By Ochereome Nnanna
BEFORE a fraudulent act succeeds two conditions must be met. The first is that the prey must be desperately in need and willing do anything to meet that need.
The second is that a smart predator has to be in the vicinity to spot the desperado. When a person is desperate, his sense of reasoning is beclouded and he begins to think only of the profit and not the possibility of a loss. He loses his power of self-restraint.
He is no longer able to ask questions such as: if this man can double my money why is he still so wretched? Why does he not start by doing himself that favour? What have I done to deserve his beneficence? Why is he so anxious for me to hand over my money to him?
When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) blew the whistle for the start of the processes for the election of the next governor of Anambra State, Nigerians were shocked at the number of aspirants that showed up at the doorstep of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Wuse, Abuja: 54 in all.
It is unprecedented in the history of this country that a state which in August 2009 earned a paltry 2.3 billion Naira from the federation account had that number of people vying under one party platform to occupy its gubernatorial post.
One wondered what would have happened if Anambra were like the oil giants (Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa), which control up to four times or more the size of Anambra’s budget? Perhaps every family would have presented a candidate!
The ruling party’s chiefs looked into the eyes of these aspirants and saw naked hunger in the men and women who had come to pick up nomination forms. It then slammed a non-refundable fee of five million Naira for each form and all 54 aspirants paid up.
The Party later explained that it hiked the nomination fee to whittle down the number of aspirants.
The fact is that even if the Party had named one hundred million Naira as the nomination fee, up to twenty of those Anambrarians would have paid up, even though majority would be proxies of other candidates and their political godfathers.
There was no way money was going to stand in the way of these determined aspirants because Anambra is blest with more than its fair share of multi-millionaires. They dominate markets all over Nigeria and beyond. They own most of the private hotels in Abuja and almost half of the privately owned landed property there.
Usually, when the Anambra man conquers money, he turns his attention to politics, particularly the office of the governor. He wants to go there next or send someone there.
Having failed to reduce the number of aspirants through the jumbo fees and the screening process, the PDP decided to send Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State and a horde of other members of its national leadership to conduct a congress that had absolutely no chance of producing a genuinely democratic outcome.
In the first place, PDP had already publicly made up its mind that former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Professor Charles Soludo, would fly its flag for the election of February 2010. He was welcomed into the party in a big way by the who-is-who of PDP and his hand was raised by the Party’s “oracle”, Chief Tony Anenih.
Any wise person would have taken the hint because historically, once the PDP decides on a choice of candidate, the ensuing processes are tailored to enable him emerge. PDP even decided to forgo the governorship race in Imo State in 2007 because Ifeanyi Ararume emerged in spite of its choice, Engineer Charles Ugwuh, who could not stand for the Party due to judicial intervention.
The Party then threw its weight behind the candidate of the Progressive People’s Alliance, Sir Ikedi Ohakim. Only the courts can force the PDP not to have its way as they did in the case of Chibuike Amaechi in Rivers State.
Under the laws of Nigeria as interpreted by the courts, political parties have the right to choose candidates to stand for elections on their behalf. This they can do either by primaries, consensus or selection.
Having decided to select Soludo, why did the PDP proceed to milk more than 250 million Naira from the pockets of desperate members of their party in Anambra State?
That is obtaining through false pretence, alias 419. All the court injunctions precluding the party from organising “any” primaries from an Ekwulobia-based High Court were part of the party’s plans to ensure that Soludo’s selection would sail through.
Personally, I have no problem with Soludo as a candidate for governor of Anambra State. None of the 46 others matches his credentials and track record of public service.
He may be having issues over his poor supervision of the banking sector after the successful consolidation exercise, but he has a right to move on, and the leadership of the PDP saw his selection as the only way of escaping the sharks and godfathers who had already bought the governorship even before the race started.
There was no peaceful and democratic way of choosing from the 47 aspirants. A primary election that had been purchased before hand could never yield a democratic outcome.
We would only have another Chris Ngige before he betrayed his godfathers.
PDP did well to take the bull by the horn. But it did so by defrauding the hungry aspirants, and that can never be excused.
PDP cannot eat its cake and have it. Having looted Anambra, it has no right to expect the Anambra electorate to reward it with their mandate in 2010.
You know that Anambra is a fiscally poor state. So how can Soludo make Anambra like Dubai? He can’t: the cost of one shopping mall, or one multi-lane highway, or one gulf course or motor-racing route cannot be raised in Anambra in five years, even if the rate of corruption is reduced to Scandinavian levels. Besides, he would need to close the markets in Onitsha, Oshodi-style, to enable the shopping malls to thrive. If not, they can’t match the markets in ability to deliver goods at cheaper prices, or even in variety. Would the malls also sell second-hand goods?
To make Anambra clean and uncongested like Dubai, he would have to level over half of the urban areas! In short, the best he can do, if making Anamra like Dubai is his objective, is to borrow heavily and build another white elephant like Tinapa. Or another white elephant like consolidated banks that have failed in less than five years after consolidation.
As our people say, tell Soludo to tell us another thing.
Soludo is unfit to be councillor of a local government, talk less of being Anambra governor. His known incompetence and corrupt legacy at the CBN do disqualify him. And now, his association with the criminals of the PDP like “Anini” and the Chief Smuggler, Yar’Adua’s ally called Mangal, does seal the fate of Soludo completely. Anambra people will and must reject the sleazy Soludo and his gang. As Prof. Achebe did imply, Anambra should have zero tolerance of PDP renegades and their sponsors in Abuja. Shame on Soludo!
Amazing!Your logic is increasingly flawed!What could be wrong?Please take a break,before you are led to further obsfucation,which could loose you fans.Cheers.
Grammar, grammar, when the come, comes to become…we shall see who apart from the pdp and the bakassi boys would venture out on election day… mark my words, the result in the anambra governorship election will be announced in abuja
ON SOLUDO WE STAND…ANAMBRA NO SHAKING…FORWARD EVER!
PDP as we all know is a party that is afraid of election, the will of the people simply dose not matter as far as they are concerned. Apart from 1999 when party primary were conducted, subsequent primaries have produced consensus candidacy simply becos they are afraid the best interest of the Godfathers won’t be served totally ignoring the will of the people. if they could go this length to produce soludo, then you can imagine they will go even to the ends of the earth to rig the election for him. i just pray that they don’t succeed, so that their efforts will all be in vain.
Mazi Nnanna,
We vehemently dissagree with you that, ” the PDP did the right thing by taking the bull by the horn” and that “there was no peaceful way of choosing a candidate from the 47 aspirants”.
For avoidance of doubt, I love and believe in Prof.Soludo ever since meeting him at Nsukka, his intelligence, his resilience, his consistency of purpose but what PDP did and the way Prof.Soludo emerged is wrong and must be condemned. Even Prof. Soludo himself in his days at UNN either as a student or lecturer will vehemently condemn that undemocratic behaviour of the current PDP leadership.
Mazi. Nnanna you must remember, ” Nemo dat quod non habet”, “nobody gives what s/he has not”. PDP as the party in democratic governance in our country had continued to show that they are undemocratic, abhors democracy, and can therefore in their modern frame of mind will never give Nigeria Democracy she deserves.
PDP has exhibited high degree of “ELECTIOPHOBIA” since it took power in 1999 and that prominent journalists like you are playing down the implications to our country and its democratic growth is extremely disheartening. The Anambra PDP and their Aspirants are not crying about the N250 million duped them by the PDP National Leadership as such, but they are crying about PDP suppressing their internal democracy, denying the duely qualified delegates the opportunity to express the wishes of their constituencies, Denying a lot of Anambra children of Destiny the opportunity to test their popularity with their kiths and kin.
They are crying that Very Few Men in PDP who are mostly non-Anambrarians determined who shall Govern Anambra (Indirect Rule) should PDP win or rig the Election. Nnanna, that is Bad!, very Bad!!, Very Very Bad!!!
Then tell Nigerians if Chief. Vincent Ogbulafor, Chief. Tony Anenih, Alh. Yar’Adua, Prof. Maurice Iwu and may be Alh. Suzwam exclusively pre-determines who rules Anambra through PDP irrespective of whatever happens or whoever emerges or whatever choice they majority may have wanted, ( and you call it PDP taking the Bull by the Horn), then, what is its diference with a Gen. Babangida, Gen. Abacha, Gen. Domkat Bali and may be Admr. Aikhomu appointing who rules Abia State. Mr.Nnanna, do you see that Nigeria needs a serious REVOLUTION. We had been trying to see if the REVOLUTION could be a bloodless one, but a lot of you even the Press/media are pushing it to the bloody direction. The Nigerian People has no power, the Nigerian population is Zombie that message the actions of the PDP is sending.
Many people will say the courts are there if they rig the elections, who told you that the courts and the Judges are not humans like the Party Leaders, Soldiers, INEC officials and the people in the Executive and Legislative Arms of our Government in Nigeria who can variously be compromised?
We want strong democratic systems not Men, because if one man can falter, the other can as well falter. I am only worried that PDP is squandering Soludo’s reputation to clean up it 1999, 2003 and 2007 mess in Anambra state without minding the only point which I agree with you that PDP may have lost Anambra again because of the undemocratic way they have played the game so far. My teacher and respected Prof. Soludo, beware, you already have a bright future in the Emerging New Nigeria, do not allow them to destroy you.
Ehirim,T.J.
Auckland Park, JHB.
The tragedy of ELECTING OR IMPOSING Soludo on Anambra people is that he will have too many bottomless pits to fill. Anini who raised his hands, tragically does not eat in millions but in billions. All these 5 million ‘contributions’ would be expected to yield at least 500 million each to the ‘donors’. Whatever else is left goes to the regular god fathers who will be ‘delivering’ their hamlets, villages, autonomous communities, local governments and of course the state as the case might be.Soludo himself may actually be sold to the highest bidder in order to raise the funds to meet the above expenses. What this simply means is that my dear people of Anambra should rise in unison and ensure PDP IS STOPPED NOW. Obi and Ngige have shown the have the guts to move the state forward, this is the time to support them. Otherwise that state is heading for disaster and it won’t be because of Chukwuma Soludo but circumstances beyond his control.
If Soludo finally wins, he will settle his spent money, settle these ‘hungry aspirants’ after negotiating with them and largest chunk goes to the Godfathers who must suck him dry. So how do we expect development to come to the state, even if he actually want to deliver, if you are at the mercies of all these rogues? It is not as if godfatherism does not take place in civilised settings, the godfathers are mainly people of proven integrity e.g people like Prof Soyinka. In Nigeria, we have confirmed rogues as godfathers and this is the source of our downfall.