By Kanu Igbokwe.
The fault is definitely not in their stars but in their shortcomings and impotence as mere mortals. Notwithstanding their helplessness before its might, Nigeria’s crew of career governorship aspirants continually lust for political power.
Indeed, power corrupts nobility and reduces the most valiant of men to petty minions. While it imbues ordinary men with exceptional grace and charisma, it reduces extraordinary men till they keel over from their exalted states and become impotent masters of their fates.
Yes, this bitter truth easily manifest in the fates of Anambra state’s career governorship aspirant, Senator Andy Uba. For the umpteenth time, Uba has declared interest in the forthcoming governorship polls later in the year. The perennial gubernatorial candidate does not know when to stop.
The political cycle is filled with news of his ill-fated exploits; he is yet to make history by earning and commanding the applause of a listening and faithful electorate. Nonetheless, he persists in his frantic plots to win Anambra gubernatorial election.
Uba, you would recall won the 2007 governorship elections in Anambra State and was actually sworn in, only for the court to set aside his victory saying Peter Obi should continue his truncated reign. Uba was enthroned as governor after a notoriously fraudulent election in April 2007, was quickly removed from office by an order of the Supreme Court. He made history as the shortest serving governor in Nigeria.
Interestingly, on March 28, 2015, Senator Uba, had cause to thank God for making one of his dreams come true, as he won the election, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to represent Anambra South Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
However, while he celebrated his victory, some of his family members were spoiling for a showdown with him. TheCapital findings revealed that his brothers, Ugochukwu and the popular Anambra political godfather, Chris Uba, pitched tent with his opponent at the polls, Ernest Ndukwe of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), who came second in the result declared by INEC.
The APGA candidate, who rejected the result declared by INEC, vowed to challenge Uba’s victory at the tribunal. It was gathered that Chris Uba was the financial muscle behind Ernest Ndukwe.
Trouble loomed when Andy, who was governor of Anambra, before he was sacked in 2007, went against a family agreement. Further findings revealed that before the party primaries that threw up Andy Uba as the PDP Candidate, Chris Uba had shown interest in contesting for the same Anambra South Senatorial seat.
However, in the build-up to the 2015 general elections, the Uba family unanimously agreed that Andy Uba should vacate the senate seat for his younger brother, Chris, while Andy contested for the governorship seat. Andy reportedly agreed, but after losing out at the Anambra governorship primaries, he breached the agreement and insisted on vying for the senate seat erstwhile ceded to his brother. Entreaties by senior members of the family to get him to respect the earlier agreement fell on Andy’s deaf ears and this led to a serious crisis within the family.
It is common knowledge that Chris Uba is the godfather of Anambra PDP. First, he installed his eldest brother, Senator Ugochukwu Uba, as Senator for Anambra South between 2003 and 2007. He later made his brother, Andy, governor of the state in 2007 until he was removed by the court, thereby paving way for Peter Obi of APGA to take over the seat as governor.
According to some tales at that time, he was always the first person President Obasanjo would wake up to see and also the last person he must see before bed-time. He was courted by the high, mighty, powerful and influential alike. To underscore his powerful position, the then Governor Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke expressly explained with jocular tone that he preferred to be an Andy Uba in Obasanjo presidency rather than a vice-president. Andy was a conduit through which numerous appointments, contracts and favours were facilitated and channeled to friends, families, admirers and even people barely known to him.
However, Uba says his 2007 campaign will be a child’s play if his party gives him the governorship ticket. He said that his amazing campaigns in that year’s governorship election in all the 326 wards and 21 local government areas in Anambra gave him overwhelming victory during the election.
The record, according to him had not been equalled by any governorship candidate in the State to date, adding that the APC campaign for the November 6 election in Anambra State would be taking to another level.
The Senator, who represented Anambra South, Senatorial zone, while speaking in Awka, said it was the same promise he had earlier made during an APC southeast stakeholders meeting in Awka a fortnight ago.
The former Presidential aide and two terms Senator, who won the 2007 governorship election in the state with a massive majority, promised to surpass his unprecedented campaign of 2007 if he picked the party’s governorship ticket.
