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Since the pronouncement of former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, as the leader of the All progressives congress (APC) in the South East, controversy has continued to reign among the party supporters in the zone.
Recently, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State had at an APC stakeholders’ meeting held at the International Convention Centre, Owerri, announced Nnamani as the person to lead party in the Igbo-speaking area of the nation.
But the development has not gone down well with some members of the party, who accused Okorocha of taking a unilateral decision.
Nnamani, who hails from Amechi, Enugu South Local Government area of Enugu State recently decamped from the Peoples Democratic party (PDP), a party he helped nurtured from foundation, to join the APC.
The pronouncement was however said to have created a bad blood between those who believe that Nnamani is a new entrant, as such, should not have been placed above those already on ground, and those who felt that being a former number-three citizen, Nnamani should occupy the position.
Feelers have it that there is already a cold war between Nnamani and one of his Amechi brothers, a former governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, over who controls the party structure in the region.
Supporters of Nwobodo are quick to point out the achievements of the governor, saying that he had been in politics before Nnamani, having ruled a state and also being a former member of the Senate as well as being a federal minister.
Some people from the area noted that the political war started since Nnamani was announced as the South-East leader of the party which Nwobodo viewed as a sign of deminishing his personality. According to insiders, during the ongoing party registration exercise, both brothers nearly engaged each other in a verbal war over who earns more respect from the people.
It seems that the two political giants have divided the party structure which people say might affect the party in future election in the area.
At a recent stakeholders’ meeting, Nnamani advised that Ndigbo needed to have more people at the national level of political leadership where crucial decisions are made and also at the National Assembly and other strategic areas, while calling for a return to the politics of idea instead of the politics of abuse and name-calling.
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He said: “Ndigbo do not have the ingredients for opposition politics. We do not have the media, business or money to play opposition politics, nevertheless, we won’t ask for handouts. How the Yorubas voted in 2015 should be an eyeopener.
They voted both sides, but the South-East put their eggs in one basket. I am not of the view that everybody should be in the APC,but those who have seen the need should do so. “If Okorocha has realised that he needs more hands in the APC, he should be commended.
This is the time to play national politics and not the usual neighbourhood politics. People could say we have the Deputy Senate President, but he does not attend the meeting of the APC caucus where important decisions are made. We must think ahead.
The benefit of that office is therefore personal and does not enhance the political fortune of the people of the South-East” The statement was uttered in the presence of Okorocha, his deputy and some political big wigs like Sir Emeka Offor, Ifeanyi Araraume, George Muoghalu, Tony Eze, Ebuka Onunkwo, Jombo Offor and Eze Madumere, among other prominent politicians in the zone.
According to Okorocha, “now that Igbo leaders are together in APC, Nigerians will hear us. With Nnamani, the question of who is the leader of APC in the South-East has been answered. Nnamani is the leader of APC in the South-East”.
After the Okorocha’s statement, the leader of the APC in Abia State, Chief Sam Nkire, congratulated the former senate president for his emergence as the leader of the party in the zone.
Nkire in a statement said he had no doubt that Nnamani was qualified, fit and proper to lead the APC in the South-East, if not in Nigeria as a whole.
He also com-mended Okorocha, who played a major role, saying without him, Nnamani’s emergence would not have been possible. According to Nkire, Okorocha had since the inception of the APC played the role of a father to members of the party in the zone, adding that “his reward shall not be in heaven alone”.
He added that with the entry into the APC of notable politicians such as a former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu; Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and many others, political parties in the zone would know that “a great battle lies ahead”, while appealing to non APC governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives and member of state Houses of Assembly to join the ruling party so as to put the South-East at the centre where it rightly belongs.
Also backing the choice of Nnamani, the Vice Chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Chief Anike Nwoga, said he agreed with Okorocha’s choice, saying that the decision was taken in good faith and in the interest of the Ndigbo.
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“Okorocha saw leadership quality in Nnamani and that is why he conceded the South-East zonal leadership to him. Some people have been saying why Nnamani? But my response is that he is 100 per cent qualified to be the leader of APC in the South-East.
“We should not forget that he was the number-three man in Nigeria having served as the Senate President. Considering that position, there is nobody in APC today that is more qualified than Nnamani. “Okorocha is a wise person, he did the most intelligent thing.
He had done a great thing for the growth of the APC in the South-East because Nnamani is a great son of Igbo land, a decent man for that matter.
“Let us not also forget that since the news of his defection to the APC spread in Nigeria, people had been joining the party not just in the South-East but across the country. This is because of Nnamani, that’s why we see other senators, other top politicians also trooping into the party.”
Reminded that Nnamani was new in the party, he maintained that; “you might be there since 100 years ago but even if someone comes in today, you have equal rights. Besides, you may also be there for 100 years but not making any visible contribution but someone comes in today and performs more than you.
“So, we should all rally round Nnamani; with him, Igbos will get all they need; the APC has gotten the kind of leadership it need in the South-East.
Before now, those that parade themselves as APC leaders in the zone are not even accessible to the people; they don’t even answer phone calls.
But call Nnamani any time, he will pick your call; if you go to his house, his doors are always opened.” Nwoga equally expressed surprise that some members of the party, who raised no issues when Okorocha made the declaration, made u-turn few days later.
“We were all there when Okorocha made that pronouncement; nobody challenged it; nobody raised eye-brows; it is, therefore, surprising that some people are now challenging the decision.
This, to me is an after-thought”, he stated. But the development has not gone down well with some members of the party, who had accused Okorocha of taking a unilateral decision. Reports that Rochas Okorocha, allegedly unilaterally named Nnamani as the new leader of APC in the south-East zone has further ruffled feathers.
These followed reaction by the APC’s National Auditor, Chief George Muoghalu, who asked the governor to stop appropriating the leadership of the party in the zone to new comers, saying that the Imo State Chief Executive Officer had no capacity to foist Nnamani on the party.
He said: “You see, one thing about leadership, and I have said it several times, is that a leader isn’t appointed.You can elect a chairman; you can elect a secretary, a governor or a president, but a leader evolves from amongst the people.
It is your activities; it is your relationship and the level of communication you have with the people that determines your leadership.
“It is not by appointment and I believe everyone understands that. You don’t appoint a leader, you don’t elect a leader except in case where you have the constitutional provision but in a situation where you are talking about the South-East as a people, leadership will always evolve from among the people and those who are leaders in their own rights; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onus and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, these are leaders that have earned their status and there was no day we concluded an election to say that we elected Onu or Ngige as leaders, they evolve.
“I am also a leader by every structure of imagination but it has to evolve from among the people”, he said”. But at the stakeholders’ meeting on Friday, February 17, at Nike Lake Resort in Enugu where prominent leaders of the APC gathered to chart the way forward, those that are opposed to the choice of Nnamani said it was against the constitution of the party.
However, ahead of the 2019 general elections, the quest by the APC to capture power in Enugu State had received a boost with the registration of 50, 000 new members in Enugu East senatorial district.
Among the new members, registered in their various wards in the ongoing APC membership registration in the state are defectors from the PDP, the ruling party in the state.
The progress report on the ongoing exercise was received from ward chairmen, secretaries and women leaders during the Enugu East Zone APC meeting, held at the Agbani country-home of the Zonal leader, Chief Onyemuche Nnamani.
The meeting summoned to assess the ongoing registration exercise attracted party stalwarts including the state chairman, Ben Nwoye; Vice Chairman (East), Val Ikpa; former Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo and Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu. Others are Gabriel Onoh, the scion of late elder statesman, Chief C.C. Onoh and Dilibe Onyeama, the elder brother of Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.
Addressing the meeting, Nnamani who was Secretary to State Government in Enugu State, de-clared that APC wants to be strong in Enugu State to ensure that Ndigbo get their due in the country. “In 2015, we begged our people to join the APC, but they didn’t talk to us.
We went and begged the then governor to join, but he refused. Igbos put all their eggs in one basket, it fell and the entire eggs broke into pieces. Somebody is now saying it is the turn of Igbos. It is deception. If we follow the people who are there now (the North), after them, it will be the turn of Igboman.
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“A Yorubaman knew it was the turn of Ndigbo and gave it to South- South. We must not allow anybody to deceive us again. We will follow the North and after them, we will go”, Nnamani said.
Earlier, one of the party leaders, Gbazuagu, declared that in 2019, APC must produce the next Governor of Enugu State, expressing satisfaction with the progress so far made in the registration, especially at Mpu ward of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP.
Announcing a cash reward of N100, 000, N50, 000, N30, 000 and N20, 000 for the wards that came first, second, third and fourth respectively in the registration exercise, Gbazuagu said; “we held a similar assessment at Iwollo Oghe, Ezeagu Local Government Area for Enugu West and the report was very impressive.
If Mpu ward where the Deputy Senate President comes from defeats you, then you have nothing to offer” he said.
Similarly, former Speaker of the House, Eugene Odo, said he had never seen a place where a party was having membership registration and other parties were panicking, adding that by the time they start consultation and campaigns, nobody would remain. “Nkanu is very critical in Enugu State.
The best performing ward in the state should come and collect N200, 000 cash from me” Odo said. The highlight of the event was the defection to APC of Dr. Mrs. Kate Nnamani, a former PDP bigwig and erstwhile Special Adviser under the immediate past administration of Governor Sullivan Chime.
The stakeholders’ meeting of February 17, was chaired by the National Vice Chairman, South-East, Emma Eneukwu, and attended by Okorocha, Onu, Ngige, Nnamani, Nwobodo and the National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso. Others are the National Auditor, Chief George Moghalu, Senators Ifeanyi Araraume, Uche Ekwunife, Fide Okoro, Nnamdi Eriobuna, former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, former Minister of Health, Prof.Onyebuchi Chukwu and many others. In a communique signed by the National Vice Chairman (South- East), Hon. Emma Eneukwu and South-East Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Hycienth Ngwu, respectively, applauded prominent Igbo politicians who recently joined the party especially Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Andy Ubah, Chief Ifeanyi Uba, Hon. Eugene Odo, and former speaker Enugu State House of Assembly, among others.
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The communique stated that the South-East zonal stakeholders’ meeting also pass a vote of confidence on the national, zonal, various states, local governments and wards leadership of the party constituted before the 2015 general elections.
It read in parts: “The APC South- East commends Okorocha, Onu, Ngige, Hon.Emma Eneukwu, Osita Izunaso and chief George Moghalu for their support for the pary since 2013.
“The meeting re-confirmed that the on-going continuous registration exercise in the APC South-East which had recorded a huge turnout.
The state chairmen of the South-East states were also commended for a job well done in their various states. “Over one million members have been registered so far.
The zone requested from the national leadership for the provision of materials and extension of the time allotted forthe exercise.
“The meeting also commended the party leadership in the zone, LGA and wards and encouraged them to sustain their efforts.
The South-East stakeholders pledged to sustain the growth of the party in the zone and commit the party to the enthronement of APC-led governments in Anambra state later this year, and in Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu States come 2019 general elections.
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