By Chuks Collins, Awka
THE legal assault on Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) and Chief Victor Umeh at the instance of our own Senator Uche Ekwunife, using the interrogation of Umeh’s eligibility to fly the flag of LP in the next week’s senatorial in Anambra State election may have exposed an orchestrated attack on Obi’s presidential aspiration.
While many could not see beyond the facade of tussle for the Anambra Central Senatorial seat, others simply see it as a targeted onslaught on Obi’s towering stature in the coming presidential election. The nation’s politics hall of fame has already recorded his unprecedented national acceptance, popularity and message to the nation and world as historical.
So, as the final countdown kicks off, fears have risen to a high pitch level, especially within other contending political camps, who wished things were completely different, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), on the likelihood of Obi sweeping the stakes.
The Anambra Central senatorial district appear worst hit, where three long time rivals- Senators Uche Ekwunife and Victor Umeh, as well as Chief Dozie Nwankwo- are locking horns for the senate seat. But curiously Ekwunife, for reasons best known to her, is attempting to shoot Obi, Umeh and LP down using the law courts as springboard. It is perhaps a well-calculated scheme on Obi and his party, the Obidatti Movement and the Peter Obi Support Network (POSN).
The dangerous scheme, according to sources, is being undertaken by some elements in the PDP, in conjunction with other stomach infrastructure-driven political elements nationwide, who are said to be dangling the position of senate president at her as a bait.
The plot, it was further learnt, was said to have been designed to unfold in stages and had commenced long time ago. Its first stage was reportedly successful with the name calling of Obi as a “kindergarten president.” It was closely followed by the multiple attempts to downplay/discourage his moves/messages of hope, saying he has no structure and that his supporters were merely on social media alone and not on ground.
Another stage was ignited to key into the previous one by describing his mammoth enthusiastic crowd that greeted the nationwide Obidatti Movement rallies as “rented.”
But when the lies persistently failed to make any impact, the already exasperated antagonists tried violent assault on the self-motivated surging crowds to see if they would retaliate for them to seize the opportunity to unleash mayjem on the young Obidients, who were cheering Obi as their guiding compass to recover Nigeria, their common destiny and freedom from the mindless-structured traducers.
This was while some of the antagonists at the corridors of power, including governors, refused any indoor, outdoor advert placement of Obidatti presidential campaign, rallies and gathering in any part of their states.
But who can fight a vision whose time has come or God’s anointed? Certainly nobody!
Yet another stage was to use Umeh to try to subtly attack Obi and the Obidatti Movement. Pronto, Umeh was disqualified vide the Federal High Court verdict on January 27, this year, which he quickly appealled and is succeeding. Already, the appeal panel, drawn from Enugu Division, has sat, taken oral and written arguments and final addresses, while judgement was deferred to a day to be announced soon.
And should he fail, then it would simply become a straight fight between his main traducer, Ekwunife, and another political hardhitter, Nwankwo of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the ruling party in the state.
Until the present court verdict, Umeh was one of the top contenders and was facing a battery of lawsuits over his candidature due to the way and manner of his emergence.
While a member of his LP, Chief Solomon Onyekwelu, a senatorial aspirant who claimed he was not given opportunity to prove his popularity in the primary, was dragging him from within the party, Ekwunife was fighting him from outside.
Ekwunife is seeking an unprecedented third term in the Red Chamber, which only very few has attained nationwide. This is in addition to having spent two terms in the Green Chambers earlier. Little wonder many want her to willingly step aside to allow a more active person take over to avoid monotony, lethargy and rustiness that they claimed have visibly set in already, with the repetition of words and acts, lacking new ideas, creativity and initiatives, reckoning that it would be sad to be pushed out through election defeat.
But in all this, Nwankwo, who was described as being on ground with the people of the area and burning with desire to impress the constituents, is standing by and ready to step in.
The trio have been at it together before now. They have tested and known each other’s political strength, antics and tactics.
There was also Chief Kodilichukwu Okelekwe of the All Progressives Congress(APC). However, it was a bit difficult to decipher why he joined the race, because as an experienced political tactician, it was glaring that he has other motives than just victory. Surprisingly, he surrounded himself with the wrong set of helpers and aides. And apart from the recent NUJ media debate, no one really believes he is contesting.
According to details of the verdict in the suit No FHC/AWK/CS/155/2022, which came vide originating summons brought by the PDP and Ekwunife as plaintiffs on September 30,last year, represented by B.E.I.Nwofor (SAN), leading other lawyers against the LP, Umeh and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), represented by Alex Ejesieme (SAN) and others lawyers for LP; P.I.N. Ikwueto (SAN) and others for Umeh, while E.E. Udeh represented INEC as defendant.
Umeh was accused of being a registered member of APGA and not a member of LP as at the time of picking the senatorial ticket and that he contested the primary in APGA held on May 28 before cross-carpeting to LP, perhaps without tidying up his documentations.
It is also alleged that he apparently moved over a little too quickly to pick the LP ticket, even while his name was still sitting pretty at the top of his Aguluzoigbo Ward of APGA membership register, as well as that by inference, he was not a member of LP as at the day he claimed to have won and secured the senatorial ticket.
So, Justice Nganjiwa, on January 27, declared that the INEC acted in breach of the provisions of Sections 29(1), 82(5) and 84(13) of the Electoral Act 2022 by publishing a statement on September 20 at its offices at Awka, which included the name of the second defendant (Umeh) as a candidate standing nominated by the 1st defendant (LP) to contest senatorial election for the Anambra Central senatorial district scheduled to hold on February 25.
He also ruled that the LP, failed to comply with the provisions of Sections 29(1), 77(3), 82(1)(2)(4)(b)(c), 5(c)(I)(ii), 8(9)(11) of the Electoral Act 2022, Article 27, paragraph 5 of LP Constitution and its Guidelines for primary election.
An order of injunction was also made restraining LP and Umeh from parading or campaigning as a candidate whatsoever for the February 25 election. INEC was also restrained from accepting or recognising or treating Umeh as a nominated candidate of LP for the purpose of contesting the election and from including his names, logo and emblem of LP and Umeh on the ballot paper for the said election.
In the second suit, FHC/AWK/CS/156/2022, brought against Umeh by Onyekwelu, LP and INEC, Justice Nganjiwa dismissed the case on the ground that it lacked locus, since there was nothing to hold on, as Umeh has been found to be an interloper who got a ticket without being member of the party.
In reaction, the plaintiff expressed intentions to sue LP and Umeh for recovery of his Expression of Interest/Nomination Fees and other exemplary damages, since he was never allowed to participate in any primary.
Sadly, political pundits, while acknowledging the beauty of the addition of knowledge through the suit to the country’s jurisprudence, said it hurts that Obi may actually be the original target of the whole matter.
Therefore, it leaves sour taste in the mouth that Ekwunife was the main litigant in the suit against Obi’s LP, considering the close affinity between them before now. More so, she has spent about two decades at the National Assembly and clearly stands a good chance of clinching a plum position under an Obi presidency.
It was also touted that she was eyeing the senate top job should she return to the Red Chamber; hence she would fight with everything at her disposal to ensure a win.
Rev Fr. Isidore Okoye, who spoke to journalists in Awka, recently, demanded to know which school of lawmaking Ekwunife attended to gather experience when she made her first entry into politics and NASS for her to describe Obi as kindergarten.
This brand of politics hurts; really hurts!
