TODAY IS DECEMBER 6…NDUKWE ON MY MIND! APGA holds senatorial primaries all over the federation. In Anambra, two of the three senatorial zones will come aglow. Yes, two because one, Anambra Central has long been decided with the party honouring its long-serving national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh with an automatic ticket. In Anambra North, five aspirants were jostling for the ticket until an unusual mix-up during forms purchase tossed Senator Alphonsus Igbeke(Ubanese) out of the way. Chief Dubem Obaze’s seems clear to grab the ticket in a pool comprising Michael Okechukwu Areh, Emmanuel Oguguo Okafo, Patrick Onochie Obianwu and Nelson Oseloka Onubogu. However, coasts don’t appear that clear for Obaze, who could be surprised by Areh when votes are counted later today. In Anambra South, another unforeseen happenstance that the NWC of the party described as self-inflicted got Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu disqualified from further participation during screening. His attempts via the Appeal Panel and the courts to remedy the situation instead damaged it further. Both the party and the courts got united in barring the Osumenyi-born business tycoon from participation in the exercise. Dr Ernest Ndukwe, Dr Okey Udeh and Chief Maja Umah are the three aspirants jostling to grab the all-important ticket by the time votes get counted later today at the venue of the exercise, Beverley Hills Hotel located at Ozubulu. All three aspirants look formidable and in election matters, especially primaries, every candidate remain probable before votes are cast. However, any party going for primary election must have an eye for the bigger picture – General Elections! Anambra South Senatorial PDP ticket is undoubtedly going to the incumbent, Senator Andy Uba even when, bizarrely, his own blood brother is challenging him for the spot. The Ubas have somehow made a ‘family business’ out of senatorial representations in Anambra South. Ugochukwu and Andy have taken shares at different turns since the birth of 4th Republic. They have been bulldozing their ways through challenges thrown by the likes of Dr. Chuma Nzeribe and perpetually from Ukachukwu. The major reason for the Ubas’ comparatively smooth sails, interrupted only by Senator Ikechukwu Obiora, has been the evident lack of quality candidates from the zone. But this time around, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe has shaken off the cold feet holding back people of real integrity from the zone and decided to throw the hat into the ring. The former Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Communication Commission needs no introduction. For the uninitiated though, Dr. Ndukwe’s 10-year tenure as the boss of NCC heralded the birth of GSM telephone system in Nigeria. Taking off with 400,000 lines in 2000 when Ndukwe was appointed, Nigerians were enjoying an unprecedented 80 million lines by 2010 when he left office after two tenures. Nigerians even outside the zone and state are yearning to have this man who performed the hitherto perceived to be impossible get to the Red Chamber. Moreover, the zone has been buzzing with life since his entry and almost every voter looks at his/her phone and swears to vote for the man who made it possible. Here then lies APGA’s real chance of knocking the Ubas off that monopoly perch come 2015. Dr. Ndukwe has been tested and overwhelmingly trusted. He is a man whose integrity is so intimidating that the opposition cannot even cook up any stain from the man’s past. Only because the past is so clean that attempting such dirty antics would only make one look excessively stupid. Ndukwe’s entry into the fray is shaking Uba so vigorously that the senator has been sending spies to monitor every move of Ndukwe’s campaign team. The Uga-born senator is unerstood to have been making overtures to other APGA aspirants by way of sponsorship in order to scuttle Ndukwe’s chances at the primaries. Dr. Uba, it is understood, has been boasting openly that he’d easily crush any opposition as long as it was not Ndukwe. The question the 480 delegates of APGA that will cast their votes today should ask is…why is Dr Andy Uba working so clandestinely to make certain Ndukwe does not emerge? Simple – Ndukwe is the only man that will beat him in the General Elections. Nonetheless, Uba’s antics have not in any way derailed Ndukwe’s date with destiny. The Oraifite-born technocrat is more than prepared to face any challenge from any quarter on his way to the Red Chamber in Abuja. Besides, no APGA aspirant has caved in to Uba’s overtures…and from responses all over the seven local government areas during Ndukwe’s team’s very successful tours indicate that Anambra South recognize a real man of integrity when they see one. They have seen one in Ndukwe and only a miracle in the highest proportions will deny him APGA ticket today. Let’s all head to Beverley Hills Hotel in Ozubulu.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:35:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015