Scramble for South-east political soul

Disturbed by its abysmal performance in the 2015 election in the South-East geopolitical zone, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has initiated moves to assert itself in the zone. Taking a deep look at the emerging scenes, JOHN NWOKOCHA seeks to know if the new scramble for the soul of the region is a feature of 2019.

“We need to expand the party beyond what we have at the moment. It is not necessarily to grab ministerial position that matters, but how rooted the party is. We did not win any seat in the recently-concluded election in the state.” Enugu State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr Ben Nwoye stated way back in January 2015.
However assessing the emerging events on the political space of the south east zone in recent time gives a feeling that a fierce contest over the zone ahead 2019 hangs on the horizon. Take for instance the on going massive realignment of political heavy weight in the zone a development that has the potential of  shaping the political future of south east. The other day a key stakeholder of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in fact, a founding father of the party, Chief Jim Nwobodo led a pack of members of PDP in the Enugu state to join the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Second Republic governor and former Minister of Sports, Nwobodo justifies his action on the need for Ndigbo to be in mainstream politics in Nigeria, because of the danger of being in the opposition. As the ex governor dumped the embattled PDP many of his associates and loyalists have begun to build a strong APC to reclaim lost ground and to prove that they are politically relevant.

Ordinarily this will not attract any fuss but the caliber of politicians in the realignment makes it a subject that calls pundits attention. Another curious move following Nwobodo’s action is the defection of Dr Dorothy Nwodo, wife of the former national chairman of PDP, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo which many a watcher believe is to clear the coast for her husband’s eventual defection to the ruling APC. But in a swift reaction to the insinuations Nwodo in a statement debunked his speculated defection to the APC, saying that media report was merely because his wife was present at a meeting he did not attend. He added that his wife, as an adult, had her own political life to live.  In the statement, Nwodo explained: “As one of the founding fathers of PDP, who has held the highest office in the party, I know the statutory procedure of resigning and would willingly do that if necessary.”

According to him, although a number of issues within PDP remain embarrassing to the founding fathers, the truth is that “I am still a PDP member of the PDP and have not joined the APC.” If Nwodo has denied reports on his planned defection, the Enugu state governor has not. The close relationship between incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the Nwobodos, as well as the Nwodos, has fueled speculations that Ugwuanyi could join the fray. The long-standing cordial relationship between the governor of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal and incumbent Enugu governor is another factor that has heightened the speculation.
Also in Imo state leading political figures like Dr Izuogu and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume have since dumped the PDP for the APC. Recently Izuogu said in Owerri, Imo state, at APC South-East Stakeholders meeting that the Igbo were beginning to retrace their steps where they actually belonged. “In the past, the reactionaries of PDP misled us.

The people, who we should be preaching to, were preaching to us. Five years ago, I followed former President Goodluck Jonathan to all the 36 states of the country to campaign. When he won, after some time,  I wrote to inform him that he seemed to have derailed. That was about three years ago. But our people followed him and he lost. But, I am happy that our people have realized their mistakes. The whole country today is APC. We must bring all South-East states to APC. When we finish with South-East, we will go to the South-South. If we unite, the next President after President Buhari will come from Igbo land,” he said urging Ndigbo to stop fighting themselves but to unite so that they could achieve their ultimate political goal.  Speaking at the same occasion Ken Emechebe, a commissioner in the old East-Central, urged Ndigbo to unite, noting: “What is important to us is that after Buhari, it is our turn. Nigeria was built on a tripod-Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba-and others have had their turns. So, we should also have our own.”

“The APC South-East is open to welcoming prominent Igbo into the party. We believe that the political aspirations of Igbos are realisable in the short run in South-East. We mandate all
APC South-East chairmen to constitute a membership drive/mobilization committee in their various states to woo credible and notable Igbo personalities into APC. We believe that the South-East APC contributed immensely to the success of the party at the Federal level and we demand commensurate appointments from the Federal Government.”
By drawing an inference from these, the APC is deliberately and vigorously pursuing a course and that is that the party should strengthen its structures in the state ahead of 2019 elections.
A critical look at the unfolding realignment lays the larger interest of the zone beyond narrow interest of politicians and that is hinged on long quest for Igbo presidency by Ndigbo.

It is necessary to state that there exists a connection between the current political realignment in the state and the politics of the 2019 presidency. The defeat suffered by PDP in 2015 has not discouraged Ndigbo from clamouring for presidency. The call for Igbo presidency resurrected at a meeting of the South-East APC leaders in Enugu recently, with most of the speakers stressing the need for Ndigbo to unite now and push for the presidency after the administration of President Buhari.
Meanwhile the general mood of Ndigbo is that of the need to re-launch themselves politically and this will justify the action of the defectors.
The PDP is not relenting in its scheme to continue its political dominance of the south east zone. The party since 1999 has enjoyed a bloc vote from the zone.

The feat was repeated in the 2015 general elections as the party won four states (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu) of the zone leaving only Imo state for the APC. Recently, the PDP came out with a new zoning arrangement that ceded the post of national organizing secretary to the south east zone which held the position of national publicity secretary of the party before the new zoning agreement. Also joining the scramble for the zone are the United Progressives Party (UPP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Because the national leaders of these parties come the zone analysts consider the south east as a traditional battle ground for both UPP and APGA and that is if the factor of where the leaders come from has any role to play in wooing voters.