Okonkwo: Anambra’s Biggest Problem is Abandoning Her Values
Following his recent move to Zenith Labour Party as its governorship candidate, Obiora Okonkwo, a former card-carrying member of Peoples Democratic Party, who declined a senatorial ticket in 2019 to pursue his governorship aspirations, is concerned about restoring the values of Anambra State. He spoke to Vanessa Obioha. Excerpts:
Will you consider yourself lucky that you were not announced winner of the primary due to the controversy in PDP, with Val Ozigbo and Ugochukwu Ubah emerging from parallel primaries, particularly now that other parties like APGA and APC, are also having problems?
Yes, there are problems in all the major political parties. Litigations are endless in PDP because they have two major things to contend with. They are already saying that the product of that exercise is null and void. That means that the PDP might not have a candidate in that election. APC also has its own issues and the problems are still there coupled with the latest Supreme Court judgment that may have made it null and void for any primaries conducted by the national chairman of the party. Then the other party is APGA, which is going from one crisis to the other.
It looks like a good number of the people of Anambra have realised that our state is in a total political quagmire. There were concerns that we might fall from frying pan to fire and that people might wake up one day and an unexpected person might just be declared the governor of Anambra State. So, I hearkened to the voice of the people and decided to take up this project with full knowledge that this is a difficult task. This is because anyone that hears that I am from a known party to one that is relatively not well-known, will wonder what happened. If the person does not have the other details, one may conclude that one is going on a suicide mission. I would not blame anybody. I would have thought so myself. However, there is prospect in this venture.
We decided to agree to this call because the people who were with us in PDP are still with us today. We decided to seek the governorship on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). There was a window for substitution of candidate and we took advantage of it. I have looked at the advantages. As we speak today, I am the only governorship candidate from Anambra Central, which has the highest number of registered voters. Apart from that, I am from Idemili Federal Constituency that has over 600,000 registered voters. So, that flank is open. There is the North, which has the second largest number of registered voters and they were compensated with Governor Willie Obiano. Many people from the North are angry, having thought the PDP could pick a running mate from there, which didn’t happen. We have taken care of this in my candidature.
Strategically speaking, we thought that with my strength in Idemili, and my reach in the Central and a partnership with the North, we could make a difference. There is work of mobilisation and sensitisation to be done. We will do our best. The choice of ZLP is strategic. It is the last party on the ballot paper. We will tell voters to go vote for the last party on the ballot paper, instead of leaving them to start looking for our logo in the midst of so many others.
It is not going to be easy, but I believe that it is only people that can make things easy. Political structure is human and not spirit. Anambra people are already in the kind of mood that what would determine the outcome of this election is individual and not political party. Internally, political parties are flawed and the best, most times, does not emerge. I am not in this race by my strength, but I believe that with God, everything is possible. Human beings have spoken but God would always have the final say. We have something to offer in Anambra. It would only take a good person on a platform of governance to be able to influence what is happening. With my background and exposure, we will give Anambra the best. I am in this because I believe that the greatest resources are available in Anambra State and human resource is more important than anything. The world today is knowledge driven.
I was telling a group of people that the Israeli prime minister has the capacity with drone technology to determine the type of soil in a farm and use the same drone to correct whatever is in that soil without going there physically. If Americans would stay in Washington and pick the enemy one by one in Iraq or Afghanistan without putting foot on ground; even pick those inside an armoured car, then what are we talking about? That is the world of the future and the brain power is there in Anambra State. I do tell people that what makes the difference is leadership and you do not need all the people; just one or two people, to drive the process. I studied in Russia; had my PhD in political science, Masters in Economics and first degree in Economics. I have what it takes to be Anambra governor.
With your recent move to Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), what political structure are you taking to the polls on November 6, considering the time constraints?
The essence of structure is about servicing them. We are relying on what we built as personal structures. The Zenith Labour Party may not have all their cells right now, but we can populate the entire structure in 48 hours. My team is already having an audit of the party in the state. We controlled 80 per cent of PDP structure. Nobody has left our structure. ZLP is the latest talk in town and I am happy about it.
So you are confident that the crises in the major parties will work help parties like ZLP show their political stamina?
The winner of this election will be determined by the personality and antecedents of individual and then the stability of your own ticket. If you are the best candidate and you are in a good party with a large number of litigations, you know what it means. I know that the people wanted us and what we need to do is just to remind them that it is no more about party anymore but the individual candidate.
It might interest you to know that there is an organisation called Save Anambra Group, which was set up by a good number of politicians in the state who are unhappy with what has become the outcome of the primaries in various political parties. They are also desirous of having a consensus candidate and I happen to be their choice. We are inheriting about five other political parties. We are moving with a lot of people and we have chosen our deputy, Mrs. Balonwu. With that, we think we should be able to get votes from the North because she is quite acceptable.
Can you take us through your political trajectory?
I have been involved in politics as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2015, I contested for the Senate and there were issues about who was the valid candidate of the party. The court eventually decided that I was the candidate and actually ordered that I should be given a certificate of Return and sworn in as senator. The Appeal court later ruled otherwise. In 2019, the PDP offered me a ticket to go to the Senate for Anambra Central. I looked at it and felt that my political ambition should be better realized on a platform like the governorship where you are responsible for your actions. It is a platform where you take initiatives and carry it out. I offered to work with a candidate that the party would provide. That was how Uche Ekwunife is the senator today from Anambra Central. We had an understanding that she would go to the Senate and I would go for the governorship seat.
Immediately after the election, we embarked on the process of putting the party together to deal with all the issues that are common with political parties in Anambra State. God helped us to bring it to the level that we had until 48 hours to the governorship primaries on June 26, 2021 and the party, in its own wisdom, dissolved the executives for what they termed conflict of interests. We were concerned initially because we knew that with that singular action, they had breached the constitution of the party. The constitution of the party is very clear, that the state congress should elect the gubernatorial candidate of the party; and that state congress was very specific –the state exco, Local Government excos and the five man per ward and three ad-hoc members. The constitution went further to say two third of that number shall form a quorum. What it means is that in any business of the party, if you do not form that quorum, that business is null and void. The party went ahead to conduct that exercise.
Eventually, the primary was conducted. When that result was announced many people were disappointed. I did not know that for the short period we were marketing ourselves and the programme, we had been able to build a silent, committed followership that has turned into a movement. There were calls that this project should not just end like that. I recall the commitment of those who decided to work with us that they would not be behind me but with me. This is because if somebody is behind you, you might be moving forward and he might be moving backwards. So, remembering that it was a commitment we made to one another, I was not flattered when they made that appeal that we should not just stop. It took a while to decide what to do next. I made some further consultations and I saw that genuine and honest confidence that we have something to offer; that somebody like me with the 10-point agenda will be needed for Anambra State and even the South East, and that we could be a source of inspiration for Nigeria at large.
Do you think the issue of zoning would affect your chances?
We have come to the end of that agitation. Like I have always said, in the first place, the agitation was unfounded. It was for the simple reason of some people who wanted to eliminate me from the race without reasons. Anambra has never zoned the governorship seat. And it might interest you to know that the biggest propagandist of that zoning was APGA. One wonders, if APGA had zoned its ticket to south, why are they pushing other political parties to go to south? The only reason you were hearing about zoning was because I am in the race. They did not want me to be in the race because they knew that I would win. Inside the PDP, you heard about 14 aspirants from the South talking about zoning then. If they had the strength to win, they would not have been agitating for zoning. But talk about zoning has ended. Even those who were talking about zoning before now would tell you that it ended during the primaries. It is not an issue now and nobody talks about zoning.
That is why we are planning to have a special Ministry for Diaspora Affairs. We need to engage our people wherever they are. Those people who are in China, we do not have to ask them to come back. We will encourage them to set up things in Anambra. The world is a global village. I will just set up a liaison office in China and direct them