Ahead of the midnight deadline today for substitution of names of flagbearers by the various political parties in the forthcoming Nov 16 governorship election in Anambra state, and the obvious inability of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP)to settle for one of the three contending aspirants- Tony Nwoye, Nicholas Ukachukwu and Senator Andy Uba, the party may have at last picked a consensus candidate.
A source from the party headquarters has indicated that in order that the party miss out of the election as a result of internal feud and battery of law suits, the hierarchy may have settled for Mr Walter Okeke as the consensus candidate. He was seen as capable, able and has enough financial muscle to prosecute the election, should the party decide to back out.
Described as a quiet millionaire and big time player in the nation’s oil and gas sector, Okeke is said to have married from the Niger Delta and is therefore acceptable to the presidency and the PDP.
He was the reportedly the third in line after Nwoye and Ukachukwu during the Governorship primaries of the party on Aug 24, 2013 in the state which was supervised by Gov Ibrahim Shema panel.
Earlier attempts to chose a replacement who hails from Anambra North zone as Nwoye was frustrated when the party could not get someone with enough stature to shoulder the governorship weight without much difficulty; someone who could withstand the anticipated firepower of APGA’s Willie Obianor, APC’s Chris Ngige and or Labour Party’s Ifeanyi Ubah.
Indications from the party’s headquarters at Wadata Plaza showed the party chiefs had made spirited attempts to broker peace among Nwoye, Ukachukwu and Uba. It was even believed that Uba at a time when he discovered late in the day that he was totally out of the race, that he began to make overtures to Ukachukwu, if only to legally use him ton under Nwoye.
