BY OKEY NDIRIBE
The intrigues that characterised the recent Anambra North Senatorial contest are gradually unraveling. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP paraded three different faces, namely Mrs. Magery Okadigbo, Mr. John Emeka and Senator Alphonsus Igbeke against the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA’s Senator Joy Emodi. Against the background of expectations from Senator Emodi, the PDP snatched victory in the election results as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Mrs Okadigbo, widow of the oratorical former President of the Senate, Rt. Hon. Chuba Okadigbo one of the PDP contestants in this interview, affirms herself as the candidate of the party who won the election.She insists very strongly that she won the PDP primary contest and subsequently, the main election and then challenges INEC to justify why it decided to accept the name of another contestant who lost the primaries as the winner.

What is your response to the conduct and outcome of the recent Senate election in Anambra North?

The National Leadership of the PDP set up a panel to conduct the National Assembly primaries of the party in Anambra State. The Panel was headed by Senator Joseph Waku.  Another member of the panel was Aduku, a one time minister.  He was Chairman of the Panel that conducted  primaries for the State House of Assembly. We had the primaries on the 7th and 8th of January, 2011. The primaries for the House of Representatives held first and that for the Senate held the following day.

Mrs. Okadigbo

I won the ticket of the party in the Anambra North Senatorial District. However, at the time the legitimate primaries was going on, John Emeka was involved  in another primaries which  held at another venue and was organized by one Benji Udeozor- a self-acclaimed Chairman of the PDP in Anambra State. I think the first one they held ended up in a fiasco and they had to hold another one on the 10th of the same month.

At the end of the primaries the national leadership of my party  submitted my name  alongside those of  others who won as nominated candidates of the PDP  to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Others who emerged as senatorial nominees for the party in the state were Nicholas Ukachukwu for Anambra South, Chuka Offodile for Anambra Central. The names of  party members  who emerged as candidates for the House of Representatives were also sent to INEC  together with our  own list.

It was later we learnt that names  of  those who emerged from the parallel primaries were submitted directly to INEC,  thereby by-passing the National  secretariat  of the party which is the only legally recognized body that is empowered to play that role.

Is that really possible?

But that is exactly what they did. For some strange reason, INEC has decided to work with that list submitted to it by the state chapter which is an illegal list. I do know that the Electoral Act clearly states that the submissions of party  nominees for contesting  the National Assembly elections shall be done by the National leadership of the party and the relevant documents  must be signed by the  National Chairman and Secretary of the party.

So, I don’t  know the basis upon which INEC did what it did. Suffice it to say that we went to the Federal High Court at Awka, the Anambra State capital and we got an order restraining  INEC from accepting list of names which emerged from the parallel primaries. But INEC has continued to be in breach of that order. The National Legal Adviser of the party Olusola Oke later wrote to INEC demanding to know from them why they have continued  to hold on to the list submitted to them by  the state

chapter of the party which is a clear violation of the constitution of the party.  INEC replied them that the commission had received three other court orders,two of which referred to our own matter ; the third  court order  was filed against us  by Ken Emeakayi  and the INEC people said they were relying on that.  But along the line, that third court order which INEC claimed it was relying on was dismissed.  This happened at the Ekwulobia High Court, in  Anambra  State.

The case was dismissed on two grounds; that Ken Emeakayi lacked the locus because he was not a candidate nor a member of the party’s executive  during the party primaries  and that the Court itself lacked jurisdiction to determine that matter. Since the Court  vacated that order on which  INEC relied, the question that has arisen is what is the commission relying on to continue holding on to that list? Why has INEC continued to breach the order of the Federal High Court, Awka?  That is where we are now.

So, as far as I am concerned, those of
us who emerged from the primaries that was conducted by the Senator Waku led Panel remain the authentic candidates of the party. It was on the basis of our primaries that we went into the  election. There is no provision in the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution that a state party chapter could conduct the primaries for the National Assembly elections. We eventually went into election and the PDP won the electoral contest in Anambra North Senatorial District. As far as I am concerned, I am the Senator-elect of my senatorial district. I am not aware of any  provision either in the Electoral Act or in the party’s constitution which stipulates that it is the state chapter of the party which should nominate candidates for National Assembly elections.

Still on the issue of party nominations;  to my greatest surprise and shock,  we have a judgment from Justice Kafarati of the Abuja High Court which declared sometime last March that  Senator Igbeke was the  PDP candidate for Anambra North.  The result sheet which was compiled after the primaries shows that I scored the highest number  of votes cast . Senator  Igbeke came third during the primaries.

Senator Igbeke claimed that he won the parallel primaries where John Emeka was initially declared as winner.  He claimed his name ought to have been submitted and not that of John Emeka as the candidate who emerged from their own parallel primaries.

I  approached the court to be joined in that matter and my request was granted. But to my greatest surprise my brief was never touched. I have already appealed against that judgment at the  Court of Appeal. In a nutshell, INEC should not select a candidate for us; it should have maintained its neutrality in this matter.

Are  you  sure the National leadership of your party adhered to all the rules and regulations pertaining to the conduct of the primaries and the submission of  your name to INEC on time?

INEC was informed about our primaries. The law provides that INEC needs to be informed when the primaries are to be conducted; but it is not mandatory that it must be represented. If the party informed INEC  to attend its primaries at a particular venue, and INEC decides on its own not to attend the event but decides to go attend another  event held somewhere else, then that choice was made by INEC. But the most important question is whether INEC was  invited to our primaries and the answer is yes the party did. The party satisfied that requirement of the law. This is exactly what happened. The result of the primaries was also sent to the branch office of INEC in the  State.

Don’t you think this problem is a fall-out of the crisis in Anambra State chapter of your party  which has led to the emergence of  several factions?

One has to really understand that for the conduct of the National Assembly  primaries of our party, the state chapter of the party has nothing to do with it. The PDP constitution makes it clear that the National leadership of the party is responsible for the conduct of the National Assembly  primaries and this it did by setting up panel which carried out the exercise.  It is also the National leadership of the party that is also authorized to formulate guidelines  for this category of primaries. As long as you have not breached the party’s  guidelines, you are on track.

What has the leadership of PDP done about  the case so far?

The National leadership of the party has stood firmly by us who  are the legitimate candidates of the party.  In all the litigations that we have gone through  so far, the party has been supportive of us. The PDP has always appeared in court in defence of its candidates.