By Ifeanyi Maduako
Recently, the national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Oye, was reportedly quoted in the media as saying that former Governor Peter Obi would never make progress again in politics unless he returned to APGA.
*ObiIf the reports were anything to go by, he was apparently mocking Mr. Peter Obi following the outcome of the recently concluded Anambra governorship election in which his party’s candidate, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was declared as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Chief Oye has the liberty to celebrate the victory of his party at the polls, but does Peter Obi deserve mockery and invective from APGA members?
Perhaps a rehash of history will answer this poser. APGA was registered as a political party sometime in 2001. The founding national chairman was Chief Chekwas Okorie. The immediate past chairman of the party, Senator Victor Umeh, was one of the national officers of the party. The late Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the chairman of the board of trustees of the party.Prior to 2001, this essayist had never heard the name called
Peter Obi. Most Nigerians never knew before that time that he existed even
though he was doing exploits in the business world. It was late in 2001 that a
certain Peter Obi came up with this poser: “Is Anambra State cursed or are we
the cause”?
Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was the governor of the state at the
time. That was a time all government and missionary schools were closed down
for over a year. Pensioners and civil servants were owed arrears of pensions
and salaries for years. Political killings were a daily menu in the state
apparently orchestrated by Mbadinuju’s political opponents to cripple his
government.
Many did not and still do not believe that Mbadinuju’s
government killed the Onitsha Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Chairman, Barnabas
Igwe and his pregnant wife. Anambra State was always on the daily news at the
time for wrong reasons.
Political godfathers held the state hostage. That was why Peter
Obi came out from the private sector to liberate the state. That was how Peter
Obi became the issue in Anambra politics. He became the swansong on the lips of
every Anambra person and even Igbo land in general.
When Peter Obi eventually contested the 2003 governorship
election on the platform of APGA, his mandate was stolen. Peter Obi was not the
only candidate who contested the governorship election on the platform of APGA
across Nigeria.
In Imo State, the late Ezekiel Izuogu, an engineer, contested on
the same platform. In Enugu State, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, the current
chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, was the candidate
of the party.
There were strong candidates in Abia and Ebonyi states. However,
of all those candidates who apparently won the election in their various
states, Peter Obi, was the only candidate who pursed the retrieval of his
stolen mandate to a logical conclusion.
The erroneous belief at the time was that no defeated candidate
would ever retrieve his mandate from an incumbent governor in Nigeria’s
history. It was obvious to every Dick and Harry that the late Izuogu won the
2003 Imo State governorship election. He defeated the then incumbent Governor
Achike Udenwa who performed abysmally poor in his first term.
Sadly, Izuogu
couldn’t pursue the retrieval of his mandate. He gave up with the belief that
it was impossible to retrieve it from a sitting governor. Even the then
national chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, abandoned Peter Obi at the
tribunal and was hobnobbing and paying courtesy visits to then Governor Chris
Ngige who stole his party’s mandate. If Peter Obi had given up just like
others, APGA wouldn’t have ruled the state for eight years under his
leadership.
His
successor Chief Willie Obiano, wouldn’t have become a governor, he would have
remained anonymous as he was prior to 2014 when he was elected the governor of
the state. The governor-elect, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, wouldn’t have been
elected a governor on the platform of APGA.
Chief
Victor Umeh might not have become a senator. Even Chief Victor Oye, the man
mocking Peter Obi, wouldn’t have tasted the seat of the national chairman of
the party. If Peter Obi didn’t contest for the interpretation of his tenure at
the Supreme Court, PDP would have taken over the state since 2007.
The
history of Nigeria democracy cannot be written without a page or two pages
dedicated to Peter Obi for his landmark judicial exploits. APGA would have
since become a defunct political party just like many others since 2003, if
Peter Obi didn’t show resilience, gravitas and grit in politics.
Peter
Obi was deliberately chased out of APGA by the current government in Anambra
State. He never wanted to leave the party, but some people were uncomfortable
with his presence in the party. In any case, what more would Peter Obi have
achieved in politics if he had remained in APGA?
The
party is a one-state party which cannot make anybody a president of Nigeria.
When APGA pushed Peter Obi out, PDP embraced him. He has also made a
substantial progress in PDP. He became the vice presidential candidate of the
party just few years after he joined the party.
That
was not a mean feat. Peter Obi is now a national figure and it is only a
national party that can take him higher in politics, not a one-state party like
APGA. Even if an angel is made the presidential candidate of APGA, that angel
cannot win the presidential election judging by the present configuration of
Nigerian politics.
Peter
Obi is in a better place politically speaking as a member of the PDP, and the
earlier APGA joins him in the party, the better for Chief Victor Oye and his
APGA members. APGA should be eternally grateful to Peter Obi.
*Maduako, a political analyst, wrote from Owerri via: ifeanyimaduako2017@gmail.com
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