New Telegraph

Ubas: A dynasty’s bid for Anambra governorship

FELIX NWANERI reports on a possible showdown between two brothers, one a former presidential aide and ex-senator and the other, an academic turned politician as well as a former senator – Andy and Ugochukwu Uba – in their respective quest for the governorship of Anambra State politics

 

It has often been reasoned that political dynasties go against the values uphold by democracy since it does not provide equal opportunity for people to hold offices of power and service, but there is no doubt that political empires have continued to thrive even in advanced democracies such as the United States (U.S.).

This is despite the fact that the country’s founding fathers wholeheartedly objected to power flowing through blood rather than the ballot as they declared in the American constitution that “no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.”

Perhaps, this explains why the narrative of one of the country’s most prominent political families, the Kennedys, avoids the word – dynasty. Rather than referring to the New England clan as a dynasty, it is romantically painted as Camelot.

The colouration, notwithstanding, there is no doubt that there exist political dynasties in the U.S., with their members understanding how to pool resources to convert their last names into impressive and long-lasting political brands.

The Kennedy dynasty is arguably the most famous dynasty in U.S. political history. John F. Kennedy became president, his brother Robert was an Attorney General and presidential candidate, and their brother Edward was a long-time senator.

 

But if the Kennedys are considered the “royal family” of Democratic politics in the U.S., the Bush family is the Republican equivalent. Prescott S. Bush was the first member of the wealthy family to seek for public office.

He won election into the Senate in 1952. Since then, the family has produced two presidents – George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush – and a governor as well as a presidential candidate – Jeb Bush.

 

There are also the Rockefellers identified with New York, West Virginia, and Arkansas; the Udalls, who first became prominent in Arizona, but the most recent generation had three cousins simultaneously serving in the U.S., Senate from Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon; the  Clintons, who moved quickly from Arkansas to national politics, with both Bill and Hillary elected to positions in the federal government. In Canada, there is the Trudeau family.

 

Theirs’ is an interesting story. It was reported that when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and U.S. President Richard Nixon met at a state dinner in Ottawa in 1972, Nixon proposed a toast to Trudeau’s four-month-old son – “the future prime minister of Canada,

Justin Pierre Trudeau!” When Justin Trudeau did become prime minister in 2015, the “prophecy” was fulfilled. Outside the Americas, the Nehru– Gandhi dynasty has dominated Indian politics since independence from Britain in 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first post-independence prime minister.

 

Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, was the country’s first female prime minister, serving from 1966 until her assassination in 1984. Her son, Rajiv, succeeded her and was assassinated in 1991.

 

In 2004, Rajiv’s Italian-born wife, Sonia Gandhi, became leader of the then-ruling Congress Party and her son, Rahul, nearly succeeded her. Although the Congress Party lost power in 2012, Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi’s two children remain active in politics. Africa has also had its own fair share of political dynasties.

 

They include the Kenyattas of Kenya, Bokassas of Central African Republic, Nguemas of Equatorial Guinea and the Eyademas of Togo. Nigeria has also seen the rise of political dynasties.

 

They include the Yar’Aduas, Ojukwus, Nwodos, Adedibus, Obasanjos, Akinjides, Shinkafis, Sarakis, Tinubus, Ubas, Igbinedions and Abiolas, among several others. Most of these families have moved from state/regional to national power brokers.

 

However, of these Nigerian political dynasties, there is no doubt that the Ubas of Anambra State is peculiar.

 

Rather than embrace the normal norm of members of political dynasties pooling resources to convert their family names into impressive and longlasting political brands, members of the dynasty, which emerged after the country’s return to civil rule in 1999, have persistently engaged each other in supremacy battle.

 

Comprising of three brothers – Ugochukwu (a former senator), Andy (a former presidential aide and exsenator) and Chris (a businessman and party chieftain), the Uba political dynasty looms large in Anambra politics that it has to its credit of having produced a “governor” and two senators within 16 years.

 

It also boasts of having installed a governor alongside all state and federal lawmakers in the state in 2003. While the trio at a time closed ranks, fought and ousted other political godfathers in the state and ascended the throne to call the shots, two of its members – Andy and Chris later turned their respective political weapons against each other over the Anambra South Senatorial seat.

 

The eldest of the trio (Ugochukwu) occupied the seat between 2003 and 2007, but was defeated by Obiorah Ugwu, when he sought for a second term.

 

The family, how    ever, bounced back and clinched the seat through Andy in 2011. He had before then, been sworn-in as governor of the state on May 29, 2007 before the Supreme Court sent him packing two weeks later. He also returned to Upper Legislative chamber after his victory in the 2015 elections.

 

But, Andy’s second coming to the Senate was not without a threat from his younger brother (Chris), who then insisted that he was the validly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Anambra South senatorial election.

 

The two brothers were then members of the same party (PDP), but pitched their tents with different camps of the state’s chapter of the party prior to the election.

 

They also emerged candidates from parallel primaries. Andy was however listed for the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Chris, who was then determined to join his brothers in the club of senators, however got his faction of the PDP, led by Ejike Oguebego to file a suit against the Ken Emeakayi faction backed by his brother.

 

The matter traversed from the High Court to the Supreme Court, which upheld an earlier verdict delivered by Justice Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 15, 2014 that affirmed the Oguebego-led executive committee of the party along with the primaries conducted by it as well as its list of candidates that emerged from the exercise. A five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, in a unanimous decision affirmed as null

 

 

and void, a caretaker committee, headed by Col. Augustine Akobundo (rtd), and its list, nominating Andy, as well as the rest of PDP state and federal legislators from Anambra State to INEC as the party’s candidates for the 2015 general elections.

 

With the judgement, the Oguebego camp insisted that Andy and those it described as his co-travellers have been sacked. But, Andy disproved assertions of his removal from office. He argued that he was not party to the suit, which basically had to deal with issues of leadership crisis in Anambra PDP.

 

Undoubtedly, Andy served out his tenure, but his bid to return to the Senate for a third term during the 2019 general election rekindled the rivalry between the two brothers. While Andy picked the senatorial ticket of the APC, Chris emerged the candidate of PDP.

 

The latter, who had never held public office before gave a hint of what to expect during the poll, when he told journalists ahead of the election that he was contesting the senatorial seat against his elder brother because he would not want him to overstay his usefulness at the red chamber. His words then: “My brother has been there for eight years and must take a bow now. I pray for my brother to go higher; he can become a governor or vice president but not a senator again. It is now my turn. I want him to throw in the towel because the fight is going to be very serious.”

 

He added that he decided to contest for the senatorial seat to correct some anomalies in the system, having played the role of political godfather for over two decades in Anambra and beyond.

“I want to run because we have been sponsoring politicians in Anambra State and across Nigeria. I have been doing that and a lot of people have passed through my  school, but, they call us godfathers. We have made cases several times for the party to make some provisions in its constitution to protect godfathers, but no way, no provision.

 

“The truth remains that godfathers are closer to the grassroots. A lot of people depend on us, a lot of families depend on us and many families today are hungry. But after sponsoring politicians, immediately they get to Abuja, you can’t get them on the telephone again, nobody will see them again, they buy choice cars and the next thing, they will blackmail you.

 

“Any little thing, they will start fighting you, they will say they’ve known the President, they’ve known the party chairman and as a godfather, you are in trouble. So, now we need to occupy offices to protect our positions and the positions of our people. That is why I am running for the Senate,”

 

Chris said. With that scenario, the Ubas joined notable Nigerian families, whose members squared against each other for the same positions during the 2019 polls.

 

However, an outsider benefited from the fight between the Uba brothers. Ifeanyi Ubah, a businessman, who ran on a lesser platform – Young Progressive Party (YPP) – won the Anambra South Senatorial District seat then occupied by Andy on the platform of the APC. The YPP candidate polled 87,081 votes to defeat 26 others. His closest rival was Chris Uba (PDP), who got 62,462 votes to place second.

 

Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came third with 51,269 votes, while Andy Uba (APC), got 13,245 votes to place a distant fourth.

 

The Uba brothers suffered another loss, when their bid to turn the table against Ifeanyi Ubah at the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal hit the rocks. The 2019 scenario is likely to play out in the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State if developments ahead of the poll are anything to by.

 

While Andy has secured the ticket of the APC, Ugochukwu is locked in a legal battle with Valentine Ozigbo for the PDP ticket. To pick the APC ticket, Andy polled 230,201 votes out of 348,490 votes cast to decide the party’s candidate.

 

Among those he defeated are Johnbosco Onunkwo (28,746), Chidozie Nwankwo (21,281), George Moghalu (18,596), Paul Orajiaka (4,348), Geoff Onyejeagbu (3,414), Azuka Okwuosa (17,189), Nwokafor Daniel (3,335), Ikoobasi Mokelu (3,727), Kwebuike Ifeanyi (1,466), Godwin Okonkwo (5,907), Ben Etiaba (4,244), Edozie Madu (3,636) and Maxwell Okoye (2,540).

 

Although controversy is still trailing the primary election, following complaints by most of the aspirants, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has published the former senator’s name as the APC candidate. For Ugochukwu, he was a product of a parallel primary of a faction Anambra PDP led by Chukwudi Imeaba, a loyalist of his brother and self-styled godfather of the party, Chris.

 

The primary election of the other faction of the party produced Ozigbo as candidate. As it stands, none of the claimants to the PDP ticket was listed by INEC on the list it published on July 16, but An Anambra State High Court sitting in Awka, last week, declared Ugochukwu as the PDP candidate for the November 6 governorship election.

The court presided by Justice Obiora Nwabunike in a matter brought before it by  the former senator against Ozigbo, Anambra PDP and INEC, said the Imeaba faction of the party held its primary election in line with the guidelines of the party and that its standard bearer should be listed as the candidate by the electoral commission.

As expected, the Ozigbo camp and the national leadership of the PDP is crying foul play over the judgement, but should Ugochukwu triumph in the ongoing legal battle for the PDP ticket, he would be squaring up against his brother, Andy, in the battle for the Anambra government house.

Read Previous

‘Why peace is necessary in oil producing communities’

Read Next

UNILORIN don laments decline in reading habit in Nigeria

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *