BY ANAYO OKOLI
EIGHT days to the National Assembly elections, the race into the three senate seats of Abia State has climaxed with about 14 candidates from five political parties doing their last round of campaigns to convince the electorate on why they should get their votes.

About 15 political parties  filed papers for the 2011 elections but only five candidates are campaigning seriously for the Senate. The parties are the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], Progressive Peoples Alliance [PPA], All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA], Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] and Labour Party [LP].

The PDP has its three sitting senators in the person of Senators Uche Chukwumerije, Abia North; Nkechi Nwogu, Abia Central; and Enyinnaya Abaribe, Abia South, contesting for the election.

The PPA has former governor of the state, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu contesting in Abia North; a former commissioner in the state, Mr. Kelvin Ugboaja is for the Central while Chief Simon Emeh will run in Abia South. APGA is fielding in Abia North, Mr. Pedro Maduekwe, a lawyer, and another lady lawyer, Chioma Ogbuehi in the Central while Chief Anyim Nyerere is its candidate in Abia South. ACN’s candidate for Abia North is Bishop Jerry Eze; in the Central, Chief Damain Ozurumba.

A former member of the House of Representatives will fly the party’s flag while Sunny Okoronta contests for the South senatorial seat. Labour Party is sponsoring two candidates. They are Chief Chukwuemeka Okorougo for Abia North and a former university law teacher, Dr. Max Nduaguibe for the Central zone.

From all indications, all the candidates are qualified as they all parade intimidating credentials, but each of the zones will produce only one senator, hence the intensive campaign by the parties and their candidates.

ABIA NORTH
From the calibre of candidates contesting the senatorial seats, the race is going to be hottest in Abia North, particularly where former Orji Kalu and the incumbent, Uche Chukwumerije, two former political friends but now political foes, will slug it out. All the five candidates in this zone are strong going by their political antecedents, but the fight seems a straight one between former governor Kalu and Chukwumereije.

In fact, the campaign in the area has been very hot and revolves around the two and their supporters who reportedly had clashed on one or two occasions in the course of the campaigns.

Uche Chukwumerije, PDP
Though a sitting senator, Chukwumerije will not find it easy to return. He is fighting a four-pronged battle.  Kalu, his close ally, who even assisted him to go for second term under the PPA platform and who is now a big political foe, is running against him. His Isuochi town, indeed, his village is also producing the House of Representatives candidate in the person of Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyeagocha, to the detriment of other communities in the Local Government Area.

Three, other areas of the zone, especially, the Old Bende axis of Isiukwuato, Uzuakoli, Bende, Arochukwu and Ohafia, are strongly kicking against his return to the Senate. That perhaps accounted to why he faced the highest number of challengers during the PDP primaries, which he won. Again, some people of the zone are not comfortable with the performance of Chukwumereije. They have accused him of not representing them well on account of the projects he attracted to the area.

In fact, it was the return of Governor Theodore Orji to PDP which unified some big Abia political stakeholders that gave Chukwumerije the ticket, and the main campaign presently is being run on the back of President Goodluck Jonathan as neither the PDP in the state nor the PDP candidates themselves have performed creditably well.

Orji Uzor Kalu, PPA
Being a former governor of the state for eight years during which he empowered a  number of people, especially in his zone, Orji Uzor Kalu cannot be wished away. He is grounded and he still has his supporters.

Though the state government is also waging a serious campaign against him because of the political war between him and Governor Theodore Orji, he is still commanding some political clout.

There were reports of alleged order by the government to some communities not to allow him visit them but reports had it that on each visit he managed to see the people who reportedly usually threw their gates open when they saw him. He is said to have made staunch politicians in virtually all the communities in the state, especially his Abia North zone and these people are said to be rooting for him.

Initially, Kalu’s interest in the race was a rumour as he kept everybody in suspense. But when he eventually declared his interest, the camp of PDP was said to have become jittery. Apart from empowering some people in the area during his tenure, Kalu balkanized many communities and gave them autonomy and made many traditional rulers who are still enjoying whatever goes with it till date. This familiarity with these traditional rulers gives him an added advantage which enables him to embark on house- to- house campaign.

However, the balkanization did not go down well with some communities and this may count against him in the area. His alleged misrule of the state in his eight-year tenure, a campaign strongly being championed by the government, may also count against him.

On the other hand, both Orji and Chukwumerije could be said to be rich enough to prosecute their campaign. Though the battle, on the surface looks like it is between the Orji and Chukwumerije, the other candidates cannot be wished away because in politics anything can happen, a protest vote to avoid the two could throw up Pedro, Okorougo or Bishop Eze.

ABIA CENTRAL
The battle in Abia Central seems not to be as tough as that of the North. Senator Nkechi Nwogu is being challenged in this zone. Though the candidates of the other parties in this zone may seem not to big and strong politicians, Abia Central District is a peculiar zone which could spring up surprises. It is peculiar in that it is made up of both people of Old Bende, Umuahia North and South and Ikwuano as well as Ngwa people of Isiala Ngwa, North, South and Osisioma Ngwa

According to their political zoning arrangement, the seat rotates every four years to each of the two blocs. Nkechi Nwogu is of Ngwa side of the zone. Ozurumba of ACN and Max Nduaguibe of Labour Party are also of Ngwa stock, while Ogbuehi of APGA and Ugboaja of PPA are of Old Bende stock.

Though the zoning arrangement could only be applied if they are in one party, with Nwogu, Ozurumba and Nduaguibe dividing the Ngwa votes in the zone, the odds may shift in favour of Ugboaja or Ogbuehi, particularly Ugboaja who was once a commissioner for Lands and must have got in contact and made friends with a lot of people in the course of his service.

Besides, Nwogu, like other PDP members of the National Assembly could not boast of having done too well for her people as her campaign is also being run on the back of President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Theodore Orji.

ABIA SOUTH
Abia South is presently occupied by Enyinnaya Abaribe and the only big name among his challengers is Anyim Nyerere, who initially was in PDP to contest the seat against Abaribe until PDP came up with the unholy alliance of allowing all sitting members to go back except very few ones who were perhaps not in the good book of those that matter.

Anyim Nyerere then moved to APGA and has since been creating some waves in the area. Though he is the incumbent, Abaribe’s alleged record of poor performance, which was a subject of discussion in government until they all came together, could count against him. When they were in different camps, the government was saying it loudly that Abaribe was not doing well.

Luckily, all the candidates are of Ngwa stock and can easily assess themselves. Besides, the level of support APGA enjoys in Aba, the commercial capital of the state could count in favour of Anyim Nyerere if he harvests it. Though the other two candidates are not big political names they are said to be all tested politicians, especially Emeh who is said to be close to Aba residents.

Their contact and closeness to Aba could make way for them. So Abia South is one zone that needs to be watched as there may be some surprises.