The coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 did not generate grassroots excitement in the Southeast as it did in the Southwest and the North. The perception was that given the calibre of those who spearheaded the merger that it would not serve the interests of the Igbo at the national level. The loss suffered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last year’s presidential election has put the region in a quandary.
From outset, political stakeholders in the Southeast shot themselves in the foot by not embracing the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the merger was being consummated in 2013. The region did not feature prominently in the negotiation that brought the APC into being. Aside from Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige, many politicians from the region did not give the then emerging mega party any chance of making any impact in last year’s general elections and they refused to have anything to do with it.
Okorocha displayed courage and foresight by successfully leading a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) into the merger, in spite the stiff opposition he encountered. Onu took part in the negotiation in his capacity as the National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a party that had its base in the Northeast and part of the Northwest. Ngige was already in the progressive bloc as a card-carrying member of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In fact, he was the only politician from the Southeast occupying an elective position on the platform of the party.
By the time the APC formally came into being in February 2013, the generality of Southeasterners already had a negative perception about the party. The PDP is partly to blame for this negative perception. In its propaganda, it portrayed the APC as a party dominated by Northern elements in alliance with the Yoruba of the Southwest. In effect, it dismissed it as a Moslem party that would not serve the interests of the Igbo nation at the national level.
According to analysts, it was the failure of the APGA leadership to agree on the merger that shut out the Igbo from the party. The ANPP and the ACN were regional parties that had their base in the North and the Southwest respectively. So, Onu, a former governor of the old Abia State and an indigene of Ebonyi State, and Ngige have been facing an uphill task carrying their people along. Only APGA, which has its base in the Southeast, had the potential of carrying the Igbo people along to embrace the then emerging political party. But, owing to the disagreement between the Chief Victor Umeh-led National Working Committee of the party and the Okorocha-led radical elements within the fold, the Igbo nation lost that opportunity. Only the faction led by Okorocha eventually merged with other parties to form the APC.
Regional stronghold
As the only APC governor in the region, Okorocha has been the arrow head for the expansion of the party, not only in Imo, but also in other four neighbouring Southeast states. As already indicated, the coming into being of the APC did not generate the kind of grassroots excitement in the Southeast, as it did in the Southwest and the North generally. This was why the PDP initially insisted that the party did not exist in the region, including Imo State, even though Okorocha dumped the APGA for the APC. Their argument was that the governor was elected in the first instance on the ticket of APGA and that he and other party stalwarts cannot win any election on the ticket of the APC. Their claim was reinforced when the PDP recorded a stunning landslide victory during the presidential and National Assembly elections.
But, the result of the last governorship election has since debunked the claims as Okorocha emerged winner in the contest that was decided after a supplementary election. At the supplementary polls, Okorocha won in 20 out of the 23 local government areas, polling a total of 31,326 votes; compared to the 13,325 votes scored by Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP, his closest challenger. Ihedioha trailed Okorocha with 79,525 votes in the substantive election, the result of which was declared inconclusive by the Returning Officer, Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, two weeks earlier because the margin of victory between the top two contenders – the APC and the PDP – was less than the number of registered voters in areas where elections did not hold or was cancelled due to irregularities, thus necessitating a supplementary election, as required by the electoral law.
At the end of the day, the APC flag bearer polled a total of 416,996 votes, out of the total 806,764 votes cast in the election; leaving the PDP’s Ihedioha at the second slot with 320,705 votes and Emmanuel Ihenacho of the APGA trailing behind with 28,434 votes. Prior to the election, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume defected to the APC with his supporters.
Thus, without doubt, Imo State is the stronghold of the APC in the Southeast. This is not just because Okorocha is a foundation member of the party, but also due to his performance as governor in the last five years. Okorocha emerged victorious at the end of the day because observers believe he has transformed the state in the last five years. According to Deputy Governor Eze Madumere, the Okorocha-led administration, which came into power in 2011, is “a rescue mission government” that has been in a hurry to develop Imo State. He said: “Due to the state of decay of the infrastructure in Imo, Owelle Okorocha quickly declared a state of emergency on infrastructure.”
Madumere, who started out as Okorocha’s Chief of Staff, added: “I can tell you that there is no local government area that does not have a minimum of 20km-asphalted road. There is no local government in Imo State that does not have state-of-the-art General Hospital that is 75 per cent near completion and that brings them to a total of 27 Hospitals. Each of the 305 wards in Imo State has modern primary schools, which are 80 per cent completion. When you come into the city of Owerri, you will see tremendous infrastructural work; we have international conference centres. Apart from the Conference Centre at the heart of Owerri, there is another conference centre at Oguta Blue Lake of Leisure that has long been completed with A Class Motel. Again, we have Concorde Hotel, which has been massively renovated. Anyone who visits Owerri will testify the illumination of the city with stainless solar streetlights.”
Besides, Okorocha has been able to stop certain evil practices like godfatherism, which had kept past governors in bondage. He has also tackled in security. In the past, kidnapping and armed robbery were very high. All that are gone now because of the measures he put in place, including the setting up of Community Watch, a security network of locals.
Provided the party manages its primaries well in 2019, the Okorocha legacy is likely to endure.
Anambra
The situation in Anambra State also looks promising. Owing to the antecedents of former Governor Ngige, the state nicknamed “Home for All” is another fertile ground where the APC stands to reap in future elections. Even when he contested the Anambra Central senatorial election in 2011 on the platform of the defunct ACN, which was a regional party with its base in the Southwest, Ngige triumphed against all odds.
Indeed, it was Ngige that announced the arrival of the APC in the Southeast, when he flew the party’s flag in the 2013 governorship election. In that election, the APC was a major contender, in spite of the odds against it, as a relatively new party then. According to observers, Ngige’s performance in that election was a foretaste of what the party later achieved at the national level.
The initial strategy of the founding fathers of the APC was to use the APGA as a gateway to the Southeast. The strategy backfired when prominent leaders of the APGA refused to go along with Okorocha and his radical faction. Nevertheless, the APC is still expecting some Southeast governors, including Willie Obiano of Anambra State, to defect to its fold. Even before President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration last year, Obiano, the only governor on the platform of the APGA, had been touted as one of those Southeast governors eying the APC.
When Obiano visited the then President-elect on April 24, 2015, it was regarded as a confirmation of the allegation that he was on his way to the APC, though the Anambra State governor himself denied it while speaking to reporters outside Buhari’s Aso Drive residence after their closed-door meeting. The governor said his mission was to congratulate Buhari.
The APC family demonstrated the importance of Ngige and Anambra State to the fold during the recent burial of the late Pa. Pius Okonkwo Ngige, the father of Senator Ngige. Alor, Idemili South Local Government, stood still at the occasion, as the crème de la crème of Nigerian politics stormed the town to pay last respects to the man who died at the ripe age of 105. President Buhari was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal. Former Governor of Lagos State and the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, led a team of party dignitaries from outside the state that graced the ceremony.
But, how far the APC will benefit from the groundwork of Ngige and other stalwarts of the party in the state remains to be seen; the picture would become clearer in 2017, when the state is due for the next governorship election.
Battle for supremacy
The Igbos overwhelmingly voted for the PDP at all levels during the last general elections, which brought the Buhari-led APC administration to power. Though the PDP lost the election, events playing out in the region in the wake of the development suggest that its people are unapologetic about the way they voted. Despite not benefitting much from the 16-years of the PDP administration, the region decided to back former President Goodluck Jonathan and other PDP candidates. For instance, there are speculations that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) protest, which is dominated by youths, is being sponsored by the PDP to frustrate Buhari’s government. Indeed, a commentator, Onyedimmakachukwu Obiukwu, in an article written for Ventures Africa, is of the view that many IPOB protesters calling for Biafra are not really motivated by the idea of the Southeast region seceding from Nigeria. He said the main reason why the activists are protesting is to undermine the government of President Buhari.
His words: “They may be draped in its flag and chanting its songs of liberation, but Biafra is not what fires the protests in Southeast Nigeria. It is only the smoke. The fire is President Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from their hackneyed demand for secession and the racist diatribes of their leader Nnamdi Kanu, the pro-Biafra agitators in the Southeast are not propelled by any coherent ideology or comprehensive plan to form a sovereign Biafra.
“What they share is an intense loathing of the current president of Nigeria. It is this deep dislike for the man, the frustration with the fact that he became president and the wish to make the country ungovernable for him (as they believe “he and his people” did the Jonathan’s regime), that drives the pro-Biafra protesters.
“While there has always been a strong sentimental attachment to the idea of a sovereign state of Biafra among the Igbo people of Nigeria’s Southeast, it has never been this vocal since the end of the Nigerian Civil War four decades ago. And while the infamous Nnamdi Kanu has been spewing his vitriol for several years now, it has only gained traction after President Buhari’s victory at the last presidential election.
“It is this sense of political isolation, the perception that a northern hegemony has seized power with the collusion of the Yoruba-dominated Southwest (an allusion to their Nigerian Civil War coalition) and the desire to avenge the northern struggles of former President Goodluck Jonathan that incenses the pro-Biafra protesters on the streets. Of course, their reasons are heavily bigoted and their campaign misguided, but they are largely fueled by the political insensitivity of the party in power. The APC selected a divisive flag bearer and continues to remain silent as Buhari fails to attempt to address this alienation.”
Defections to APC
Nevertheless, the defections of some prominent politicians in some states in the region since the general elections suggest that the APC is gradually making inroads into the Southeast and may become a force to be reckoned with there in the near future. But, our investigations suggest that a good number of Southeasterners are not impressed with the defections, because they perceive the politicians involved as greedy and self-centred. An Aba, Abia State-based trader, Emeka Okafor, puts it this way: “The general term for them is, ‘food-is-ready’ politicians; many of them are switching allegiance to the APC to avoid being probed, while others are simply scheming for positions and appointments. It is true that many people are now showing interest in the APC, but there is this general perception that the APC-controlled Federal Government under President Buhari is marginalising the Igbos. So, it will take a lot more than defections for the party to win the support of the people.”
Following the negative comment that trailed one of such defections, the Southeast zone of the APC had to dissociate itself from the statement credited to a chieftain of the party, Osita Okechukwu, who made derogatory remarks about the entry of Chief Jim Nwobodo into the party. In the rebuttal, the APC said Okechukwu, who made the remarks as spokesman of the party, was speaking his mind and not that of the party.
The statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Hyacinth Ngwu, said: “The attention of the APC, South East zone has been drawn to comments credited to a certain Osita Okechukwu, wherein he purported to be speaking as spokesman for the APC South East Leadership Caucus. The said Osita Okechukwu in the statement under reference took the liberty to cast aspersion on the action and person of eminent citizen and statesman in the person of Senator Nwobodo, who joined our great party recently from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Perhaps there would have been no need to revisit his personal opinion, if he had not claimed to be the “spokesman of the South East Leadership caucus of APC,” a position clearly nebulous and structurally non-existent in APC’s Constitution (October 2014 as amended).” He added that the APC is a big party and can “conveniently accommodate everyone”.
Former Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr Emeka Worgu and former House of Representatives Speaker Agunwa Anakwe, were among those who dumped the PDP for the APC in Enugu recently. A former National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, was also included in the list, but he has since denied leaving the PDP. Others include: Senators Emma Agboti, Chris Adighije, Nkechi Nwogu and Ifeanyi Ararume. Senator Jim Nwobodo, Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, former Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajumogu, and Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu had earlier joined the party.
In Abia State, mother of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu Mrs. Eunice Uzor Kalu, who is the leader of the Reality Organisation in the Southeast and other members had also joined the APC earlier. Also, former member of the House of Representatives and brother to the ex-governor, Hon. Nnanna Uzor Kalu and ex-Chief of Staff to Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Mascot Uzor Kalu, were also among those who joined the APC.
An APC chieftain in Abia State and former Board of Trustees (BoT) member of the PDP, Prince Benjamin Bernard Apugo, believes the APC is already making inroads into the Southeast and that the party will capture the region in 2019. Speaking about how the party will go about taking over the Southeast in 2019, he said the party is ready to talk to anybody who will like to listen and that personally he is prepared to go to the existing governors to talk to them about joining the APC. He added that it would be an easy task, “because the president has come to correct a lot of wrongs that will gladden the hearts of generations to come”.
While welcoming the defection of Mrs. Uzor Kalu, and two of her children, Apugo said the party is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the former governor, saying he has what it takes to deliver the Southeast for the APC in 2019. He said: “These are the types of people we need in the APC to capture the Southeast. Kalu has the charisma; he respects integrity and people love him for that. He is a grassroots man, who mixes well with even his enemies and I respect him for that.
“Yes, in the 2019 election, people will come out to massively vote for the APC. We will surely win, provided we field good candidates for the governorship position in the five states of the zone. For now, we are working towards bringing some of the good PDP governors in the Southeast to join the APC before it’s too late for them. Our governors should join the APC now that the door is open than when they will come begging and cringing.”
Similarly, Okorocha has been wooing prominent members of the PDP in the region. They include former Governor Achike Udenwa and the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. The governor urged the Igbo leaders to join forces with him in the APC to fight the common cause of the Ndigbo. Okorocha, who made the statement at an interactive forum with reporters at the Government House recently, enjoined Igbo leaders to shun ethnic sentiments and support the administration of President Buhari. He said: “now that the power has returned to the North, there is a better chance for the Ndigbo to produce a president in the nearest future”.
Uncertain future
Abia State APC Chairman Hon. Donatus Nwankpa said the process of taking over the Southeast by the party in 2019 had begun as the party is seriously garnering support and building structures at the grassroots. He added that the recent and anticipated defection of people to the party in the Southeastern states is a clear testimony that the party have been accepted by politicians in the region. Though observers agreed that politics and human beings are dynamic, they are unanimous in the view that a lot of work is needed by the state and national leadership of the APC, if the party is serious about its intention to capture Southeast in 2019 general elections. According to a political science lecturer at the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Mr. Okey Okereke, and another commentator, Mr. Reuben Ononiiwu, it would be a herculean task for the ruling party to penetrate a region that has been dominated by the erstwhile ruling party in the country (PDP) and APGA; a party with Igbo coloration.
Ononiiwu said the APGA is a party that has come to stay in the Southeast and should be seen as the party to contend with in the region during any election by the ruling party at the national level. He added: “It is like what the ACN used to be for the people of the Southwest, the ANPP for the North. It is a party bequeathed to the Igbos by the late Biafra warlord and Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu. For the party to die a natural death or allow other parties to thrive in the Southeast amounts to Igbos losing their identity.
“If not for the rigging, which runs in the blood of then ruling PDP and the use of state might to rig elections, I am sure that, apart from Anambra, which has produced successive APGA governors, states like Imo and Abia should have been under the control of the APGA. Another indication is what happened in the just concluded election between the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and Dr. Alex Otti. Don’t also forget the will by Ojukwu that he should be brought to Enyimba Stadium before being buried. This shows you that the people of the state and indeed, the Southeast have a bond with the party and its founder.
“Don’t also forget in a hurry that Owelle Rochas Okorocha became the governor of Imo State for the first time under the platform of APGA. It was an election that forced the then Ikedi Ohakim’s regime out of power because of his incompetence. Remember what happened at Oguta, where Imolites came out enmass to defend their votes. They did it because Okorocha made the citizenry believe that for APGA to lose the election amounts to wiping Ojukwu out of history and that gingered the people to stake their lives for APGA and not for Okorocha. It is not impossible for the APC to take over the Southeast, but I don’t see it happening.”
The political scientist, Okereke, believes it is not easy to predict the future. He said: “Based on events that we have seen in the recent past, it is quite obvious that politics in the Southeast generally has been activities between APGA and the PDP; that is to say that the APC does not have a foothold yet in the Southeast, including the Niger Delta area to a very great extent. But, you know that life is dynamic. Human behaviour is also dynamic and you know that it is human beings that constitute these political parties and that means that the activities of these parties have to be dynamic too. So, what I want to say is that right now the chances of the APC dominating the Southeast in the near future are far-fetched. I want to take an instance from the recent elections in Rivers State and Bayelsa State, but we cannot conclude that it shall be so forever.”
NATION