“Soludo might as well be toying with his second-term bid, except he intends to run on another party’s ticket.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
It is now a little more than two weeks since the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC, recognized Chief Edozie Njoku as APGA’s National Chairman, against Barr. Sly Ezeokenwa, whom the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, still recognizes as the APGA National Chairman. Prof. Soludo who doubles as both the only APGA governor and the National Leader of the party, is invariably the major financier of the party. So, given this background, his position under the circumstance has vicarious consequences.
To begin with, that Prof. Soludo should not take sides is quite unrealistic. To buttress, it must be acknowledged that Soludo emerged as the governor from the same leadership lineup and it is through that same lineup that he produced Barr Sly as the APGA National Chairman. Therefore, he is both a product and the lead supporter of that process which the court has now dismissed and which dismissal INEC has recognized. Hence, the governor belongs to a side and certainly has a side in the crisis. But while the governor takes sides with his own APGA lineup, he must be guided by the prevailing reality in his party as well as the far-reaching implications on his government and interests. While understandably attached to Ezeokenwa’s leadership of APGA, the reality, the governor must note, is that the baton of APGA’s leadership is now with Chief Edozie Njoku and this must guide his behavior and response, except he intends to leave the party.
For many years, there have been efforts to deny Njoku’s membership of APGA. But Edozie Njoku is a well-known figure in APGA, having lived most of his life in Onitsha and played many strategic roles in the growth of APGA in Anambra State. He is not unknown to APGA. Older members and leaders of APGA know Njoku and they do not deny his membership of APGA.
In the past two weeks, one had expected Prof. Soludo to be nuanced in his approach to the recognition of Chief Edozie Njoku by INEC, with the understanding that fighting to remove Njoku as the APGA National Chairman at this stage is a casual exercise. More still, the governor doesn’t have to pursue Njoku’s removal in a way that betrays the maturity expected of a leader of his standing, in managing such a crisis that he is personally involved with. This is considering that Edozie’s recognition is not in itself harmful in any way to him or APGA as a party. The only thing that is missing is that the process that produced him (Soludo) and of which he built on by producing Barr Sly as National Chairman, had been thwarted along with its gains of “loyalty”. Aside from that, there is nothing else at risk, if he reaches an understanding with Njoku and his team, particularly given that loyalty can always be earned in politics. At this stage, the governor needs to learn from Peter Obi’s experience in the same APGA before Obiano’s election, just as Soludo’s second term election is around the corner. When the court affirmed Chief Victor Umeh as the National Chairman of APGA, Peter Obi backtracked, leaving Chief Maxi Okwu, his own anointed APGA National Chairman, and returned to Umeh. That was how Obi was able to save the party at the time. Most definitely, it is unwise to fight a National Chairman who has the backing of the law. If what the Soludo’s government is doing is to fight Njoku in APGA where he is recognized by law as the National Chairman of the party, it is a fight in futility with severe consequences. In fact, Prof. Soludo might as well be toying with his second-term bid, except he intends to run on another party’s ticket.
For now, it is unclear what Governor Soludo is doing to remove Edozie Njoku or if he will succeed. However, considering that in the last two weeks, Njoku has remained the National Chairman of APGA, his removal doesn’t look feasible, not now, and not in the short or medium term, if ever at all. Yet, APGA ought to be working towards a possible local government election in Anambra State soon. More so, the party ought to be fully mobilizing for the governor’s reelection bid next year. If these are not bothering the governor and shaping his approach to the APGA issue, then, he might have weighed his options and possibly looking in the direction of another political party for his reelection bid.
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