The crisis rocking the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) opened another ugly chapter recently following a declaration by Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State that the party was dead, provoking a combative fight-back by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State. NNAMDI MBAWIKE reports
Prior to the declaration, LEADERSHIP WEEKEND gathered that the protracted crisis which has continued to defile all possible solutions allegedly caused a cold war between Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and his fellow APGA governor in Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.
Also, the die-hard crisis reportedly impaired the cordial relationship exiting between APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh and wife of the late life National Leader of the party, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu as the duo are now allegedly in different camps.
It was gathered that Umeh felt betrayed when Bianca said in one of the meetings convened at the house of late Biafran Leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu that he would be made a king without a kingdom if he failed to retrace his steps.
But, despite the die-hard nature of the crisis, all the warring factions of the party neverpronounced the party dead. Instead, they continued to lay claim to the party’s structure.
While governor Obi and other stake holders of the party were still battling to destroy the cancer eating the flesh and spirit of the party, Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime made a pronouncement that APGA was dead.
Chime had said that APGA was dead and no longer in existence when the South-East Zonal Working Committee members of the Peoples Democratic
Party, led by the National Vice Chairman (South-East), Colonel Augustine Akobundu (Retd), paid him a courtesy call early this month.
He said APGA had no chance of winning the forthcoming 2014 Anambra State governorship election and future elections in the country because it no longer had a system and a succession plan. According to him, whatever that was left of the party would finally crumble as soon as Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State leaves office by March 17, 2014.
He therefore advised the ZWC committee members of his party to take advantage of the opportunity to win the governorship election in Anambra State in 2014, then in Imo State in 2015. His words:? “I don’t see why APGA should be a problem for us in Anambra State because as far as I’m concerned, I don’t think APGA still exist. In fact, APGA is a dead party.
If we present a popular candidate, who is common and generally accepted by the people, there won’t be any problem in Anambra State. That is our secret in Enugu State. We are very comfortable in Abia State, and to an extent, we are in Ebonyi State. If we put away our bickering, we can conquer Imo and Anambra states.
“Obi has done so well in Anambra State not because he was in APGA, but because he had no godfather to take orders from.
There was no godfather, who would stay somewhere and make declarations for him. There was no godfather to divert his attention and today, Anambra is good for it. The PDP should be looking out for a candidate bereft of a godfather for 2014 election in Anambra.
“I am not even talking about APGA anymore; my concern is that we should ensure that other parties in Anambra State don’t take us by surprise. In APGA there is no more a system, there is no succession plan and there is no structure.
For all I care, APGA is only marking time. As soon as my friend Governor Peter Obi leaves in less 18 months from now, that would be the end of the party.” Chime had said during the courtesy call.
Perturbed by the statement, Governor Peter Obi and the embattled National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, who have been in cold war over the soul of the party responded swiftly and dismissed the declaration. Obi in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, said contrary to Chime’s declaration, APGA was very much alive and kicking.
The governor described APGA as a mass movement that would not die by mere pronouncement. His words:” Just as the Mosaic Law was engraved in the hearts of the Jews, APGA is engraved in the hearts of our people,”
Obi also dismissed the impression that there was a crisis in APGA, describing the recent altercations between the national leadership of his party and one of his former aides, Chief Sylvester Nwobu-Alor as “a normal disagreement in organizations peopled by the imperfect sons of Adam.” He said, “What we are witnessing is a minor misunderstanding which we will get over.
People and organizations come out of such stronger and more promising and such will be APGA.”
Similarly, the embattled National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh condemned the statement made by Chime. Umeh, expressed surprise that the statement was made by somebody he regarded as his friend and restated that APGA was not dead.
While insisting that Chime was daydreaming, he warned that those insinuating that APGA was dead would be swallowed by their words. Although the statement is yet to be delivered of anything, close followers of the ongoing crisis in APGA believe that the declaration of the Enugu State governor will definitely give birth to the bad, the good and the ugly.
Already, a few are of the view that the pronouncement may put paid to the cordial relationship existing between Governor Obi and Sullivan Chime, while many, especially close followers of Obi’s alleged romance with the Peoples Democratic Party believe that the statement was a serious signal that the Anambra State Governor may dump APGAsooner or later.