Exactly six weeks to next month’s election, Anambra State’s Governor Chukwuma Soludo flagged off the presidential campaign of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) last Saturday at Ekwueme Square, Awka, capital of Anambra State. This is coming three months after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifted the ban on electioneering campaigns on September 28 last year.

Out of the 18 political parties that have nominated candidates for the February 25 presidential election, only four have dominated the electioneering campaigns in the last three months. They are the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the main opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP).

The APGA has been more successful of all the lesser parties because it has produced three governors in Anambra State since 2006, including the incumbent Governor Soludo. But, this time around, its campaign for next month’s election appears to have been bogged down by the leadership tussle between the faction of the party led by Chief Victor Oye and that of Chief Edozie Njoku. Both factions have their respective presidential candidates in the persons of Prof Peter Umeadi and Chief Chekwas Okorie. INEC recognises Umeadi as the party’s flag bearer, but the Njoku-led faction is insisting that Okorie is the authentic candidate based on a Supreme Court verdict. The crisis is taking its toll on the party’s preparation for next year’s general elections.

This, perhaps, explains why the party’s campaign for the presidential election is kicking off too close to the presidential election, which is scheduled to take place on the 25th of next month. Not much has been heard from Umeadi about his presidential bid. The flag-off, last Saturday, of the party’s campaign to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor has not made a difference in the fortunes of the party.

Following the event, the news that filtered out was that Governor Soludo has become the party’s national leader. The appeal of the governor at the flag-off to the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was also another aspect of the event that dominated the media.

Oye, however, insists that the party is going about the presidential campaign in its peculiar style. He does not believe that there is a crisis whatsoever in the party. He maintains that nothing distracting the party ahead of the forthcoming election. His words: “We are prepared, except that we do not make noise about it. We believe more in the power of the people. Nobody can choose for the people even though preparation is relative. It is different from one party to another.”

During the flag-off, Prof. Umeadi said he would ensure that the Nigerian system is restructured to serve the citizens better if elected in the next month’s election. The former Chief Judge of Anambra State said he would deal with the issue of true federalism, tackle challenges in the healthcare and education sectors and undertake an agricultural revolution in the country. He said, “I am a candidate that has come with sincerity. I will deal with the issue of true federalism, restructuring, and healthcare. I will address issues relating to women, youths, children, education, communication, transportation, and etcetera.”

The APGA presidential candidate stressed that apart from the issue of true federalism, his manifesto will also address the challenge of insecurity ravaging different parts of the country. While describing himself as the most genuine presidential candidate in the race, Umeadi said he has traversed every nook and cranny of Nigeria since his candidacy and knows what every part of the country needs. He added that if elected, he would work with all relevant stakeholders to entrench a new political culture, and unite every part of the country including the old, young, rich, poor, literate or not, from different religious and social groups.

He thanked all APGA candidates and assured everyone that APGA is present everywhere, all the way across the country, asking everyone to vote for the party in order for it to be the “miracle” of this year’s presidential election. Governor Soludo, who presented flags to Umeadi and other candidates vying for other positions, appealed to Nigerians to vote for all APGA candidates because the party, by its constitution, believes in true federalism. He said: “We are excited because we are true believers in the greatness of Nigeria. APGA is the first party registered in its constitution with a commitment to true federalism. Only restructured Nigeria can help Nigeria to move forward. APGA is the first political party to realise that the future of Nigeria lies in true federalism, a restructured Nigeria. For the elections of February and March, we appeal to Nigerians to vote for APGA candidates all the way. APGA is the grand alliance of Progressives.

“We have held sway in Anambra State for over 16 years, and we will continue to give Anambra people Progressive leadership and this we want to replicate throughout the country. We believe that the South East is free, everybody is free. We are Republicans, we are Democrats. We allow everybody to come and campaign freely. In Anambra, we have given political parties opportunities that some of them didn’t get elsewhere. We provide a level playing field and we give people equal opportunity.”

The immediate past Governor of Anambra State and Chairman of the National Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Willie Obiano, said APGA is used to winning and this time will not be different. The ex-governor, who encouraged APGA members to unite and speak with one voice and one goal in mind, declared that the party is supreme! “We should go to war the old-fashioned way, and victory will be guaranteed,” Obiano rallied the party members.

Also speaking at the rally, the Anambra State Chairman of APGA, Sir Nobert Obi, who welcomed all APGA supporters to the campaign kick-off, thanked all ward executives from across Nigeria, including Zamfara, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Enugu and others, for showing up at such short notice. In her remarks, the wife of the former National Leader of the Party, Chief Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, stated that APGA is a home, heritage, and the future, urging everyone to vote for APGA candidates in large numbers.

However, Okorie is of the view that the party has good prospects of winning the election only if he gets the chance to fly the party’s flag in the election. He said: “It depends on who is on the ballot; if it is me, the network we have nationwide with which we performed what can be described as the magic of 2003 are still there and all those that supported us are still and will be ready to do so again.”

He said if Umeadi’s name continues to be on the INEC list, the party may not do well in the presidential election, because he (Umeadi) has no relationship with people in the political arena. He said: “I know Umeadi very well – we were in the university together and are still friends. He worked 35 years on the bench as a judge and retired recently as the chief judge. He has no relationship with people out there. Where will he take APGA to?

“The flag-off took place two days ago in Awka, the capital of Anambra State. But, there is no evidence that the presidential candidate was given any chance to speak during the event; otherwise, we would have read about some of his campaign promises in the media. But, instead, what we saw in the newspapers was that Soludo was being celebrated as the national leader of the party.

“Besides, no single candidate of the APGA from other states of the federation was present in the so-called flag-off of the party’s presidential candidate; not even those from other states in the Southeast. So, you can see that they have bastardised APGA and scandalised all of us. From the time they hijacked the party, no activity of the party has ever taken place in Abuja or any other place, except Awka. In 2003 when I was national chairman, we had our convention in Abuja. That was where I presented the late Chief Chukwueka Odimegwu-Ojukwu as our presidential candidate. Since they hijacked the party, things have gone from bad to worse.”

The APGA presidential candidate is a professor of law and a former Chief Judge of Anambra State appears unprepared for the race and does not seem to have the resources to prosecute such a project. The Nation gathered in Awka that the former Chief Judge was banking on the electoral umpire to provide funds for political parties and their candidates to prosecute the task; a possibility that has become a mirage. Governor Soludo’s body language tells the entire story that he is not in support of his candidate. Though he is keeping his preferred candidate close to his chest, his actions and statements have betrayed him that he has sympathy for the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

But the Anambra State governor may also declare support for the APC flag beater, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. As a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic team, this may not come as a surprise to anyone. From close observations, the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor has already made up his mind and appears to be merely waiting for the right time to declare his position on the matter. Some observers believe that being a one-time member of the PDP, he may opt to back Atiku. But, others who spoke with The Nation in confidence insist that the governor and his party have agreed to support the APC because of Tinubu.

As the campaign for next month’s presidential election campaigns intensify, opinions are divided in Anambra State over who the people will vote for. Three of the 18 contenders for the plum job stand a good chance of getting the backing of the people. They are Obi, Tinubu and Atiku. The APGA and its flagbearer in the race are not in contention for the presidency as far as Anambra is concerned. The APGA as a party appears to have accepted it as a fait accompli that it is not in any serious contention for the presidency; hence it is not seriously campaigning for votes. Indeed, it is common knowledge in Awka that even key members of the party have been making a mockery of their candidate because, according to them, he is wasting his time.

The rally that was held last Saturday at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka was mainly for the candidates contesting for various positions in the state. Even during the so-called flag-off rally for his presidential bid, Umeadi was more of an observer because he was not the focal point of the event, as it ought to have been. Beyond the flag-off, there has not been any other serious move to project the APGA candidate; either by the candidate or the party.

When Umeadi declared his intention to contest next month’s presidential election two years ago, the expectation was that he was genuinely in the race. He printed posters and pasted them at some strategic places in the state in 2021. He even visited Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for consultations. This is why a lot of people believe he might be working for the APC candidate. This is because even members of his party do not subscribe to his ambition to become president. They regard the whole thing as a joke; they see him as a clown.

His position today in the presidential race is akin to what retired Major General John Gbor did in 2018 when he picked APGA’s ticket for the 2019 election; he is not contesting to win the contest but to join the rank of Nigeria’s growing political elite who vie for elections for the sake of being referred to as “a former presidential candidate.”

Observers believe that the APGA has not achieved the purpose for which it was formed. The party, it is said, was not conceived as a regional party; its founding fathers merely wanted the party to use the Southeast as a springboard to gain acceptance outside the region. But, successive leaders of the party were content with “keeping it as an Igbo party” to serve their interests. As a result, they did not capitalize on its initial success by throwing it open before all-comers. Like many of the small parties, the APGA appears to have become a meal ticket for those at the helm of affairs because they have used it mostly as a bargaining chip for a slice of the national cake.

Even within Igboland, it has remained an Anambra-dominated party. The party does not have a single senator representing it at the moment; even in Anambra State where it is the ruling party. Besides, the party has only three members out of the 11 House of Representatives lawmakers representing the state in the lower legislative chamber. Ironically, the APGA is the third largest party in the country at the moment because aside from the ruling APC and the main opposition party, the PDP, it is the only party that controls a state.

Since 2006, the APGA has dominated Anambra State without serious challenge from any of the opposition political parties. Anambra State used to be governed by the PDP until 2006 when the election petitions tribunal removed Dr Chris Ngige of the PDP by declaring that Mr Peter Obi was the winner of the 2003 governorship election in the state. The APGA triumphed in the 2011 governorship election in Imo State when Senator Rochas Okorocha contested on the platform of the party and won. But, Okorocha subsequently dumped the party when he teamed up with other political actors to form the APC in 2013. Today, because it has nominated a candidate for the race, APGA’s logo would be on the ballot paper for next month’s presidential election. But, from all indications, the party appears not ready for the election. (The Nation)

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