2015: Who would be the Senator for Anambra Central?

The 2015 race for Anambra central  Senatorial seat is getting keener. A horde of aspirants are now on the prowl angling to snatch the seat from the incumbent Senator Chris Ngige of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Among the leading contenders are: Senator Ngige; National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh; a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Uche Ekwunife; Leader of  Nzuko Imeobi Idemili North and South, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo; former Secretary to the Anambra State Government, SSG (1999-2003), Prince Victor Ossy Ezenwa; Dr. Kodilichukwu Okelekwe; Mrs. Christy Okoye, Senator Annie Okonkwo and Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo.

Ngige
Senator Ngige, who is going for a second term in the Senate made his mark as governor of Anambra State for three years before he was thrown out of office by the law courts for election rigging. He is considered popular in Anambra central, which benefited immensely from his botched administration in terms of projects.
Having lost the last governorship election, the APC legislator, who has not indicated whether or not he is re-contesting, has however, said that most of those angling to stop him are political lightweights.

Umeh

Sir Umeh, whose reign as APGA national chairman saw the party winning electoral laurels such as two governorship seats, senatorial, House of Representatives and state assembly slots, while declaring his intention to run for the seat, said the state of affairs in the country now requires the Igbo, Anambra and Anambra Central to put their First Eleven forward. According to him, his experience as APGA leader and a delegate to the just concluded National Conference shows that much work is yet to be done and he is the most qualified person to execute the onerous duty for Ndigbo, South-East, Anambra and Anambra central. He is running on the banner of APGA.

Ekwunife
Hon. Ekwunife is one of the two women in the race so far. The ranking Rep is aspiring on the banner of the PDP the platform that gave her, her first mandate in the House. She left the PDP for the Progressives Peoples’ Alliance (PPA), contested the governorship and lost. She defected to APGA and retained her Reps’ seat. Now, she is back to the PDP from APGA. She believes that her popularity in Anambra central and PDP’s political muscle will see her through.

Obiora Okonkwo

Dr.   Okonkwo is the leader of  Nzuko Imeobi Idemili North and South, the apex socio cultural and political organization of Idemili in Anambra Central Senatorial District, Political and Economic Adviser to the Archbishop of Onitsha & Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province; President  and Founder,  Nigeria – Belgium Business Forum  (NBBF) Coordinator of the Anambra State Good Governance Forum (ASGGOF).

While declaring his intention to run on the plank of the PDP, he said: “We want to restore pride in the people, rebuild their confidence and make them believe again that power resides in them and in representing the people in the Senate, it will be with the awareness that power is in the hands of the people in which we shall demonstrate the will to deliver on the community charter of the senatorial zone, propagate quality representation anchored on accessibility, consultation, responsiveness and accountability to my constituents.”

Okelekwe

Dr. Okelekwe, who boosts of knowledge of multimillion-dollar budgets and keen business experience from running his own flourishing business as C.E.O, wants to banish poverty from the zone through education.

The former governorship aspirant, who is aspiring on the platform of the PDP said: “I don’t believe that any individual should be denied the right to education on account of poverty. That is what drives me. That’s why I am contesting.   I am not contesting for a Senate seat to indulge in primitive accumulation of wealth.  Life  is not about self. Life is about touching others.   It is  about living  for others. That is why I am aspiring to go to the Senate.”

He said he wants to “get the people involved in the process of lawmaking. If I get elected as a senator, I will institute what I call monthly town hall  meetings, which will rotate from one local government to the other.   “In Anambra central, there are seven local government areas. We will use this mechanism to sound out the people, get their opinion and take into account their input in either proposing a new law or proposing an amendment to existing ones  or moving a motion to draw the attention of government to certain areas.”

Ezenwa

Ezenwa, who was SSG under former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju and former chairman of Njikoka local council said he is disturbed by the high rate of unemployment in the zone.

Making his intentions known during a consultations meeting with his constituents and journalists at his Abagana country home, Ezenwa, said he was aware of other heavyweights in the race but that the odds were in his favour.

Gale of endorsements.

Ahead of the polls, the polity is awash with a gale of endorsements for the aspirants. Umeh got the endorsement of Anambra Central Women Forum (ACWF), which described him as a man of action, principle and integrity, tested and trusted to effectively represent Anambra Central Senatorial Zone in the Senate. ACWF President, Mrs. Adanma Chukwuma, said the group is backing Umeh because “we cannot sacrifice effective representation at the altar of partisan politics.”

In like manner, Idemili Action Movement, IAM and a socio-cultural association, Nzuko Imeobi, have thrown their weights behind Dr Obiora Okonkwo and urged voters and stakeholders in the Anambra Central senatorial zone not to repeat the mistakes of the past in electing their representatives  in 2015.

Making the calls at different for a recently, IAM Chairman, Dr. Uche Ezeliora and Nzuko Imeobi President, Chief Edwin Ekwuno said: “We don’t support parties, we support candidates and it is in this regard that we are supporting the various calls for change and adopting Dr. Obiora Okonkwo of the PDP as our choice for the senatorial seat in the Central. His track record is people oriented and he has shown a sense of service to the people, which we believe will lift the state of development in the zone if he gets to the Senate.”