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The Travails of Andy Uba By Nneka Okoye-Bello
To keen observers of the political interplays in Nigeria, Anambra State since its August 1991 creation has not failed to produce it share of political intrigues with each political season. The intrigues particularly had turned overbearing with the recent rounds of political intrigues that found its tentacles gripping the former senior special advisor on domestic matters to the former president of Nigeria in the person of Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba. Gripping the person of Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba in a manner depicting the characteristics of a love/hate relationship developed largely over his servitude to the former president of Nigeria. This love/hate relationship with Nnamdi Uba which developed and continue to ferment carelessly without most of its victims getting to know the man, in essence provided Nnamdi Uba a God sent opportunity to showcase his person, as a man with many cat lives.
The recent Federal Appeals Court ruling in Enugu which reversed the tribunal ruling that nullified the gubernatorial election and the inauguration of the then Governor-elect Nnamdi Uba, brought about the latest sneak peek into the many cat lives in the man, Nnamdi Uba. This is in addition to a gallant reengineering of the Anambra Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] to quickly recover from the near disabling coup launched by the trio of Tony Nwoye [the former Anambra PDP Chairman], Chuma Nzeribe and Emeka Offor following the Supreme Court ruling that temporarily cast a dark light on the Nnamdi Uba’s political machinery. And it was indubitably a revelation of the gallant recovery by the leader of PDP in Anambra from a voracious and cowardly betrayal.
To most, gallant recoveries from political betrayals has however not been a new experience for the PDP leader in Anambra. The period leading to the eve of the elections of 2007 served up a heap of political suicide missions targeted squarely at the political train of Nnamdi Uba. Both via the electronic media and via the print media, it was a bazaar of political and personal attacks on the person of Nnamdi Uba. This was achieved through massive mobilization of his political enemies, which aligned with the ongoing battle between Atiku and Obasanjo.
And in the world of the political opponents of Nnamdi Uba, it did indeed look gloomy in the offing of the electoral exercise as opponents within PDP and enemies of Obasanjo joined forces to orchestrate and implement what they calculated would result to the downfall of the Nnamdi Uba’s political machinery in Anambra and within PDP. Using paid political writers and investigators, a lot of hoopla was rained over a synthesized education certificate scandal, a synthesized family fracas, a rumored standoff with Obasanjo and a $45,000 undisclosed to the US customs while visiting the United States of America in late 2003. A lot of work was also put into synthesizing a nonexistent threat to Nnamdi Uba’s gubernatorial aspiration by the list of paid political writers and/or columnists. But like a pack of cards it all collapsed and failed. And their failure to halt Nnamdi Uba’s political train not only showcased Nnamdi Uba as a man with many cat lives but also showed a man hunted by political betrayals in the hands of political personalities who he virtually brought out from the political latrines of Anambra State into the public arena - the likes of Dr. Chris Ngige and others.
The post gubernatorial elections of April 14, 2007 and the eventual ascension of Nnamdi Uba to the office of governorship following the inauguration of May 29, 2007 and the swearing in by the Chief Judge of Anambra State in the person of Justice Nri-Ezedi, saw another political jolt through the hands of the Supreme Court judgment of June 14, 2007. The political jolt came as a surprise to ardent political observers in Nigeria and particularly to Nnamdi Uba who was seated at a meeting in the Anambra State Exco Chambers when the news of his ouster broke. And with the newsbreak, it seemed the end of Nnamdi Uba’s political career. Many proudly counted him out of the runnings while other bonifide diehard followers of Andy Uba struggled to sustain their followership through a light which Nnamdi Uba promised was shining at the end of the tunnel.
The promised light shining at the end of the political tunnel proved sadly abortive as the leader of Anambra PDP took the case back to the Justices of the Supreme Court in September 2006 seeking a review of the judgment that truncated his gubernatorial stay in Anambra and returned Mr. Peter Obi to the seat of governor. The effort proved abortive by the eventual reaction by the Supreme Court justices to strike out the request to review the case of which Nnamdi Uba had presented citing that Justice Aderemi was biased and incestuously involved in the case to have possibly rendered a transparent judgment. The Supreme Court also failed to honor the request brought forth by Nnamdi Uba that stated that the Supreme Court rendered its judgment beyond the markers requested by Mr. Peter Obi. And with this development, the political spinners went to bat. The downfall of the former special aide to President Obasanjo was being celebrated by all the political opponents of Obasanjo and wishy-washy supporters of Nnamdi Uba. It seemed for the moment, an insurmountable hill to climb to reclaim his relevance in Anambra politics.
Already, private talks urging Nnamdi Uba to graciously bow out of the political play in Anambra and PDP were widespread in the various corners of Anambra State and of the various political forums dominated by Anambra people and issues. Even prominent personalities were reported to have chimed in on the talks. And it is in the spirit of these roundabout talks that emboldened some operatives within Anambra PDP to initiate a plot to overthrow Nnamdi Uba as the leader of Anambra PDP. In their minds and in their calculus, Nnamdi Uba’s political stocks has dwindled too low to continue as the leader of Anambra PDP.
With the unfortunate circumstance which Nnamdi Uba found himself, a minority within the executive members and some other greedy chieftains of the Anambra PDP which he single-handedly mounted to the various positions of servitude began the orchestration of the now infamous plot to unseat Nnamdi Uba. Through this, former Anambra State Chairman of PDP, Tony Nwoye who Nnamdi Uba brought out of obscurity to mount to the position of Chairmanship, became emboldened by what he believed was Nnamdi Uba’s last dance. This was the case also with Sir Emeka Offor who Nnamdi Uba rescued from the retributive attacks via Obasanjo during the gory days of war between Atiku and Obasanjo. Sir Emeka Offor was considered Atiku’s man and for that reason was at the verge of facing massive punishment from the federal government against his various business interests. Sir Emeka Offor in light of what seemed to him as Nnamdi Uba’s downfall, nonetheless began calling for secret meetings of PDP stakeholders in Anambra State, of which saw the attendance of the likes of - Ken Emeakayi [one time PDP state chairman], Tony Nwoye [former PDP state chairman], Hon. Afam Obi [current deputy speaker Anambra State Assembly], Hon. Chuma Nzeribe [Member – house of representatives], Senator Annie Okonkwo and many others. The series of meetings which was rumored to be financed by the business mogul, Sir Emeka Offor were timed appropriately to reap from the perceived political misfortunes of Nnamdi Uba. But at the wake of its implementation it failed to achieve its aim.
A PDP insurgency in effect resulted from the various meetings as the time for PDP ward congresses come about. Tony Nwoye in cohorts with Chuma Nzeribe and Annie Okonkwo proceeded to launch their first attack on Nnamdi Uba, believing that Nnamdi Uba has lost his grassroots support. Using the miscalculation that Nnamdi Uba has lost his grassroots base, Tony Nwoye proceeded to refuse the congress planning committee list which was agreed upon by the State Party publicly in a PDP meeting held at the PDP Secretariat in Awka. With this, there was no going back for Tony Nwoye. He found his mistakes too late to amend. And to the watchers of political goings on in Anambra State, it depicted a clear political suicide. Fortunate for Nnamdi Uba, the support from the PDP grassroots in Anambra helped overcome the ill feted attack by the coup attempters. The grassroots support enjoyed by the PDP leader gave buoyancy to the hard-line Nnamdi Uba followers within PDP and thus sucked the life out of the ensuing PDP insurgency before it started. And a successful PDP congress followed and saw the election of a new PDP State executive headed by the new chairman in the person of Barrister Bright Nnebedum.
What nailed the coffin shot on the PDP insurgency is the legendary victory at the federal court of appeals in Enugu which revalidated the 2007 gubernatorial victory along with the swearing in and inauguration of May 29, 2007. It added a rejuvenated political life into Nnamdi Uba’s sails and brought back a highly needed overpowering relevance into the political maneuverings of Anambra State - enough to withstand the charge of political betrayers. Enough to lead the south east delegation to the PDP zonal caucus in Enugu that saw the election of a Nnewi man as the PDP vice chairman of South East. Good riddance!
In summary, a cursory examination into the ups and downs in the political life of Nnamdi Uba appears to portray the typical characteristic of the Clintonian political style. The Clintonian political style was coined following the political travails of 42nd President of America by name William Jefferson Clinton. President Bill Clinton, as popularly referred to, underwent his share of political ups and downs in a manner that dwarfs that of Nnamdi Uba. Due to his talented comebacks from the countless political betrayals that nearly threatened to end and/or smear his political career, he was nickname the comeback kid. And to date, President Clinton is considered arguably the most popular president in the history of the United States of America largely because of the gallant nature with which he recovered with each political rainstorm. A comparison of both Clinton and Uba may show similarities. Although the comparison of the travail of Nnamdi Uba and William Clinton may appear tangentially premature in terms of geography and time in service judging by Nnamdi Uba’s tender political experience compared to the retired William Clinton, however the stripes and patterns are undeniably similar. In William Jefferson Clinton’s case, his travails lifted his sails politically, and in the case of Nnamdi Uba his travails did not deflated his sails. Perhaps with time, it will become certain that Nnamdi Uba has in effect become the come back kid of Anambra State politics.
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