Anambra Poll: Of Defections, APGA’S Disorder And Power Of Incumbency
THE recent sudden gale of defections in Anambra State, barely two months to the November 6, governorship ballot, elicits many historical contrasts in the country’s polity. Was it the speculated plans to impeach Governor Godwin Obaseki in the twilight of his first term, or the sudden switchover by some members of the Edo State House of Assembly barely few weeks to the 2020 governorship election? Or the impeachment of Governor Peter Obi, barely one year into his recovered mandate?
What about the sudden interruption in Zamfara State, barely 24 hours to the inauguration of Alhaji Shehu Mukhtar Idris of the All Progressives Congress as the governor? It could be recalled that the Zamfara State Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) returning officer in the election, Kabiru Bala, had declared
Idris as winner after polling 534,541 votes against the 189, 452 ballots garnered by his closest rival, Bello Matawalle, the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) standard bearer.
Amid intra- party squabble that led to APC holding a parallel governorship primary and haste to beat INEC deadline, Idris’ name was forwarded to the commission by the immediate past governor, Abdul’aziz Yari, whose faction organised the governorship primary. They said Idris received 301, 380 votes to beat Senator Kabiru Marafa, who had been waging relentless supremacy battle with the then governor for the control of the party’s structure in the state.
Although the governorship primary was scheduled for September 30, it was moved
to October 1, 2018 and later to October 3, when violence broke out between forces loyal to Yari and Marafa. Despite the cancellation of the primary, the exercise that held on October 7 was faulted by INEC for breaching the regulations. Consequently, the party was ruled out of the contest.
But believing that the then national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, was siding with the Marafa group, Yari went to court to force the electoral commission to accept Idris as APC’S candidate for the governorship ballot.
Based on the foregoing, it could be deduced that the November 6 governorship poll has already replayed instances of past intraparty schisms that define the build up to the main election. Trouble with APC, APGA
GRANTED that APC enjoyed the power of incumbency at the federal and state levels, the party could not reconcile its internal discrepancies to have a harmonised preparation for the 2019 governorship election. Yari, who was the outgoing governors and candidate for the Senatorial poll, insisted on having his preferred candidate, Idris, as the party’s standard- bearer.
Contrary to the governor’s designs, Oshiomhole, the national chairman, maintained that the party is supreme and should not bow to the wishes of the outgoing governor. Similarly, in his home state of Edo, the national chairman waved the flag of internal democratic, suggesting that the governor should face a direct governorship primary election.
In the melee between Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki, politics in the state, especially within the APC, was polarised, leading to the division within the Edo State House of Assembly. The 16 lawmakers that showed solidarity to Oshiomhole lost two members to Obaseki as the November 19, 2020 governorship election approached.
Perhaps, it was on account of the fact that Governor Willie Obiano is on his way out of office or based on the internal disagreements between him and some stakeholders of All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA), that six members of the state House of Assembly switched over to APC.
While the Zamfara instance is being associated with APC’S nomination process, which pitted Senator Andy Uba against the Managing Director of Nigeria Inland Waterways Agency ( NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu, the parallel governorship primary in APGA and recent defection in the state Assembly is evoking the memories of Edo State governorship.
However, unlike in Edo State, where the contest was between an incumbent and party official, in Anambra State, the outgoing incumbent is struggling to leave behind a preferred successor.
It is this determination of Obiano to implant his man as governor that is eliciting talks about the existence of a pact between APC and APGA in 2017, when the governor was seeking a second term in office.