The APC Primaries And Enugu Crisis
Before now, there was relative peace and camaraderie in All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State. The party and its members co-existed and co-habited side by side with other political parties and their members in the state without any problem. That has been the spirit of partisan politics in the coal city and it reached its peak, with the mode of operation of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi-led administration, which is live and let live.
With the conduct of the party congresses in the state in May, APC became factionalised between Deacon Okey Ogbodo-led group and Dr. Ben Nwoye-led group. While efforts were being made to resolve the differences between the two factions, the party primary commenced.
Making matter worse for APC during its primaries were the actions and inactions of some defectors, who jumped into party to grab tickets at the expense of the foundation members of the party in the state.
These defectors desperately deployed everything at their disposal including money, blackmail and mudslinging to cow the foundation members of the party. In their unholy exploits, the defectors relied mostly on the new national leadership of the party led by Adams Oshiohmole, a man who does not understand the undercurrents and peculiarities of Enugu politics. That was why Oshiomhole single-handedly and suddenly changed the mode of primary in the state from direct to indirect, when the exercise was already half way.
Among the defectors is Senator Ayogu Eze, a staunch member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was in political hibernation after losing the 2015 PDP governor- ship ticket to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. He came into APC in the dying minute, hoping to seize the party’s governorship ticket. Now that the primaries have been concluded, APC has not known peace in the state, as two aspirants Mr George Ogara and Senator Ayogu Eze, have continued to lay claim to the party’s governorship ticket.
The development has engendered more crises in the party than ever expected or imagined. Neither the party leadership nor the defectors have come down from their Olympian height to address the fundamental issues at stake ahead of the election.
The crisis has assumed a dangerous dimension with the recent suit instituted at Federal High Court Enugu, by a registered member of APC in the state, Mr. Ifeanyi Onwuamaze, asking the court to nullify all the primaries conducted by the party in the state as the open ballot system of voting adopted violated Section 37 of the 1999 constitution as amended. Apart from this, the factional state chairman of the party, Chief Ben Nwoye was recently attacked.
One of the foundation members of the party in the state and Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) Chief Osita Okechukwu, who was schemed out in the primaries, recently described the exercise as a charade.
Okechukwu accused the party leadership of manipulating the exercise to favour some particular aspirants. Okechukwu’s assertion is not far from the truth, because the charade called primaries was witnessed by party members in the state. Okechukwu maybe the only aggrieved aspirant that spoke out now, but other aggrieved members and aspirants are waiting to take their own pound of flesh from the party during the election. While it could be said that no one is indispensable in a party, some individuals are and should not be treated with disdain for any reason. This is because of their political relevance and immense contributions in building the party structure. The likes of Osita Okechukwu, Captain Joe Orji (rtd), Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu and other APC chieftains, who were shortchanged in the primaries are not happy with the manner the defectors connived with the party’s national leadership to manipulate and hijack the exercise in favour of these defectors who are not popular in the state.
Since the fallout of the primaries in the state chapter of the party, neither Eze nor his cohorts has called for a meeting to resolve the grey areas. Instead, they are going about telling people that ‘federal might’ will be deployed to capture Enugu in 2019 for them. If this is true which federal might are they talking about, when majority of the people have voted against them?