more if given the opportunity.
Mega Empowerment Rally
If the colloquium was to show the intellectual bent of the APC then surely the Mega Empowerment Rally was to prove a political point to naysayers and those sitting on the fence about Ubah’s capabilities as a grassroots mobilizer and quintessential politician.
As early as 9am the venue of the rally had been filled to its capacity with loyalists of Senator Ubah donning different attires. Even the APC members were not left out of such carnival like setting as they also donned their green white apparel.
Speeches by the likes of Chief Basil Ejidike, Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu and Chief Emma Eneukwu, Anambra APC State Chairman, APC National Vice Chairman SouthEast and Deputy National Chairman South respectively, reiterated the need for NdiIgbo to connect to the centre. Other speakers such as Dozie Ikedife, the Zonal Organizing Secretary and the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi, Patricia Obila dwelt on the success of the program so far an indication that Ndi Anambra has bought into the idea of integrating the state to the centre.
However, the major takeaways of the programme came in two speeches. The first was from Governor Hope Uzodinma who described Ifeanyi Ubah as the “Original Solution “ for Anambra State. The second from Alhaji Ganduje described how Shehu Shagari would have made Alex Ekwueme then his Vice President to succeed him but for the military intervention in 1983.
“I tell you this story because the road to political freedom is to key into the ruling party, and once you do that, marginalization would be a thing of the past.”
Ganduje, who was overwhelmed by the large crowd that attended the empowerment rally, said with what he was seeing and with the mobilisation efforts of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah as well as his dominance of grassroots politics in Anambra, the South East was ready to key into mainstream politics.
“We are astonished at the crowd that attended this rally. Our renewed hope agenda is to bring the South-east into the mainstream politics. This is not an ordinary rally, but one for empowerment, and we have been informed that everybody here today will must go back with something.
“I have seen thousand of motorcycles, tricycles, buses, generators, grinding machines, bags of rice and other food stuff that will be distributed, and we thank Senator Ifeanyi Ubah for this,” he said.
For Senator Ubah, the joy of a successful event could not be hidden in his effusive expression of appreciation to the crowd present. For 2025, Ubah promised that Ndi Anambra would not relent in heeding the call to integrate into mainstream politics by electing an APC governor in 2025.
The empowerment program which was shifted to the next day for sake of time saw many persons receive items ranging from a shuttle buses to motorcycles, tricycles popularly known as keke, sewing machines, grinding machines and generators.
Bags of rice were also made available to every individual who had attended the event.
Igboeli Arinze is the Zonal Publicity Secretary Anambra APC Central
