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| Chief Victor Umeh |
As expected the race for the National Assembly election in Anambra State especially the Senatorial seats slated to hold on January 16 this year along side presidential election in every ramification is a tight contest.
The flag-bearers of the three dominant political parties in the State are expectedly, the top contenders in each of the three Senatorial zones.
They are Chief Victor Umeh of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief (Mrs) Uche Ekwunife of the People's Democratic Party (PDP),In APC Chief Sylvester Okonkwo and Where... are still locked in legal tussle over the ticket for Anambra Central Senatorial zone.
In Anambra North Senatorial zone, Stella Oduah is flying the banner of PDP, Chief Chiedu Emeka, holds the ticket of APGA and Chief Mrs. Margery Okadigbo, APC.
In Anambra South, where the battle appears more fierce , Nicholas Ukachukwu of APGA will square against his traditional Political opponents from Uba political dynasty of Uga. They are Chief Chris Uba who is the PDP flag-bearer and his elder brother, Andy Uba, who is running on the platform of APC.
Each of these candidates possesses unique strength and edge that can sway the votes in his/her favour.
In Anambra South, Ukachukqu, former House of Representatives member in 1999 to 2003 for one of the Federal Capital Territory seats, on the platform of PDP has for the umpteenth time failed to make any political headway in his political career since 2003 especially in his governorship ambition. No thanks to Uba family who has monopolised the politics of the zone for over 20 years now courtesy of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who handed the political structure of the State to them through Andy who was an influential Presidential aide on Domestic Affairs to the then President.
It appears that the Senate of the zone has been exclusively reserved for the Uba family.
Between 2003 and 2011,Ugochukwu Uba, represented the zone in the Senate,while Andy went to hijack the Governorship of the State in 2007 but was stopped by Peter Obi, who went to Supreme Court to demand for the completion of his tenure.
When Andy failed in his governorship bid, he took recourse to Senate in 2010, a position, he has held till date.
But there was or appear to be a crack in the family.His younger brother, Chris Uba in 2015 declared interest for the Senatorial seat accusing Andy of abandoning his constituents in Anambra South. He was latter to drop his ambition as sources said they might have resolved the misunderstanding at family level. But the settlement was not deep enough as Chris has resurrected his Senatorial ambition and foisted the flag on the platform of PDP to contest against his brother in APC.And he has aggressively been mounting campaign to unseat his unseat Andy.
In APGA, Ukachukwu, the traditional Political opponents of the Ubas, is bent this time in bringing to an end their dominance of Anambra South Senatorial zone. But he has to contend with Ifeanyi Uba, who switched over to Young Democratic Party (YDP), after he lost his bid to clinch APGA ticket both came from the same Federal Constituency of Nnewi North, South and Ekwusigo. Ukachukwu specifically hails from Osumenyi in Nnewi South, while Ifeanyi is from Nnewi in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the State.The race is tight for all the four candidates. None of the contestants is a push over. The Ubas of Uga in Aguata Local Government will likely share the votes of the Local Government and their entire supporters in the Senatorial zone, while Ukachukwu and Ifeanyi will share the votes of Nnewi South,North and Ekwusigo. Whoever gets the votes of Ihiala Local Government will carry the day. And this is where Ukachukwu has edge over others baring any unforeseen situation. For in politics nothing is actually cast on stone.Ihiala is predominantly APGA. They are likely to vote for the APGA candidates all the way since they have none of their own in any major party angling for the Senatorial seat.And with the support of the Governor the odds favour Ukachukwu.
But the major battle will take place in Anambra Central Senatorial zone, where the incumbent, Chief Umeh and his arch -political opponent, Iyom Ekwunife, will slug it out. In the last contest in 2015, Iyom carried the day, although Umeh alleged massive rigging by Ekwunife with the active connivance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies. For the duo this election is a supremacy battle, a titanic fight to determine who is the greater politician in the Zone.
This election will provide a good ground for the two candidates to show who has greater support base in Anambra Central Senatorial zone.This election is like a repeat of governorship between Obiano and Oseloka Obaze, in the sense that old grudges between Obiano, Umeh on one side and Peter Obi and Ekwunife on the other side would be replayed.
In fact. Ekwunife was the APC candidate when Obi brought and substituted the PDP candidate with her when he emerged the Vice-Presidential candidate of PDP.
Umeh however, as an incumbent Senator with the active support of the Governor Willie Obiano has an edge. He will still get the support of APGA members in the Senatorial zone, the propaganda being carried by some people that APGA members will vote against Umeh, notwithstanding. Sylvester Okonkwo, an ex-staunch PDP member, is now in Court with Where..over APC ticket in the Zone. Whoever wins between the two may be hinging his hope on the voting strength of their Local Government, Idemili North. It has the highest voters in the entire State but that will not carry any of them too far since other candidates in the zone already have supporters in the area.And the legal battle has already taken the steam off their campaign. Since none of them is sure of the ticket, why should they deploy resources to campaign which at the end of the day may end up as waste.
In Anambra North, the fight is between two political heavy weights;. Senator Oduah of PDP and Chinedu Emeka of APGA, but Senator Margery Okadigbo of APC provides the third angle of the battle. Although some believe she has structure to spring surprises, many political watchers from the Zone were of the view that she does not have enough political force to challenge either Odua or Emeka. So, she will not be much of a threat to either of the two.
Emeka, a scion of Igwe John Emeka of Anam in Anambra West Local Government Area of the State, was a deputy Governor in the State under Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju from 1979 to 2003. His elder brother, John, a former Minister of State under President Olusegun Obasanjo had contested for the Senate but lost.
Emeka who also was a Commissioner for Public Utilities in Obiano's first tenure is coming from the majority block of the Senatorial zone, Omambala, of Anambra North. The Omambala people may likely vote for Emeka as their own on November 16, especially when he has the support of the Governor as an APGA flag-bearer.
Although, Oduah whose Local Government Area, Ogbaru is in minority, she still has the chance of carrying the day giving the zeal and massive manner in which she embarks on her campaign. But there have been complaints trailing his stay in the Senate. She has been accused of abandonment of his constituents in the last four years. It also appeared that the temp of her campaign has drastically gone down this time around. Inspite of these, many in the Senatorial zone even from Omambala area still believe that Oduah as Senator is far better than Emeka, who they accused of being arrogant, tight-fisted and does not appreciate the efforts of people. However, in politics nothing is sacrosanct, anything can happen and the unexpected and unfancied candidate emerges.
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