The immediate past governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi, last week resigned both his appointment as chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, and national leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), raising fears about the continued survival of the party.Before this development, about four members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the party had accepted entreaties from the presidency to cross over to the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
The affected lawmakers included the member representing Njikoka/ Anaocha and Dunukofia federal constituency and chairman, House Committee on Environment, Iyom Uche Ekwunife, her Nnewi-South/ Nnewi-North and Ekwusigo federal constituency counterpart and deputy chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, Mr. Chris Emeka Azubuogu, as well as the member representing Onitsha-South and Onitsha-North federal constituency, Hon. Cyril Egwuatu.Also the member representing Ogbaru federal constituency and deputy chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, was among the lawmakers that defected to PDP, but later changed his mind following sustained pressures from some top leaders of the party and APGA members in his constituency.In his reaction, the APGA national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh accused ex-Governor Obi of masterminding the defection of the lawmakers. But Ogene was later to absolve the former governor, saying that he had no hand in their action.He rather stated that the defection was the brain work of the South-East caucus in the National Assembly, who reasoned that since all the legislators in the National Assembly from the South-East geo-political zone irrespective of their political platform have thrown their weight behind President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid, it would be better if all of lawmakers from the zone seek re-election on the platform of the president’s ruling PDP.Meanwhile, those who are familiar with the happenings within the party even before and since after Obi’s exit from office and the coming on board of his successor, Chief Willie Obiano, would testify that all have not been well among the major power brokers in the party.For instance, the relationship between Obi and Umeh on one hand, and Governor Obiano on the other hand, had rather been like that which exist between the cat and mouse.This frosty relationship accounted for why Obi’s appointment as the party’s BoT chairman and leader of the party, have not been ratified. The APGA National Executive Committee, NEC, had in the twilight of Obi’s eight-year rule as governor of Anambra state appointed him as the party’s BoT chair and leader.By that gesture, he was to step into the shoes of late Ezeigbogburugburu and Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Obi’s appointment took place early this year in Awka, the Anambra state capital. But since then,the appointments have not been ratified. The party leadership was expected to convene a convention of the party to ratify the appointment as required by the party’s constitution but that had not been done.When he was asked why he did not intervene to stop the party’s federal lawmakers who defected to the PDP, Obi had stated that he lacked the powers to intervene citing the fact that he lacked any powers to do so since his leadership positions have not been ratified.Though he described the defection by the legislators as a “worrisome development in the party” and advised that the action called for a deep “reflection” by party members, Obi, however stated that as mature people, the defectors have a right to take decisions which they consider were in the best interest of their political career.A few days later, Obi announced his resignation of the two plum positions he held in the party through a statement issued by his media aide, Mr.Valentine Obienyem, Obi said he acted based on pressures from his family.He, however, stated that he remained a member of APGA. Even then, he announced that he would campaign vigorously for the re-election of President Jonathan of the PDP.But addressing reporters at Aguleri, the home town of Governor Obiano, Umeh in addition to accusing Obi of masterminding the defection of the APGA federal legislators, also alleged that the former governor and his associates were plotting to blackmail APGA before the presidency, “by saying that the party is not supporting Jonathan, which is not true.”Umeh rather stated that APGA’s support for President Jonathan is 100 percent, adding that that the party has even set up a Non Governmental Organization, (NGO) called ‘Join Jonathan Journey, JJJ, which, he explained, would be launched in Awka on Wednesday this week.He also said that the reason given by Obi for resigning as the chairman of APGA BoT, was due to the new appointment he got from Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, as the South East coordinator of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN.According to the APGA chairman, APGA had wanted to inaugurate Obi as a BoT chairman before leaving office as governor, adding that the former governor failed to provide money to organize a convention where both appointments would be ratified.
Umeh said: “With all our hearts, we wanted to make him the APGA BoT chairman and leader of our party, but the issue was that because of the leadership crisis experienced in the party then, he thought that my leadership had come to an end and there was therefore no need to deal with us.
“However, when we won at the Court of Appeal, he found out that his game plan had failed and he began another move to destabilize the party by engineering our members in the House of Representatives to defect to PDP.
“Now, after pursuing other things and when he did not succeed, he resigned from the position of BoT chairman which is most unfortunate.
“The resignation letter he sent to our office was dated August 1, 2014, but he had already been appointed the South East coordinator of TAN and that was why he backdated the resignation letter.”
Umeh said that with Obi’s resignation, all issues will be reserved until the party’s national convention slated for next year to elect new leaders of the party, adding that at that convention, all the outstanding matters in the party would be handled.
Nevertheless, close watchers of the intrigues and power play within APGA, described Obi’s appointments as Greek gifts by some powerful forces within the party. This is because after the appointments were announced, a cabal in the party approached the former governor to provide N200million and N500million, to organize a special convention were his appointments would be ratified.
Governor Obiano was said to have even confirmed the issue last Wednesday when he met the state’s traditional rulers at the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia. The governor who was said to have convened the meeting to sensitize the traditional rulers and Presidents-general of town unions on the control of the spread of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), used the opportunity to explain to the people that he and his predecessor were not at log-ahead as being rumoured.
He was said to have told them that actually, the APGA national leadership presented a budget to the former governor to enable them convene the party special convention but that it was later resolved that the ceremony should be postponed so that his administration would fund it because of the size of the budget more so considering the fact that they had finished an election where the government spent a lot of money.
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