With the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) winning majority of the seats in Anambra State, the rumours of Peoples Democracy championing an impeachment of the Anambra Governor, Chief Willie Obiano is dead. He can now concentrate on delivering democracy dividends writes ELEKENEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Some major national dailies in the country last weekend listed Anambra as one of the flashpoints of the 2015 House of Assembly and governorship elections, this is not minding that there will be no governorship election in the state. Anambra may have been listed because of the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party in the governor ship seat of the state, where it has been rumoured that they aspire to win the majority of the 30 se3ats in the house of assembly with the hope of using them to get at the governor, through impeachment.
All these it is alleged were being hatched by the same man who worked so hard to win Obiano the seat, and the predecessor, Mr Peter Obi the former governor of the state, who just months back had dumped his former party, APGA to join the PDP.
The victory of the party(PDP) in the March 28thpresidential and National Assembly election in the state which saw them picking all the three seats in the senate and 11 House of representatives seats had given credence to the party that it will replicate the same feat in the assembly election to boost its plan, but on the contrary, what played our last Saturday in the state, which saw APGA coasting to victory with majority of the seats in the assembly left PDP and its members in surprised.
As at the time of filling this report, APGA has won 24 out of the 30 seats in the state assembly, and still leading in three, except for one, Ekwusigo state constituency which was rescheduled for 25thApril. The news of the success has set the state in celebration mood, as the governorship seat is said to be what has all the while been at stake.
Before Saturday’s election, rumours have emerged that the PDP led by the party’s big wigs in the state, including; Mr Peter Obi, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah, Engr Arthur Eze and others were making strategies to commence the impeachment of Gov Obiano in August, just months after the inauguration of the new assembly. But in an interview with the members representing Anaocha, Njikoka, Dunukofia federal constituency and the Senator Elect of Anambra Central Zone, Mrs Uche Ekwunife said that there is no truth in the rumour that the PDP is working to get majority of the lawmakers in the state assembly in today’s election so as to impeach Governor Obiano.
“Who even cares if he is the governor of Anambra State, why is he afraid of being impeached, if he has done something that is worthy of impeachment, that is the only way he will be afraid of being impeached.” Ekwunife said.
In last Saturday’s election, reliable sources confirmed that though results were not officially announced, APGA swept all seats in the assembly, leaving PDP, APC or any other party in the state with non. This was attributed to the political consciousness of the Anambra people, who decided that beyond the winning of the seats in the national assembly by the PDP, there was need to encourage the APGA government led by Obiano to continue with the good work it is doing in the state.
APGA national Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh said the people of the state were still shocked that the national assembly election where they trooped out enmasse to vote for the APGA candidates but the election were rigged in the favour of the PDP candidates spurred the people to come out again to vote for APGA, even though some people were lost hope and did not turn out to vote, leading to apathy in the state.
But the supporters of APGA in the state have expressed hope that the vitory of APGA candidates in the House of Assembly election will now afford the governor of the state, Chief Obiano to freedom to now relax and work for the state as he has already shown signs of the wellbeing of the state through his works in the last one year.
They insist that if Obiano had failed to secure majority seats in the house, the PDP would have carried out its threat by impeaching the governor using their lawmakers, or even frustrated the efforts of the governor to achieve massive infrastructure using his four pillars, which would have presented him as a failure.
An APGA member in Awka South, Mr Hyginus Eberechukwu said, “Our people have become very politically aware, and they know what is at stake in the election. That is why they decided to vote massively for the members of APGA, so as to let the governor continue with his work, without the distraction he would have gotten from the house of assembly if the place was dominated by PDP members.”
On his part, The State chairman of APGA, Chief Mike Kwentoh said the victory has vindicated the party, and has shown that the party is firmly rooted in Anambra State, save for the bare faced rigging of PDP by the party’s bigwigs in the National Assembly elections. Kwentoh said the victory of the party will now give the state governor the freedom to continue with the good work he is doing without being harassed by members of the INEC who would have been engineered from the back by unseen hands.
As at the time of filling this report, results of some of the constituencies were still being compiled, but the APGA state chairman expressed optimism that the party will clear all the seats, just as over 24 of the 30 seats have been won by APGA.
The victory of the APC in the presidential election of 28thMarch is still seen as the booster for APGA, as they believe that if the PDP had won, it would have boosted the morale of the PDP bigwigs in the state who have already fallen apart with Obiano, and would have used the euphoria of the victory to also win seats in the election, but the loss dealt them a blow that quietened them.
