The dreams of Chris Nwabueze Ngige, a senator of the Federal Republic representing Anambra Central, of returning to Awka, and to the office he clandestinely usurped for three years, via a classic electoral fraud, may have gone up in black smoke following his annoying rationalisation of the deportation of Anambra state indigenes by the All peoples Congress (APC) government in Lagos state.
Ngige, in an attempt to interface between the Igbo people and Lagos state, over the deportation saga, angered his kith and kin in Anambra by speaking up in favour of Lagos state government of Babatunde Fashola and putting blame of the distasteful deportation on Governor Peter Obi, whom Anambra people have come to like because of his frugality and purpose-driven administration. To some, Obi had silenced Ngige’s loud acclaim to performance within his three-stolen years.
Rather than seek the face of his people in Anambra state, Ngige preferred to tell them that Obi’s tight-fistedness was reason the deportation saga became messy. Igbo people won’t have any of that as it is generally believed that Ngige’s rationalisation is a betrayal.
It does not matter to most people in Anambra that Ngige is admired. But the fact of him speaking in favour of Fashola is generally seen as an attempt to betray for the sake of being considered a worthy ally to fly the APC governorship flag in the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra.
Though Ngige may still have his support base intact, it is however becoming more difficult for him to break even within an APGA dominated environment. His fate has also been compounded by comments credited to his brother, Emeka Ngige SAN, to the effect that the deportation was Peter Obi’s fault.
As governor for three years, Ngige won sympathy of the generality of Anambra people when he was kidnapped and held hostage by his political godfather, Chris Uba. The sympathy that followed the incident put Ngige on the front burner of national politics. Somehow, he became the darling of all, working to prove himself a serious politician and one who had successfully broken the bounds of godfatherism. That did him a lot of good. He rode on the goodwill that followed till the judiciary sacked him.
However, his days in office are now beclouded by the events of aftermath of his sack by the courts. Anambra government house was vandalised, looted. Ngige and his aides remain the principal suspects. Recently at a meet-the-people interaction at Sheraton Hotel in Abuja, Sen. Andy Uba, Chairman of the Senate committee on INEC and a PDP stalwart, who is considered and the party’s most probable flagbearer in the governorship election, called for the release of the White paper on the investigation of the vandalization, looting and arson that greeted Ngige’s sack.
He made the call in response to allegation that his brother Chris may have supervised that shameful orgy. In making the call, Andy said ‘let all those found to have had a hand in the looting be prosecuted. In Chris is involved, so be it.’ His comment is viewed from the background of fact that as 17-days governor of Anambra state, he may have been privy to information on actual aggressors who unleashed mayhem on the state as soon as the judiciary ordered Ngige out and Obi in. Somehow, it is believed that Ngige boys, as they were called then, visited Anambra Government House Awka, with the mayhem in protest against the court verdict.
Prior to this, Ngige had engaged the services of a Lagos-based lawyer, a visible one at that, who was secretly contracted to always issue press statements alleging attempts to either kidnap or kill Ngige. Such press statements got honourable mention in the media, though they were just hoax. The lawyer was paid handsomely for this dirty job wrought on the conscience of Nigerians with Anambra’s money. None of the ‘plot-to-kidnap’ or ‘plot-to-kill’ stories against Ngige was founded. These, it was later found out, were deliberately orchestrated by his media team to sustain his stolen mandate.
Meanwhile, his return in 2010 to contest against an Obi, who was seeking his terminal tenure, drew a lot of support. But his platform then, the Action Congress of Nigeria, was an albatross. It was not considered by Anambra voters as truly representing the wish of the Anambra (Igbo) people. To a large extent, most voters in Anambra saw a vote for Ngige as an endorsement for Bola Tinubu to extend his stranglehold on Fashola’s Lagos to Anambra. This view, though destructive, overwhelmed most voters who had read stories of how Fashola’s Lagos was firmly placed in Tinubu’s pockets and how Tinubu is the unfancied godfather, who was responsible for every appointment, and major contractual decisions in Fashola’s government. The fear, most people believed, was that electing Ngige as governor would mean exporting Anambra’s wealth to further expand Tinubu’s suspicious financial empire especially with the deep financial war-chest made available by ACN governors to Ngige’s 2010 election. That remains a pointer to where Anambra would have been had ACN captured the state then.
That view has not changed, however. It is however made worse by Ngige’s open tirade against Obi in the deportation saga. It is also further worked against Ngige by his brother’s involvement. For most Anambra people, Ngige simply jumped ship for political gain. Tradijg his state, brothers and sisters for Tinubu’s anointing. Most seem to have judged Ngige based on this development. They don’t see him as capable of defending his Igbo kith and kin any longer. This, no thanks for his lack of sensitivity in addressing a matter the Igbo people consider skewed against them. There are those who believe that he should have been systematically tactical in handling the matter. But he chose to run down Obi in the process unmindful of fact that most Anambra people are not in a haste to criticise Obi because of his stylistic approach to governance which has seen him making Anambra money work for Anambra and not for a few godfathers.
Another factor that may be making Ngige uncomfortable in the race for government house Awka, is the APC vehicle. Though it tends to show itself as a viable political platform, most young people in Anambra state see the party from the ethnic and religious prism. This would make it difficult for Ngige to effectively market APC in an Anambra which is dominated by APGA and PDP. Most political giants in the state are with the PDP.
Others are with APGA. This makes it much more difficult to pull APC through especially before a youth population which already sees national leaders of the party –Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu, from the religious flank.
Though most people consider this as non-issue, the constant linkage of Gen. Buhari with Islamic fundamentalism, though unfounded, is a big minus for Ngige. He will be seen as attempting to ride on the back of Islam to rule Anambra, considered a deep Christian state.
Beside these, the reconciliation of Obi and APGA chairman, Victor Umeh, sets the stage for a classic fight that may decimate Ngige politically.
While Ngige has a very strong following from his Anambra Central base, the decision of Obi and the APGA leadership to swing the governorship pendulum to Anambra north, may pull the rug from Ngige’s feet.
It is believed that while the Obi/Umeh battle lasted, Ngige saw in it an opportunity to reap. He looked forward to the possibility of non-reconciliation till election date as such would see APGA walking into the election a fragmented party. This would have been a cherished gift to him, as despite a split in votes, Anambra north, which looks forward to Obi’s support to produce the next governor, would have moved to vote in protest for Ngige. That, however, would not be.
With the reconciliation, APGA is now more disposed to moving the governorship swing to Anambra north. Obi and Umeh are working very hard at this. Obi is disposed to having a thoroughbred technocrat succeeding him.
This seems to be where the next debacle that will eclipse Ngige’s ambition lies. Of course, Ngige will be praying that Obi and Umeh fail in their search for someone from Anambra north. But such prayer may not come through as both Obi and Umeh are aware of the danger posed by a wrong choice as candidate of APGA in the election.
Ngige knows very well that former CBN governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has switched camps from PDP to APGA.
He expects APGA to fly with Soludo. That will be a gift to him. But APGA will disappoint Soludo and go for an Anambra north candidate who will pull the voting population of Anambra north, considered the vote base of the state. Anambra north is mostly riverine. The voting population is not fixed. In the end, votes from the zone will determine who takes over the mantle from Obi. APGA’s master stroke in the race would be to seek a candidate from the zone. Such master stroke would be heightened if the party goes for a candidate who is not known to be a deep politician. Obi has made Anambra people to see reason why a regular politician need not govern the state again. And they believe him. Even key opposition figures in Anambra now, laud Obi’s financial prudence. Andy Uba would say ‘he does not share money’. This sets the stage for the election as the people have come to see the benefits of having a governor who would work for the state, and not for godfathers.
For Ngige, considered a regular politician with the backing of APC led by Buhari and Tinubu, the religious factor will come to play certainly. He may end up making a great showing and beating PDP to a lower place on the scale, but it is difficult to see how Ngige will upstage the applecart in the Anambra elections. The odds add up against him. He will just make another try and retire to the senate. He will never be able to upstage APGA especially with his, and his brother’s, open endorsement of Fashola’s deportation of Anambra indigenes.