The emergence yesterday of two factional Prime Aspirants from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on a day many decent people are expecting one candidate is shocking to a state that requires a break from the brigandage of the past, but is understandable for a party which bequeaths iniquity for legacy.
It is one good way for People to Destroy People.
Our conviction that two factional prime aspirants do not equal one candidate, particularly when both are fundamentally flawed in reputation.
We condemn in naked terms, the failure of the PDP to raise a governorship candidate form their long- prepared, long- orchestrated and very costly cash bazaar of primary elections and note that Ndi Anambra are by now too tired of the recurrent PDP rigging strategy of double candidacy, which replaced outright forgery election results.
We are covered by existing legal provisions to request that INEC should step in to ensure that only one candidate emerges from PDP’s on-going charade as nothing short of this will be acceptable to the APC ,the people of Anambra State and the nation.
The PDP has a long history of fielding double candidates which has been elevated to a high vote rigging art that puts the party on unfair advantage.
In the 2003 General elections, The PDP fielded two candidates in every senatorial zone by simply instituting the names of candidates long after the deadline.
In the process two sets of election results were declared, both announcing victory for the PDP, but with different set of candidates. Senator Ben Obi, Senator Joy Emodi (Anambra North) and Senator C.N.Ukachukwu (Anambra South) were short-changed with the names of Emma Anosike, Ikechukwu Abana and Ugochukwu Uba, sibling to Andy and Chris Uba respectively.
The courts decided the matter via its respective judgements. The electorate lost a chance to decide who their senator would be in Africa’s largest democracy and have since then not regained it, when any matter connected to the PDP pops up.
In the same election, six members of the House of Representatives candidates were equally substituted in a highly organised electoral fraud supervised from the top. They were Nze Chidi Duru (Aguata), Chief O.C Egwuatu (Awka North/South), C I D Maduabum (Nnewi North/South/Ekwusigo), Gozie Agbakoba (Onitsha North/South), Ben Nwankwo (Orumba North/ South) as well as Dr C.C. Okeke (Idemili North/South). They were substituted by another set of six including Jerry Ugokwe (Idemili North/South) ,a PDP aspirant in this election who lost it in the Court of Appeal and proceeded to the ECOWAS Court to make Nigeria a laughing stock.
Each of the remaining had to pursue its case in court, long after the elections were concluded. In reality these people who went to the Senate and the House of Representatives were never elected, in that they got to their positions through the instrumentality of the courts, exploiting technicalities, with the result that candidates unknown to the electorate were being pronounced two years after the electorate cast their vote.
In 2007, one of the Prime Aspirants was involved in massive rigging of elections resulting in the pronouncement of two results for the governorship elections, because in the first pronouncement he scored more votes that the total number of registered voters in the state. Yet he was sworn in as governor. An extraneous judicial action saved the day and saved Anambra State.
This further climaxed in 2011 when again PDP produced at least two candidates apiece for all the senatorial elections. In some case there were three. Yet all garnered votes which counted for the PDP.
For instance in the Anambra South Senatorial District, two of the 15 aspirants that participated in Saturday’s show of shame, in Awka- Andy Uba and Chris Ukachukwu -were produced for the Senatorial elections from the same party. While the two or three elephants fought in the courts for that seat, Anambra South Senatorial District suffered.
The result was that the two continued the tussle in the law courts, long after each of them had raked in captive votes from their respective strongholds which were ironically made to count in the INEC tally.
Yet for over one year the seat of the senatorial zone in the Upper House of the National Assembly remained vacant. The same situation and even a more complex one was witnessed in Anambra North Senatorial Zone, where three candidates were produced and involved in a ding-dong tango that only ended recently, again leaving their senatorial chair vacant. A similar case involving other emerging prime aspirant, with respect to Anambra East /West Federal Constituency is now before the Supreme Court
It took the fatherly care and intervention of Senator Chris Ngige of our party who is now flying the flag of the APC in the November 16 elections, for the two senatorial zones to benefit from constituency projects in 2012 and 2013, and even then, it was not without some resistance, that he surmounted.
The only reason the case of Anambra Central Senatorial District differed was because one of the three candidates produced decamped to Accord Party to contest the elections, and the combined strength of the remaining two, one from Ogidi and the other from Awka were not enough to stop Senator Chris Ngige from winning.
In these circumstances, all responsible person, nay voters in Anambra State agree that this culture of open double-swindle must be resisted and it is a task in which all segments of society have a role.
We urge INEC to stamp their feet facing PDP with clear-cut demands on the production of ONE CANDIDATE within the timeframe provided for the submission of lists. Failure to do so should attract instant disqualification of one or both candidates.
Nothing short of total enforcement of in this direction will satisfy anyone that INEC is intent on conducting ‘the best governorship elections in the history of Nigeria’ as the umpire has promised.
For the political class, we expect them to arise and address the issue of double candidacy from all perspective with a view to stamping it out this time around.
We expect the security agencies to arrest any candidate who, not being recognised by INEC proceeds to campaign without lawful court order to the reverse INEC decision and prosecute him/her for electoral offences.
To the concerned citizens of Anambra State, we call on them to standby to register their displeasure with the PDP, and at short notice march in the streets of Anambra State, should federal power be deployed to thwart their noble aspiration to keep their election fair.
To the voters in Anambra State, we urge them to save the long-suffering state another round of turmoil by safely rejecting ANYHTING PDP at the polls, while voting for a party that presents just one candidate, bearing in mind our cherished liberation from evil forces haunting the state ,achieved on July 10 2003.
For the avoidance of doubt, APC reiterates that none of these Prime Aspirants, thanks to the support of Ndi Anambra, is a match for Senator Dr Chris Ngige, the APC flag bearer, after becoming a candidate. Our intervention is our contribution to the entrenchment of electoral sanity in Anambra State, which has a strong link with good governance.
–
Okelo Madukaife
For All Progressive Congress, APC (ACN+ANPP+CPC+DPP+APGA)
Awka, August 25, 2013
