July 04, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the Anambra State governorship election, which is scheduled for of November 6, 2021, intrigues arising from the selection of candidates have torn the dominant parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress and the All Progressives Grand Alliance apart.
The development has led to the selection of two contending governorship candidates each from the PDP, APGA and APC, where the emergence of Senator Andy Uba has been rejected by not fewer than five aspirants and other key leaders of the party, including Chief George Moghalu and Senator Chris Ngige.
Signs that the crisis, which tore the same parties apart in 2017, was going to rear its ugly head again began to manifest immediately the three political parties started conducting their respective governorship primaries on June 26, 2021.
The PDP, which was yet to resolve the crisis that erupted after its ward congresses, was thrown into a bigger crisis which erupted on June 26.
when it was expected to have conducted it’s gubernatorial primary in Awka. The contending groups in the party have re-enacted their decades old politics of acrimony fuelled by Intrigues, as each of the feuding groups held two parallel primaries in Awka.
While the Chief Chris Uba-led faction conducted its primary election in the premises of Paul University, Awka, at the end of which Dr Ugochukwu Uba, the eldest brother of Chris Uba, was announced as the chosen candidate of PDP, the group allegedly led by the embattled state Chairman of the party, Chief Ndubuisi Nwobu, conducted a separate primary election at the Women Development Centre, also in Awka, at the end of which Chief Val Ozigbo was also announced as the candidate of the party. The development has since thrown the party into a crisis, with each group struggling to have its way.
The story is the same for the APC. The party is currently divided, following the outcome of the contentious primary election conducted by the Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, which saw the emergence of Senator Andy Uba as its governorship candidate.
The crisis in Anambra APC has worsened as not fewer than five aspirants, who were allegedly defeated during the controversial exercise, have rejected the outcome and described it as a travesty of justice. Already, it was gathered, some of the aggrieved aspirants have petitioned the national leadership of the party on the outcome of the election.
Furthermore, the APGA has been torn into shreds by the contentious primary elections conducted by not fewer than two factions jostling to present their respective candidates as the authentic candidate of the party in the forthcoming the governorship poll.
Already, two candidates have been produced by the two competing groups.
While members of the State Executive Committee of APGA loyal to Governor Willie Obiano selected Prof Charles Soludo as the party’s candidate, another faction chose a serving member of the House of Representatives for Aguata Federal Constituency, Chief Chuma M.Umeoji, as its governorship candidate.
Omeoji was among those who were disqualified from taking part in the primary election that produced Soludo as the APGA candidate. Since this development, the contending parties have deployed intrigue to have their way.
