The jostle for the governorship ticket of the Labour Party (LP) in Imo State is eliciting concerns from within and outside the party as not less than a dozen aspirants go for broke in a fierce race ahead of the party’s governorship primary election. In this piece culled from The Nation, the paper'sAssistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports that the there are fears that the party may not remain the same after the shadow election.

Following last month’s the declaration by the national leadership of the Labour Party (LP) that chieftains of the party with interest in the party’s gubernatorial ticket in Imo State are free to come forward and indicate their aspirations, not less than thirteen members of the party leapt forward to declare their readiness to contest the forthcoming governorship election on the platform of the party. The next guber election in the state holds on Saturday November 11, 2023

Governorship election in the southeast state is coming months after the 2023 general elections due to the belated inauguration of incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 after he was declared winner of the last governorship election in the state by the Supreme Court. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier being sworn in as governor in May 2019.

Following its unexpected performance in the February 25 presidential election in the country that saw its candidate, Peter Obi winning in all the states in the southeast geo-political zone, there has been increased interest in the LP from those seeking to govern Imo state ahead of its upcoming primary election. The party also won the governorship seat in Abia and garnered eight senatorial seats and 34 House of Representatives positions across the country.

In Imo state, the huge number of candidates vying for the party’s gubernatorial nomination has led to unease as a lot of intrigues are playing out ahead of the shadow poll. Expectedly, allegations, counter allegations ad protests have become the orders of the day within the party as aspirants and their backers strive to outwit one another in the struggle for the now coveted governorship nomination of the Labour Party.

The Nation gathered that ten of the initial thirteen candidates who threw their hats into the ring and obtained the nomination forms are from the Owerri zone. Two of the governorship aspirants hail from the Okigwe zone while the last contender is from Orlu zone. Checks by our correspondent revealed that the large number of aspirants from Owerri zone may not be connected with the zoning debate currently going on in the state.

Owerri zone remains the only zone that has not tasted the seat of governor of the state since the return of the nascent democracy in 1999. The zone had renewed its agitation for the seat and many of its sons have thrown in their hats in nearly all the political parties. In the Labour Party, pundits say the large number of aspirants from Owerri zone may however work against the agitation unless they come together and queue up behind one of them.

Labour Party chieftains who are eying the party’s governorship ticket and have secured the Nomination Forms include: Major General Lincoln Jack Ogunewe (retd), Chief C. Ishiguzo, Senator Athan Achonu, Martin Agbaso, Chief Joseph Ukaegbu, Dr. Tochi J.Ehirim, Rt Hon. Ike Ibe, Rt Hon. Kelechi Nwagwu, Dr. Basil Maduka, Engr. Chinedu Amadi, AIG Charles Agomuo (retd), Capt David Mbamara and late Barr Humphrey Anumudu.

The chairman of the party in the state, Festus Onyekwulisi, has promised that the Labour Party will sack Governor Uzodimma, during the next election as he and other members of the state working committee would ensure that the party’s governorship primary election would be credible. He said the Imo people had suffered, adding that the LP administration would ensure that they began to enjoy the dividends of democracy again.

But as the date for the governorship primary election draw near, the competition within the Labour Party has intensified, with aspirants seeking to outplay themselves and gain both due and undue advantages over their opponents. The resultant bouts of crisis within the party, according to reliable sources, are threatening Onyekwulisi’s optimism ahead of the November 11 governorship election in the state.

Rumpus

The death of one of the LP gubernatorial aspirant in the state last month had earlier threw the Imo LP into confusion. Humphrey Anumudu, has been found dead in his Lagos home after returning from a meeting at the LP secretariat in Abuja. He was a native of Mbieri Ancient Kingdom in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State. Until his death, Anumudu was a multi-billionaire businessman cum politician who had been contesting the governorship seat of the state since 1998.

Amidst the confusion caused by his sudden demise, National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, said the party will refund the N25 million nomination fee paid by late governorship aspirant to his family. Abure said the party decided to return the nomination fee to the family of the deceased to show empathy and compassion. Meanwhile, supporters of the late politicians are still expressing shock over his death few weeks to the party’s governorship primary election.

Meanwhile, nine governorship aspirants of the party in the state openly disagreed with its national leadership over the caretaker committee of the Labour Party in the state. There protest was made public in a statement signed by the nine governorship aspirants among other chieftains of the party. The Nation gathered that the protest over the dissolution of the Ambrose Onyekwere-led state leadership and constitution of a caretaker committee has been on for a while.

The governorship aspirants who signed the protest statement are Captain David Mbamara(rtrd), Ike Ibe, Kelechi Nwagwu, Charles Onyirimba, Humphrey Anumudu, T.J Ehirim, Martins Agbaso, Jack Ogunewe, and Chinedu Amadi. Other chieftains of the party who signed the statement include Senator Chris Anyanwu, Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, Obinna Ibe, Nick Oparandu, Frank Nneji, Paschal Odibo, Mike Ndubuaku, and Chinyere Okpara.

In their protest statement, the aspirants alleged that the caretaker committee was an arrangement to favour one of the governorship aspirants of the party. They also accused the national leadership of not consulting them before setting up the caretaker committee, describing it as an act of imposition.

“It is essential to do a thorough and wide consultation in any reconstitution exercise. Diverse interests in the party will have to be factored in when embarking on this exercise. This is particularly important given the recent experience of the party in the State concerning the PCC and its performance during the last presidential campaign and election. LP has emerged a national party and so must be careful to not only be seen to be democratic but be democratic. It should not be hijacked by one or a few individuals,” they said.

The appointment of the caretaker committee continues to create tension in the party ahead of the November poll. Many leading chieftains have refused to have anything to do with the committee and are still calling on the National chairman to disband it and restore the Onyekwere-led state leadership to avoid legal pitfalls before, during or after the governorship election in the state. “We must not do anything that will destroy the Labour party in the Imo States,” the statement said.

“Be it known that very highly placed and responsible people joined the Labour party hoping that the impunity which destroyed PDP and APGA will not rear its ugly head in Labour Party. We are in doubt that the National Working Committee and the party Caucus are part of this imposition but if they were deceived to be part of it, it is exigent that they take serious remedial steps to forestall the catastrophe that is about to unfold,” they added.

The LP Imo State was also in the news when Ifeanyi Araraume, an APC chieftain accused it of adding his name to the list of guber hopefuls on its platform. The Senator debunked reports that he had picked the expression of interest form of the LP to run for the governorship. Araraume described the report as fake and mischievous. Senator Arararaume reiterated unequivocally that he is still a bonafide member of the APC.

“He is not a member of Labour Party and has not picked or paid for any nomination form from Labour Party and does not intent to do so now or later in this dispensation. Senator Araraume is a responsible member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and does not even have the faintest idea who the Labour Party ward chairman is in his immediate ward. The Distinguished Senator is not a man to shy away from what he believes in,” the statement added.

Respite for aspirants

The party also came under fire from its members and other Nigerians when it announced that its expression of interest and nomination forms will sell for N25milion. Not a few persons openly accused the party of doing the same thing it condemned in the not too distant past. Recall that Nigerians, including the Labour Party, had frowned at the APC, and the PDP for the sale of their nomination forms for N40 million and N20 million respectively last year.

In the party’s officials reaction back then, Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Ararambi, had berated the APC and PDP for allegedly using the exorbitant cost of nomination to exclude the youths and others from the elections while favouring people he described as moneybags. Disappointed Nigerians are quick to point out that the actions of the LP today contradict the party’s earlier stance on exorbitant fees for nomination forms.

The development attracted wild condemnations on social media with many Nigerian sharing their displeasure and urging the leadership of the party to retrace its ways. Perhaps as a result of the nationwide outcry, the party eventually reviewed downwards the cost of its nomination and expression of interest forms for governorship elections not only in Imo state, but also in Bayelsa and Kogi States from N25 million to 15 million.

The party said it became expedient and instructive for it to do so, in order to lead by example adding that its presidential candidate in the February 25th, 2023 presidential and National Assembly election, Peter Obi, waded into the call for the review. Abure made the disclosure at a special meeting with the party’s National Assembly members-elect in Abuja. “I am pleased to announce to you that the nomination fees have been reduced from N25 million to N15 million for the governorship elections.

“We have always been a listening party and therefore, for us, as the leadership of this party the needs and aspiration of our people would always be listened to. We want to assure members of the party and all Nigerians that the Labor Party would live by example. I must say that our desire to take back the country and free it from the shackles of poverty, unemployment and misery remains undaunted. We shall continue to pursue this cause on behalf of Nigerians and we believe very strongly that a new Nigeria is very possible.

Many of the aspirants and other chieftains of the party have been lauding the decision of the party to reduce the cost of its nomination and expression of interest forms. According to one of the aspirants, it is a good decision that will encourage members of the party to aspire for elective positions in future. “It will also send the right messages to the world that the LP is unlike these other political parties that don’t encourage the masses to seek political positions.

“You will recall that before the reduction, many of us have obtained the party’s nomination and expression of interest forms in spite of the fact that we subscribe to the agitation for reduction in the fees. But I can tell you that we are happy with the decision to bring the cost down for others to be able to afford it. The more the merrier for us as aspirants and even the better for the party. Politics is a game of numbers and I am happy ours is a listening party,” he said.

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