Politics
Experts Named Key Issues to Influence Governorship Elections in Anambra State
A not-for-profit research group — the Centre for Democracy and Development — has revealed a special report dedicated to the upcoming election is Anambra State.
The experts named the main key issues, which can resolve the elections in the state, which will take place in November 2017.
The key issues are power rotation, godfatherism, intra-party disagreements, and the campaigning for the breakaway of Biafra State.
Anambra State is traditionally considered the commercial, social, and economic center of the south-eastern region of Nigeria. That is why Governorship elections in Anambra State have always been burdened with controversies.
Experts of the Centre for Democracy and Development studied elections in the state starting from 1999. They concluded that together with the old-going conflicts, new and even more severe problems are now added to that dangerous political cocktail in the state.
Power rotation
The study says that the rotating of important political positions to various geographical locations within Anambra state is another key factor that may have an effect on the outcome of November elections. Such a zoning was the biggest political determinant in the state at the dusk of the tenure of the immediate past governor, Peter Obi.
The significance of zoning in the election is underlined by the fact that all the candidates of the three major competing parties in Anambra state (T. Nwoye – the All Progressives Congress, APC; Mr. Obiano – the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; and Oseloka Obaze – the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) represent the North of the State.
“No agreement has been officially made on zoning amongst different political parties. However, their leaders are supposed to be silently investigating the issue, each trying to zone the election of their candidates to Anambra north, – the report declared, – and it has already become clear from the finished primaries of the APC, PDP, and APGA, that the State election will be directly contested amongst the top-3 biggest parties and candidates from the Anambra North senatorial region. What will influence the final winner, will narrow down to zoning, religion, party affiliation, rural–urban base and federal power,” concluded the report authors.
Indigenous People of Biafra and the attempt to boycott the November Election
Political analysts are sure that the call of IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) to boycott the elections may be the key problem for the upcoming elections. The group had already declared that no elections in the state would be held by the time the government of the country agreed to the breakaway referendum in the state of Biafra.
According to the newly released report, such an active call for elections boycotting might immediately boost violence in the state, which could grow into the region militarization. Owing to this, people could get frightened. Therefore, the turn out will be low during the poll.
“Such a danger by the IPOB head may inspire fear in the voters’ minds who might not appear to vote on the day of the governorship election,” the authors of the report write. Moreover, the result of the turnout will definitely show the real level of Mr. Kanu’s influence and IPOB’s reputation in the south-east of Nigeria.
Intra-party conflict
At the same time as most important political parties in Anambra state are thinking about how to win the November election, their odds may be hindered by the unsettled intra-party crisis. According to the study, the catastrophe bedeviling the ruling APGA began just after the party’s National Executive Committee led by Martin Agbaso voted for no confidence in the party’s chairman, Ike Oye, and suspended him and two other national officers for misbehavior.
“The crisis keeps on being unsettled with two factions, led by Chief Martin Agbaso and Victor Oye. Each of them announces different dates for the primaries for the nomination of APGA candidate for the election. The primaries have finally been conducted, and candidates have come out with current Governor Willie Obiano,” the Centre for Democracy and Development`s report declared
Correspondingly, the discordant primary of the APC between Mr. Nwoye and Mr. Uba can negatively influence the party’s odds during the November election.
Is the Independent National Electoral Commission ready for the Elections?
The electoral commissioner for Anambra state, Nwachukwu Orji, should do his best to organize the election. Since July 7, 2017, he only has 130 days to make everything work properly during the elections. He has confessed recently that proper logistics was the fundamental trouble of INEC during the forthcoming elections. According to the report exports, it means that late commencement of voting and accreditation, and the delayed delivery of electoral materials may occur because of the poor logistics only.
Among the other INEC future problems are the multiplicity of candidates and voter registers, the threat of violence, and litigation.
Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Alhaji Abubakar disclosed his intention to leave the opposition party in a letter addressed to the PDP ward chairman in Jada, Jada Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa state.
Alhaji Abubakar described his departure from the PDP as “heartbreaking”, saying the party has strayed from the ideals on which it was founded.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the opportunities I have been given by the Party,” Alhaji Abubakar said.
“Serving two full terms as Vice President of Nigeria and being a presidential candidate twice has been one of the most significant chapters of my life.
“As a founding father of this esteemed Party, it is indeed heartbreaking for me to make this decision.
“However, I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the Party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for.
“It is with a heavy heart that I resign, recognising the irreconcilable differences that have emerged.
“I wish the Party and its leadership all the best in the future”, he added.
Alhaji Abubakar’s resignation from the PDP comes days after the opposition coalition politicians adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their political platform for the 2027 elections.
Among the coalition leaders are Rotimi Amaechi, a former Transportation Minister; Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election; Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna State Governor; and John Oyegun, former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Others include Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State; Uche Secondus, former PDP National Chairman; Babangida Aliyu, former Governor of Niger State; Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi State; Aminu Tambuwal, former Governor of Sokoto State; and Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State, among others.
A group, ‘Concerned Bayelsa Stakeholders Forum (CBSF),’ has intensified calls on the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The CBSF which comprises members of various political parties, non-partisan citizens and residents of the state also has non-indigenes and people from different religious organisations as members.
Speaking at a world press conference held in Yenagoa, the State capital on Tuesday, the group, through its convener who doubles as Technical Adviser to the Governor on Media/Public Affairs, Snr. Comrade Wisdom Ikuli, passed a confidence vote on Governor Diri, commending his selfless service to the State and the Ijaw nation.
Mr Ikuli averred that there was need for the state to align with the federal government. Citing the benefits of having a government at the centre that can attract development to the state, he noted that the PDP at the national level had been long enmeshed in crisis.
“The current leadership of the PDP under whose platform the governor is leading the state has been hijacked by few individuals. This poses threats to the interest of the state.
“Presently, our state is standing alone as the only PDP state in the whole of the South South region. The above may not be too much an issue. The greatest challenge here is the hijack of the PDP by few individuals and the very dangerous traps that they have set for Bayelsa in 2027, particularly those that intend to fly the flag of PDP.
“There are concluded arrangements to hide under the excuse of crisis and countless court cases in PDP at different levels to work to nullify the nomination of all candidates that will emerge under the party platform. So, we can imagine the pains, agony and disarray that the state shall experience if the state remains in PDP.
“The ongoing Coalition is also an embodiment of people who conspired to deny Bayelsa State and indeed the entire Ijaw Nation, a second term at the Presidency in 2015. Thus, the coalition can never be an option.
“ It is based on the above that we unanimously appeal to the Governor to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to show southern solidarity with other southern governors who are with Mr. President”, the group said.
“But as we move forward, one of the greatest priorities in the alliance with the centre should be the actualisation of the Agge Seaport that will help to boost the state economy and also bring about unimaginable transformation and prosperity. In the next few days we shall begin a daily rally on the streets of Yenagoa to prevail on His Excellency to do the needful.
“Finally, His Excellency should ignore all opposing voices against his defection. We say this because they are all fighting to protect their individual political interest without prioritising that of the state and the entire Ijaw nation.
“ We wish to reassure His Excellency that vast majority of Bayelsans are with him and together, we shall move forward”, the CBSF added.
The group thanked President Bola Tinubu for appointing Ijaw sons and daughters into key positions, including Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources; Chief Samuel Ogbuku as Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); Chief Ebitimi Amgbare as Managing Director, Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), amongst others.
Meanwhile, the CBSF has also charged Governor Diri to prioritize the actualization of the Agge Deep Seaport project, saying it will boost the economy of the state and bring about transformation and prosperity, noting, however, that plans have reached advanced stages for the CBSF to hit the streets of Yenagoa with rallies with a view to prevailing on the governor to defect to the APC.
Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Speaker made the call on Wednesday while hosting councillors from the 13 local government areas of the State in his residence in Lafia, the state capital.
Rt Hon. Jatau said that a good working relationship among the arms of government at the council level was key to development, hence, the need for his call in that direction.
He appreciated the councillors for condoling with him over the death of his younger sister, Hajaratu Jatau, and prayed to God to bless them abundantly.
“I started as a councillor, and today I am the Speaker. There is the need for a good working relationship between you and the elected chairmen for development to thrive at the grassroots. It is in view of this that I want to call on you to give your elected chairmen all the necessary and needed support to succeed. For development to thrive at the grassroots, you must embrace one another and see yourselves as team players,” the Speaker said.
Rt Hon. Jatau also called on them to coexist peacefully among themselves and continue to drum up support for Governor Abdullahi Sule’s administration to succeed.
Besides, he assured them that the state government would soon organise training for them to deliver effective service.
Rt Hon. Jatau also assured them that the state government would pay them their furniture allowance, as well as other benefits, to enhance their legislative work.
Earlier, the chairman of the Nasarawa State Councillors Forum, Mohammed Madaki, who is the Leader of Lafia LGA Legislative Assembly, said that the visit was to identify with the Speaker over the death of his sister.
The leader of the delegation urged the Speaker to see the death of his sister as an act of God and bear the irreplaceable loss.
Mr Madaki assured the Speaker of their loyalty and support at all times.
The chairman, however, appealed to the Speaker to intervene in the training of the councillors as well as the payment of their furniture allowance.
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