APC stalwart and brother to Senator Chris Ngige, Mr Nwachukwu Ngige has congratulated PDP for selecting a good candidate as its flag bearer for the November 6th, governorship election in Anambra state.
Ngige Nwachukwu who took to his Facebook page to express his satisfaction with the calibre of candidate PDP has selected said that “PDP has just given Ndi-Anambra the most formidable candidate for the November election”.
This open endorsement which many sees as a signpost to the mind of APC leadership in the state, led by Senator Dr Chris Ngige is coming on the heels of the inconclusive APC indirect primary held the same day, which is rumoured to have been hijacked by Senator Andy Uba, against the wishes of the Ngige family political bloc.
According to Ngige, “Unlike the candidates of other political parties, Ozigbo aligns with the best in contemporary development issues. While his demonstrable competence shuts the doors to narrowness, his pragmatic distinction stands him poles away from the empty economic effusions of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.”
He concluded with an exclamation which is largely an adoption of of Valentine Ozoigbo’s campaign slogan, “Obodo ga-achawapu by force”, which means that the land(State) must be renewed(rekindled).
Recall that the Minister of Labour Senator Chris Ngige had on Saturday evening, through his media office, expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the APC primary and called for the postponement of the exercise to a later date. This foul-cry by Ngige has been viewed in some quarters as an indication that the governorship primary did no go to his favour
A statement issued by Senator Chris Ngige Media Office at Alor, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, said the Minister who is also the leader of the Party in the State, has already made his position known to the chairman of the Primary Committee for the Anambra State Governorship election and the Governor of Ogun state, Prince Dapo Abiodun.
Quoting Senator Ngige, the statement said, “Your Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, the Chairman of the Anambra State Primary Committee, good day. As I write you now, 4.25pm, Saturday, 26th June, I’m in my home town, Alor with 2 electoral wards and there is no sign of any governorship primary election. My inquiries and investigation show that the story is the same all around the 326 wards of the 21 local government areas in the state .
“As a result, most party members have left for home, having waited since 8am. I discussed with your member, Distinguished Senator Ken Nnamani and I’ll advise you call the Panel Members to shift the exercise to Tuesday, June 29th to also enable you tidy up some issues raised by aspirants.”
Now, with the public show of solidarity for the PDP candidate by the Ngige’s spokesman and brother, Anambra people will likely witness a re-alignment of forces in APC in support of PDP candidate which may take PDP back to Agu-Awka government house by March 2022, after sixteen years of losing political power in the state.
Although Senator Andy Uba is a top contender for the APC ticket, but pundits have predicted that the current MD of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority NIWA, Dr George Muoghalu, will likely emerge as the winner of the APC primary as against Ngige’s choice of Engr. Johnbosco Onunkwo. Muoghalu is taunted to enjoy the support of party leaders in Abuja because of his consistency and loyalty to the party since it’s evolutionary days of APP, ANPP, CPC, to APC.
Agreed that it might be too early to reach conclusions now, but the leadership crisis in APGA at the national level, as well as the unpopularity of Prof Chukwuma Soludo at the grassroots because of his disdainful and elitist posturing, coupled with the brooding dissatisfaction by the Ngige political bloc in APC, it thus, appear that PDP may be cruising home with victory by November 6th.
However, PDP in itself is not without crises, as the party held two parallel primary elections on the same day, being 26th June, 2021. One was held at Paul’s University field, Awka which produced Senator Dr Ugochukwu Uba as winner, another was held at the Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka and produced Mr Valentine Ozoigbo as the party’s nominee. Both groups justified their activities by flaunting contradictory injunctions procured from various courts of coordinate jurisdictions.