Anambra 2021: APGA, APC, PDP And The Battle Of Litigation

21 min read 4,080 words 5 views

By Michael Ovat

About 10 weeks to the November 6, 2021 governorship election in
Anambra State, the issue of the authentic candidates of the three
leading political parties, the ruling All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA) and its fierce challengers: the People Democratic
Party (PDP), and the All Progressive Congress (APC) continues
unabated. The various litigation by the aggrieved members of the
parties have cast a huge cloud of doubt on the chances of the three
major parties. MICHAEL OVAT takes a look at the
legion of court cases, the contradictory court pronouncements and
the fate of the parties and their candidates.

As the Anambra State 2021 governorship election slated for
November 6 draws nearer, internal crises have continued to be rock
the three major political parties: APGA, PDP and APC with those
embroiled in the crises heading to the court and securing
injunctions and counter injunctions.

The ding-dong legal actions, according to Sunday Tribune
findings, have unsettled the affected parties, as their supporters
are left in confusion over who, among the contending individuals,
will fly the parties› flags.

In APGA, for instance, the Victor Oye faction, being supported
by the Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, produced Professor
Charles Chukwuma Soludo. But another faction headed by Jude Okeke
has presented Mr Chukwuma Michael Umeoji as its own candidate. The
development has compelled the state governor to set up a
reconciliation committee, headed by Senator Victor Umeh along with
Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, wife of the APGA founder, Dim Chukwuemaka
Odumegwu Ojukwu to reconcile the two major factions and other
aggrieved members. The effort, Sunday Tribune gathered, is yet to
bear fruits, as the Okeke-led faction is insisting it is the
authentic APGA that should be recognised.

But speaking with Sunday Tribune by phone, a chieftain of APGA
in the state, who pleaded anonymity accused the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary of fuelling
crises in the party for financial gains.

“How can INEC and the judiciary be announcing Umeoji today and
Soludo tomorrow?” he queried. “This is confusing and it is dividing
the party more than ever. Most of our members have begun to hatch a
Plan B …,” he lamented, adding that even the replacement of Umeoji
with Soludo as the APGA candidate by INEC in its portal, has failed
to allay the fear of APGA members, because the Okeke-led faction
has taken the case to the Supreme Court. “The fear became palpable,
given the fact that Nigeria is a country, where anything happens,
especially with money.” the source stated.

He blamed Obiano and the party›s National Chairman, Victor Oye,
for not allowing Umeoji to participate in the primary that took
place on June 26, 2021 at Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development
Centre.

But all that is history as INEC while citing the judgment of the
Court of Appeal in Kano included Soludo’s name on the candidates’
list.

In a statement recently, INEC National Commissioner, Information
and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said that the
timetable approved by the commission on January 18, 2021 provided
for the withdrawal/substitution of candidates in line with Section
35 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

Okoye said that by the deadline of July 30, 2021, seven
governorship and eleven deputy governorship candidates had been
substituted by eleven out of the eighteen political parties
participating in the election.

He confirmed that the commission was served with the judgment of
the Court of Appeal (Kano Division), which set aside the judgment
of the High Court of Jigawa State on the leadership of APGA and the
nomination of its candidates for the election.

The INEC Commissioner said that the final list of candidates
would be published on October 7, 2021 as provided in the timetable
and schedule of activities for the election.

A Special Assistant to the governor on media, Mr Chidiebele
Obika, described the news as the best news of the year. He said it
was a good omen for the party, coming just a day to the
inauguration of its campaign council. “This is to show that God’s
hand is in this project”, Obika enthused.

Meanwhile, to confirm the state government’s interest in Soludo,
Governor Obiano inaugurated the campaign council of the Victor Oye
faction of APGA, headed by him (the governor), his wife, Bianca
Ojukwu, Senator Victor Umeh, and 4,200 others for Soludo.

The inauguration, attended by all political appointees of the
present government in the state, was held at Dr Alex Ekwueme
Square, Awka.

On the same day INEC listed Soludo as APGA candidate, the High
Court in Owerri, Imo State, equally declared Chukwuma Umeoji as the
APGA candidate for the Anambra governorship election scheduled to
hold on November 6, 2021.

The judgment also favoured Chief Jude Okeke as the Chairman of
the party, as earlier recognised by the country›s electoral Umpire,
INEC.

The Court presided over by Justice V.C Isiguzo, in its landmark
ruling, struck out a fresh court action brought by Oye to stop
Umeoji, and reaffirmed her earlier judgment, declaring the Owerri
convention that produced Jude Okeke as APGA Chairman valid and
directed INEC to accept Umeoji, as the candidate of the party and
include his name in all electoral processes for the Anambra
governorship election.

The ruling was sequel to an application for stay of execution
and leave to appeal filed by Oye, wherein the court granted him
leave to appeal, but refused to grant the order for stay of
execution and went ahead to reaffirm its earlier judgment.

The court expressly stated that INEC could not evade its duty to
comply with the orders of the court declaring Umeoji candidate and
therefore «has a legal obligation to continue to carry out, obey
and comply with the extant, valid and subsisting judgment of this
court delivered on 28th July, 2021, which declared Umeoji candidate
and ordered INEC to continue to recognise him and Okeke pending the
determination of the appeal filed by Oye at Appeal Court,
Owerri”.

By the ruling, INEC is directly restrained from attempting to
remove Umeoji as candidate of APGA from its list as being rumoured
that it was under pressure to do so.

Interestingly, the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, had on 10th
August, 2021 set aside another judgment of the Jigawa High Court,
which also held that Okeke is the National Chairman of APGA and
only governorship congress held by him shall be valid without
making any orders as to who should be candidate of the party.

The Kano Appeal Court did not delve into finding who between
Soludo and Umeoji should be the candidate of the party. Instead of
this, the court reversed its earlier ruling that the appeal is
barred for bordering on pre-election, setting it aside as a nullity
for want of fair hearing and lack of jurisdiction, without making
any consequential order of who is APGA Chairman or candidate.

The implication of this is that with the judgment of Justice B.
C. Iheka of the Owerri High Court, INEC is bound to obey and
maintain the name of Umeoji as the candidate of APGA for the
governorship election.

Sunday Tribune also learnt that sometimes ago, INEC had accepted
the filled nomination forms containing the name of Umeoji as the
candidate of the APGA for the Anambra governorship election,
following the Jigawa High Court judgment that nullified the
candidacy of the former CBN governor, Soludo, and in accordance
with Section 32 of the Electoral Act.

But all that has since changed as INEC following the Kano
appellate court ruling has listed Soludo as candidate of APGA with
the Umeoji faction threatening to institute contempt proceedings
against INEC, insisting that the candidate of his faction remains
the flag bearer of the party in the November election.

One of the supporters of Umeoji, who pleaded not to be
mentioned, disclosed that the Umeoji camp «are currently undergoing
prayer and fasting to seek the face of God and hope the Supreme
Court judgment will be in favour of Jude Okeke-led APGA
faction.

But the camp of the former CBN governor has maintained that
since the name of their principal had been listed in INEC portal,
it was an indication that Soludo would succeed Obiano in March,
2022.

They also stated that up till date, it was only Soludo that
meticulously fulfilled the requirements enunciated by the Electoral
Act 2010 (as amended), the INEC election manual and the 2021
electoral guidelines of APGA for the 2021 Anambra State
governorship election.

For the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its reinstated chairman
in the state, Ndubuisi Nwobu, said the Appeal Court’s restatement
of the state executive led by him shows that Mr Valentine Ozigbo
remains the candidate of the party.

Nwobu, who spoke to Sunday Tribune in a telephone interview,
maintained that before the final list of candidates would be
published on October 7 2021 as provided in the timetable and
schedule of activities for the election by INEC, “all the crisis
rocking the party would have been resolved amicably; the party
candidate, Ozigbo, would be listed officially and the party will
emerge victorious at poll by the grace of God”.

He urged members across the state to continue with mobilisation
and not to allow the development to demoralise them
politically.

Oye noted that 90 percent of aggrieved members including some
former aspirants and their supporters had agreed to work and
deliver PDP in the election.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the Nwobu-led committee had been
dissolved by the national leadership of the party, following a
court judgment in a suit instituted by Mr Samuel Anyakorah, which
challenged the leadership.

But the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, in a judgment last
month, reinstated the Nwobu-led executive, thereby validating the
candidature of Ozigbo, who emerged from a primary election
conducted by the party against Senator Ugochukwu Uba, who had
emerged from a parallel primary election.

He said: “You are aware that I’m back and the appellate court
has put to rest the issue of the leadership of the party in this
state. So I am assuring you that there is no cause for alarm.
Ozigbo remains the PDP candidate for the November 6, election.

“We will commence moves to immediately reach out to our party
members, especially the aggrieved ones and try to woo them back
into the party. But for those who are not easy to bring back to our
fold, and have proven to be consistent with fighting the party, we
will show them the way out.”

Sunday Tribune further gathered that the political tussle is
between Chris Uba’s faction that has Senator Ugochukwu Uba as its
candidate and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that
produced Ozigbo, and that the case at the Federal High Court was
adjourned to September 21, 2021.

In the case of APC, the state Acting Chairman of the party,
Chief Basil Ejidike, sometime during a press conference in Awka,
said the party had resolved all the crises confronting its chances
of winning the November 6 election, noting that with the defection
of Senator Joy Emodi from the PDP to APC, the awaited two state
Senators, top politicians in the state and the already existing
unity among supporters, the party is sure of winning the poll.

He announced that the party, at the time of filing this report,
had a total of five hundred thousand active registered members in
the state, insisting that Senator Andy Uba and his Deputy, Emeka
Okafor, remained the flag bearers of APC for the election.

He also said that with the like of Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo
State, his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dave Umahi and the Lagos State
governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu being members of the Anambra APC
Election Committee Council, it is certain that the party will win
the keen contest.

He urged all members of the party in the state to come out en
masse and support the party during its campaign.

At the time of filing this report, it was not yet clear whether
INEC also listed Senator Andy Uba’s name as APC candidate on its
portal.

Editors Note; Written By Michael
Ovat Originally published in Tribuneonlineng.com ^[1]