Anambra Governorship Elections 2017, The Winners and Losers

Anambra Governorship Elections 2017, The Winners and Losers

Winners

1. Ndi Anambra - the people of Anambra should be the ultimate winners of the elections. They came out in appreciable numbers to cast their ballot despite the calls to boycott the elections by IPOB and the heavy police presence. The turnout was lower than expected, but those who came out conducted themselves in a dignified way as the election had very low incidences of violence.

2. APGA - the party has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that Anambra is APGA and APGA is Anambra. They ran a brilliant campaign, which carried Ndi Anambra from the grassroots to the elite. The party was united in electing Obiano after seeing off the irritation of the National Chairmanship tussle between Victor Oye and Martin Agbaso. The message of “Nke a bu Nke anyi!” (This one is our own!) resonates among the Igbo who are struggling to find a political identity within the APC led Nigeria. This victory is the fourth straight governorship victory for APGA in Anambra, each one with a bigger margin than the previous one. What baffles is how this is not translated at the federal level. For all its success at the state level elections, APGA performs very poorly at the Senatorial and House of Reps elections. It is time for the party to break away from the mold of the PDP and have a proper go at federal elections. With the PDP in disarray and on a downward spiral, there is an open space APGA can inhabit. The party should present a candidate for the 2019 elections, matching the PDP and APC by presenting a northern candidate. The aim should be to place a respectable third. This would give the party a strong platform to fight the 2023 elections. The party should be more ambitious and set its sights on other states as a party and not just a contesting platform. I believe the party can mop up the PDP Igbo votes in Lagos state and place at least one member in the Lagos State House of Assembly and possibly the Federal House of Representatives

3. Governor Willy Obiano - Akpokuedike Global got this one. He predicted a landslide and delivered. 21-0 in the three-horse race is no mean feat. He benefitted from a strong APGA coupled with his modest achievements as a governor in a country in recession. He ran on a platform of improved security and prompt payment of salaries. In a country where majority of states owe salaries, a governor who pays salaries, pensions and entitlements promptly is considered a very good one. He had a hard act following the achievements of his predecessor Peter Obi. He was able to create his own identity and highlight his own achievements. Despite his average showing at the Channels Governorship Debate, he was able to demonstrate his understanding of numbers and penchant for financial terminology. It behoves on Ndi Anambra to hold him to account to deliver on the huge mandate given to him

4. President Muhammadu Buhari - the president conducted himself with dignity by not interfering with the electoral process. His visit to Anambra will go a bit of way in repairing his frosty relationship with Ndi Igbo. By restoring the security detail of the governor, he demonstrated that he was going to do what was right despite party affiliation. He came for the APC rally, did what he had to do as a party leader and left. That is how a president should act. 

5. Osita Chidoka - it is hard to understand how someone who placed a very distant 4th and with less than 2% of the votes can be a winner but Chidoka is. Contesting on the platform of the relatively unknown UPP meant that he was a no loss situation. What he succeeded in doing was to raise his profile as a very sound debater and communicator. He ran a good campaign that deployed modern technology and innovative practice. He has positioned himself as one for the future. Luckily, he has age on his side and appeals to the young. He should still be under the age of 55 by 2023 and can do worse than position himself as an Igbo candidate for the presidency then. He would do well to extricate himself from the tag of being an IPOB sympathiser, while he may have thought this would help him politically, it really was of no effect and could come back to hurt him in future.

The Losers

1. Peter Obi - By far the biggest loser in this election was St Peter of Okwute the Cornerstone. Although Oseloka Obaze was the name on the ballot for the PDP, the electorate saw Peter Obi as the contestant and rejected him. He took on Obiano, Umeh, the memory of Ojukwu and APGA and he got a bloody nose. Obi was a very good governor, the best Anambra has ever had. Most Anambrarians know and acknowledge this. His sin was abandoning APGA, a party in which he was a leading light, to join PDP in the dying days of the Jonathan presidency. For a man who comes across as very astute, only he can understand why he scored the political equivalent of an own goal by jumping into a sinking ship. The question is where does he go from here politically? His bad mouthing of Governor Obiano means that he would not be welcome back to APGA. The role he played in the emergence of Oseloka Obaze as the PDP flag bearer earned him many enemies within the party. APC? Somehow, I do not think so. For someone who was touted as a potential Igbo president, he would be lucky to win even a senatorial seat at the present time.

2. PDP - if anybody was in doubt about the decline of the once great PDP, the Anambra result should put his or her doubt to rest. To be beaten by APC in Anambra state to third is not just a poor result, it is a disgrace and an embarrassment. Internal bickering and anti-party activities was the order of the day. The party structures in the state were almost nonexistent as it was mainly the Peter Obi show. Notable party chieftains either took a back seat or out rightly came out to support the opposition as in the case of Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. The PDP is a party in trouble, they have not been able to make the transition to opposition effectively. The whole Sheriff brouhaha did not help matters and this National Chairmanship tussle will further polarise the party. The way the party is going, 2019 will be a disaster for the once self-acclaimed biggest party in Africa. If as rumoured they are about to welcome Atiku Abubakar to the party and present him as a challenger for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, the only thing we can all do is be like Uncle Sege and be laughing.

3. APC - Some will say APC did very well to come second and beat the PDP in the very anti-APC Igbo land. They look at the performance of Buhari at the 2015 presidential election and conclude that Tony Nwoye did quite well. It will be wrong to assume so. The APC came second mainly on the strength of Nwoye and his main sponsor Arthur Eze. The APC and its previous incarnations the AC and ACN have always done well in Anambra through the leadership of Dr Chris Ngige. It will be interesting to know how much real effort Ngige put into this election. This result by the APC in Anambra is probably the worst result posted by a ruling party in a state election. Not to even take a single local government with all the Federal might is downright embarrassing. The party seems not to be making any inroads in Igbo land and the calibre of people defecting to the party are not really the most leading of lights. In Anambra, using the likes of Rochas Okorocha of Imo and Yahaya Bello of Kogi as part of your campaign team is a bit of an own goal. These states who are Anambra’s neighbours are in much worse positions and led by APC. They do not give any confidence to Ndi Anambra that an APC government would be any better than the APGA they already have. In a last desperate bid, they unveiled Emeka Ojukwu Jr. as a decampee from APGA. Politically, Ojukwu Jr is no Ikemba, he is not even a Bianca, his electoral value in Anambra is just one, his own vote. 2019 will be interesting for the APC in the South East, all things being equal, the party should lose Imo state without gaining any state but I believe they would make some inroads in the Federal legislature picking off some PDP seats.

4. IPOB - The much-touted boycott of the election fizzled out without as much as a whimper. They promised Foe Nsala to Ndi Anambra and they rejected it for bowls of Jollof rice, Gala and Grand Malt. That boycott was never going to work, not in Anambra in any case. The people love their politics, politicians invest a lot and the economic effect of electioneering campaigns is too much a lure for the electorate. Politics brings an excitement to people’s lives and a break from the mundane. IPOB strategists failed to realise this. The security services also ensured that nobody was able to prevent anybody who wanted to exercise their civic rights. This should further show how overestimated the influence of IPOB is.

Ike Onwubuya writes from Essex, UK

Yemi Osinbajo and the Typist

By Professor Yemi Osinbajo

While I was teaching at the University of Lagos, as a young lecturer, in the department of Public Law in the Faculty of Law, there were 3 typists in the department. The chief typist, senior typist, and the junior typist. Because in those days before laptops and personal computers, typists in universities had to do a lot of work and they were very important because you always needed to type all your materials.

When there was work to do, what l discovered was that the chief typist would disappear. He works only till 4 pm. The senior typist would be nowhere to be found. But a gentleman called Adereni the junior typist, who only had his school certificate, was remarkably hardworking. Sometimes I would drop him off at his home at 1am.

Years after I was working as an adviser to the then Attorney-General of the Federation Hon. Bola Ajibola, who later became a judge of the World Court. While in the court at The Hague, in the Netherlands, one day he called me and asked if I could recommend a good secretary who is hard working and could do long judgments. I had three options, chief typist, senior or this junior typist, but the junior typist at a time had only school certificate, he didn’t have any other qualification but l choose him. He got to the Hague, and typically worked hard and diligently. Every judge in the court wanted him to work with them. He later moved his family over to the Hague and got degrees and made a good living for himself. One day he remembered me and actually sent me a car.

Remember, whether you are hardworking or diligent in what you are doing or not, someone is always watching.

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Anambra, APC and that Igbo alliance

I have read from a few people who believe Anambrans should vote for Tony Nwoye and APC so that Ndigbo can form alliances and position themselves for the future.

The fact of the matter is that APC does not need Igbo votes to win 2019. Especially if Buhari is the candidate. All Igbo votes will do is give the APC a bigger majority. It will not change the current political calculation. The best Igbos can get under APC is what they have now, Deputy Senate President, or maybe SFG, which is by appointment anyways. Saraki and the North Central will not forfeit that seat until they complete 8 years, if you like elect 10 senators from the South East. 

For 2023, Igbos will have to battle the ticket with those who have been standing on the queue since from the SouthWest and North Central.

Besides, there’s nothing wrong in being in opposition at the federal level. Opposition is an integral part of democracy and politics. Buhari played opposition politics from the beginning and it paid off. Others will play too and one day will be one day. There needs to be opposition as we cannot all be in the same boat. Nigeria should not be a one party state.

Much as I hate to admit it, PDP is a safer vehicle to travel for Igbos than APC. They understand the party and the party understands them. With a little in house cleaning and the inevitable quarrel that will break out in APC, they should be well positioned for 2023. All it needs, patience, planning, pragmatism and propaganda.

By Ike Onwubuya

The Sad Story of Nigerian Lawyers

Bar Associations And The Sad Story Of Nigerian Lawyers—a one-paragraph lament

By Sylvester Udemezue

Gentlemen, have the lawyers` association (not) failed lawyers in Nigeria? If one says that Lawyers in Nigeria are the greatest hindrance or stumbling blocks to Lawyers in Nigeria, I do not know to what extent one may not be justified. But let me give a simple illustration, that’d explain this point.

The. NMA (Nigerian Medical Association) devotes all of its energy on planning and working for the welfare, security, comfort and improved working conditions of its members. Ditto for the NSE, ICAN, NUJ, NUT, PENGASSON, NUPENG, etc. Even the NURTW focuses mostly on how to advance its members` interests! But at Nigerian bar Association and its various branches, partners and affiliates, we have been busy dissipating all of our energy, resources and time, talking about the society, while saying and doing nothing about the welfare or condition of our own members and colleagues. The Nigerian Law School turns out an average of 4,000 lawyers or thereabouts in each year.

 

These graduates, after call-to-bar are immediately faced with the ugly situation of no-jobs. Those, the few, who manage to find jobs are paid like cleaners and beggars and handed the poorest and most pitiable of all working conditions, especially by their own senior colleagues. Then, when a lawyer goes on the mandatory NYSC, he is posted, as a matter of compulsion, for his primary assignment, to go and teach in a secondary or primary schools, for the entire one year, with the result that by the time he is through with service, he has lost touch with much of law. Only very few find themselves in Law Firms or in law-related establishments – the Legal Aid, Ministries of Justice, etc! Yet, when he passes out from the NYSC (from being a secondary school teacher) and begins to look for a job, he is told by so-called employers, especially his own colleagues who own law firms, that a three, four or five-year working (law practice) experience is required for him to be employed in any law firm or in any law-based establishment or legal department. Where and how, one might ask, would this innocent job-seeker get this law practice experience from if no law employer has hired nor is ready to hire him? Most of the few who manage to be taken in Law Firms are then abused, treated shabbily and paid peanuts by over 90 per cent lawyer-employers who themselves rake in tens and hundreds of millions of naira, and lately, dollars, daily, from clients. The rest of the young lawyers, usually called “the New Wigs,” is left to roam the streets and corners of Nigeria and of the earth in search of non-existing jobs, while some, usually promising, easily give up in the face of what they see as hopeless circumstances, foisted on them due to no fault of theirs.

What is more? A few female counterparts, out of frustration and or desperation, begin to take to some other trades and “callings,” including in some cases what is now widely known as “hustling” (you sure understand what this means) – all to make ends meet! Meanwhile, Court Registrars, Clerks, CAC, SEC and other government and non-government officials insist on bribes and kickbacks before they do their jobs for litigation lawyers and corporate law practitioners; Land Registry officials oppress, intimidate and extort property practitioners and colleagues engaged in conveyancing practice; police and other law-enforcement officials harass, victimize, dehumanize and brutalize lawyers on a daily basis; so many of the lawyers’ jobs are gradually being taken over and away by quacks under the guise of DIY (do it yourself). Recently, lawyers have even begun to be harassed or castigated for appearing in court to represent their clients —that is, for exercising their constitutional and statutory rights as lawyers— while the prosecutors, investigators and law enforcement agents who often mastermind these harassments and blackmail strive hard to obtain convictions (of the defendants) at all costs, in total disregard of universally acknowledged standards in criminal justice administration.

Lawyers are now afraid to honestly and diligently work for their clients! Moreover, most of us are aware that a large chunk of the biggest legal jobs in Nigeria (legislative drafting, etc.) are usually given out to foreign law firms, in America, Canada, UK, etc at cut-throat foreign currencies, while Nigerian lawyers, who are more often than not more capable and competent and of course willing to work, are left to fight over crumbs and pieces from the table of the non-Nigerian Lawyers!!! One may even ask a question, what has become of the Nigerian laws that say a person who is not qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria cannot practice law in Nigeria? Do those provisions not forbid giving lawyers’ job in Nigeria to non-Nigerian lawyers? Where is the NBA and its branches when all these are happening in Nigerian to Nigerian lawyers, to deprive them of their just entitlements? Now, as a direct result of these sad stories concerning the plight of the Nigerian lawyer, most lawyers remain unemployed or under employed, and so are not able to put shelter over their heads, and, if they manage to marry, to feed their families thrice a day; the single ones are more often than not rejected by prospective spouses on grounds that they’re poor.

If the employable but unemployed lawyer who is not able to pay for an office because he has no money, and who cannot find food to eat because he has no work, decides, instead of stealing or soiling his hands, to practice from his briefcase, he is called “charge and bail,” and is as a result badgered and demeaned as a common criminal or tout! Then, deeper inside the profession, the young unemployed lawyer is being told he has no right to practice law, even on his own, until he has paid full (annual) practicing fees and branch dues (before set deadlines), and that he cannot participate in Bar conferences and workshops unless he has paid necessary fees in full. As all these go on, every NBA Annual General Conference and each NBA Branch meeting, which ordinarily ought to focus, mainly, on discussing the way out of the myriads of problems facing the (young) lawyer, is instead, and most unfortunately and ironically, devoted to discussing “DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA,” “Fighting Against Corruption in Nigeria,” “How to Stop the search by Nigerian for Medical treatment abroad,” “Local Government Autonomy,” “True Federalism,” etc., topics and issues that have no direct bearing whatsoever on the lives, wellbeing, or welfare of NBA members.

NBA’s involvement in discussing these issues is not in itself condemnable, but to be preoccupied with only other people’s issues and affairs while our own house is up in flames is what is, with due respect, not only detestable and disgusting but also most deplorable and disheartening. What a pity!! Does one whose house is on fire pursue rats? The most annoying part of this disheartening story is that during campaigns leading up to every NBA elections, both at national and branch levels, all aspirants usually have one campaign promise and slogan in common: to improve the plight, and promote the welfare, of lawyers.

This shows that all these aspirants, every one of them, understand that most lawyers in Nigeria are going through real hell. However, once these aspirants are elected, and sworn in as NBA executive members, they, each and all (like the typical Nigerian politicians of the 20th and the 21th century) turn their attention away from these lofty promises and instead focus the whole of their attention to and concentrating solely on the usual things: CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA, DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA, SECURITY IN THE WORLD, WOMEN IN NIGERIA, RIGHTS OF NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA, etc., indeed everything outside and excluding the outstandingly dismal or abysmal plight of fellow lawyers in Nigeria. Yet, if one even honestly decides to search for these bar associations` contributions towards these other chosen areas, one could hardly see anything.

It is sad — so, so, sad!! Fellow Nigerian lawyers, sorry. Your governments and establishments (at all levels) appear to not fight for nor care about you; the general public does not care about you; the clients are stuck to you only when they have no alternatives; within your own rings, those expected to be your mouthpiece and to vigorously be in the vanguard of your emancipation from these ugly shackles, and to dutifully devise ways to create gainful jobs for teeming jobless colleagues, are rather busy discussing the affairs of other people and trying to solve other people’s problems while leaving the gargantuan troubles bedeviling fellow members and colleagues.

The question, then, is, what hope is there anywhere for our (young) lawyers in the face of this melancholic state of things? Should we not turn to God alone for help? My fear about this is that I have not forgot the time-tested wise saying, “Heaven helps he who first helps himself!” According, I humbly suggest that, unless and until we, lawyers, through our Bar Associations, Branches, Partners and Affiliates, rise stoutly to our feet, to take our destiny in our hands with a view to recovering our lost glory and improving our own lot in the Nigerian nation, no one else, anywhere, would or could do it for us. Besides, the time will never be just right, for us to retrace our steps and begin to take the bull by the horn in this respect, because if lawyers themselves fail to build their own dreams, other people would hire the lawyers, as they do, to build theirs. And, to borrow the words of Tony Robbins, if we continue to do things the way we have always done, we would continue to get the same results as we’ve always got. May God help us to help ourselves, as we help others. Amen! Ameen!! Amin!!!

Sylvester Udemezue (udemsyl@hotmail.com)

Posted by Ike Onwubuya 

MR. PRESIDENT’S REMARKS AT THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (APC) OF ALL CONGRESS (APC), TUESDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2017, AT THE NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ABUJA

 

Protocols:

 

 

May I warmly welcome everybody to this important meeting of our party’s executive body.

 

Let me on a personal note thank you all for your prayers and good wishes, which the Almighty Allah answered in the restoration of my health.

 

I wish to thank you all Party leaders for helping to keep the government running smoothly during my prolonged absence.

 

 

I would like to start by commending our Party Leadership chaired by His Excellency, Chief John Oyegun. The Chairman and I worked harmoniously during 1984-85 in a previous government. Happily, circumstances have brought us again to positions of leadership in the country.

 

I want to thank Chief Oyegun and his staff for steering the party in the last two and a half years. Sometimes it is easier to manage failure than to manage success - and a big success such as that we have achieved.

 

I must also commend the leadership of the National Assembly led by Senate President His Excellency, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Rt. Hon. Speaker Mr. Yakubu Dogara. I must place on record the cooperation and understanding of the National Assembly including some non-APC members who rose above petty party interests and acted in the national interest.

 

My deep thanks also go to our State Governors who faced stiff challenges, especially their determination to maintain unity and tolerance among our communities. This is in the face of unnecessary politically motivated strife and violence. Credit should go to APC Governors for extending their hand of fellowship to their colleagues from other parties.

 

 

In my remarks to the Caucus meeting yesterday, I enumerated the progress that our government has made in the implementation of the programs of government and the Party Manifesto.

 

 

We can be proud of our achievements in the last two years, Boko Haram, Niger Delta, Regular Fuel, Improved Power, TSA, Agriculture and Fertilizer, above all, the knowledge that corruption will not be tolerated in this Government. We all know there is CHANGE.

 

Nigeria’s prestige has gone up, Nigeria is now credit–worthy, a clear testimony of which was the over-subscription of the Euro-Bond by 4 times.

 

Nevertheless, we are not resting on our achievements. I am quite aware of the challenges before us.

 

Last year I said we would re-constitute the Boards of Parastatals. I must regret the fact that we have not done so, for many reasons.

 

 

Some of us in this meeting may know I had given instructions since October 2015 for this exercise to start. But there have been inordinate delays through several Committees in an attempt to get the balance right and to make sure all parts of the country are equitably represented.

 

On the other hand I am keenly aware that our supporters are very eager for these appointments to be announced. By the Grace of God these appointments will be announced soon. Especially now that the economy is improving, we will have the resources to cater for the appointees.

 

 

By the same token the compressed Federal Executive Council will be expanded to bring in more supporters at Federal Level, with fresh ideas to be injected into the government.

 

Let me thank you all again for the commitment and dedicated service to our Party and to remind you that much more will be required of you in the coming months. I hope we can continue to depend on you.

 

If we keep united and rise above petty or personal quarrels we will surely achieve the desired CHANGE in the country.

 

I wish us happy deliberations.

 

Thank you.

Posted by Ike Onwubuya