Political Notes By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

Ebola politics

Given Nigeria’s continuing failure to tackle some of the most formidable challenges to its success as a nation, the unqualified success in containing the Ebola epidemic has riveted Nigerians as to the possibility of a Nigeria renaissance.

However, as Nigeria snakes towards the peak of the four year election cycle, it is not surprising that the dreaded Ebola disease is now turning into a political issue.

At Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s formal declaration for the presidency on Wednesday, it turned into an issue when Governor Chibuke Amaechi charged the Federal Government not to take credit for the containment of Ebola.

“I hear PDP and Mr. President claiming the glory of having fought Ebola. I asked one simple question: Rivers state government spent 1,406 billion to fight Ebola, the Federal Government brought N200m just last week. If we were waiting for that N200m, Ebola would have spread round Rivers State,” the Rivers governor said at the declaration.

According to him the best the Federal Government did at the peak of the crisis was to regularly announce new incidents of the disease! Apparently putting himself above the fray the following day at the launch of the Elumelu Nigeria Empowerment Fund, ENEF to help victims of terrorism in the Northeast, Jonathan said no one could take the credit for the effort.

“There is no magic government could have used to solve that problem. No President or state governor will claim any credit. The credit should go to the ordinary Nigerians for the cooperation and their buy-in,” the president said.

The success in the containment of Ebola is a telling indication that Nigeria can also combat such vices against it such as corruption, bad governance, insecurity among many others.

Buhari’s declaration and thereafter

The outpouring of support for All Progressives Congress, APC presidential aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at his public declaration on Wednesday was in the consideration of his associates a measure of the potency of the former head of state in the presidential contest.

It was thus not surprising that one of his major rivals in the APC, Atiku Abubakar was quick to make a distinction between his own declaration and what happened at the Eagle Square where Buhari did his declaration.

Atiku’s declaration last month was done within a more limited space at the Shehu Musa Yar‘Adua Centre.

Associates of Atiku said the former vice-president chose not to invite party officials and the general public as Buhari did in order not to compromise the party officials who are ordinarily supposed to be non partisan in the intra-party contest.

Which way Abia?

Pity the lot of Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State. Whereas his fellow governors from the Southeast in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP have gone out to lead the party in their states to endorse consensus candidates for the party, Ochendo Global as the governor is popularly known is yet to make up his mind on how he would go.

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has led the PDP there to endorse Rep. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi while Governor Martins Elechi of Ebonyi was in the frontline in the endorsement of Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu as the consensus candidate for the state. Ochendo Global has remained mum. It is not as if the governor is indifferent on the way to go, but the governor is said to be finding it difficult making up his mind on who to support between two of the frontline aspirants that have come out said to be close to him. Or could the governor be aiming to play a last card?