ANDY UBA AND ANAMBRA GOVERNORSHIP PRIMARIES

My attention has been drawn to a petition written by Senator Andy Uba, addressed to the Anambra State Governorship primaries appeal committee of the All Progressives Congress.

I had earlier expressed disbelief when sahara reporters made a publication, accusing Senator Uba of putting pressure on members of the committee to annul the primary election.

I had doubted the authenticity of the report, due to the way Senator Uba commended the entire process while voting was ongoing with all assurance that he was going to emerge victorious.

Having seen the petition, I must say that I am unimpressed that our distinguished senator would descend to this level to tarnish an exercise that was painstakingly organised by His Excellency, Governor Kassim Shettima-led electoral panel, adjudged to be the best so far conducted.

In the petition, Senator Uba accused Dr. Tony Nwoye of bringing thugs/NANS members into the accreditation venue to chase away delegates. This is not true as the accreditation was conducted peacefully. Delegates were identified through the following means- permanent voter card (PVC), National ID card, drivers’ licence or International passport. They also came with their party membership slip with photograph issued to them by the party during registration.

The party had already made the delegates list available to all aspirants, two weeks before the primaries. With the delegates known, there was little room for manipulation.

The Nigerian Police Force led by Anambra State Police Commissioner Umar Garba, the Department of State Services and other security agencies provided adequate security at the accreditation venue, making it nearly impossible for the venue to be infiltrated by thugs. Our dear Senator Uba even attested to this during his interview with pressmen at the accreditation venue. The allegation that delegates were swapped is simply laughable. After accreditation, delegates were conveyed to the voting centre on marked buses with full police escort. There was no room for any manoeuvre as the delegates had no physical contacts with outsiders.

The road leading to the voting venue was not even accessible to commuters and other road users, as it was cordoned off by security agencies, making it impossible for any non-accredited person to gain entrance to the venue.

Most importantly, during voting proper, once a local government is called, the various ward chairmen are called to vote first, then line up in front of the hall to identify delegates from their ward who then proceed to cast votes. The allegation of presence of thugs at the venue is untrue, except if Senator Uba is now referring to genuine APC members as thugs simply because they did not vote for him.

Senator Uba also alleged that some delegates have gone to court to depose affidavits on what transpired. The party should note that this is their usual tactics of scuttling elections once it doesn’t go their way. It is a Peoples Democratic Party tradition which they want to import to our peaceful APC and must be resisted. Our party leaders should note that this tactic was used in 2013 to scuttle the ambitions of the same Tony Nwoye after he defeated the same people in a primary televised live on national TV. The litigation went all the way to the Supreme Court and by the time judgment was delivered Dr. Tony Nwoye had just 10 days to campaign. Despite the short time left for him to campaign, he still finished second in the general elections.

In conclusion, Senator Uba asked to be declared winner of an election he clearly lost. There is a popular saying among party members that with the margin of over 2,000 votes to Andy Uba’s 900, Tony Nwoye did not just come first, he came second and third while Uba finished fourth.

Senator Uba should spare us with the “capacity” statement which he has made a sing- song. He should know that the days of PDP abracadabra are over. He does not have the capacity to win any election that is free, fair and transparent in which votes are allowed to count hence he couldn’t win the APC primaries. Nonso Madu, Anambra APC Governorship aspirant