• Has Enough Men To Galvanise Support For PDP
• Sambo, Tukur, Others Storm Anambra For Nwoye
The Presidency yesterday denied rumours that President Goodluck Jonathan was under pressure “to stay away and play safe in the highly combustible politics of Anambra State and, therefore, be absent at the campaign flag-off of Mr. Tony Nwoye, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in Saturday’s election.
Responding to the allegation that the President’s official trip abroad within the period of the “campaign launch,” was a tactful means of avoiding being present to please his political friends in the state, President Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Mr. Doyin Okupe, said there was “no such thing.”
Okupe, who responded to a text message from The Guardian, said “Mr. President is out of the country on official visit to Namibia and will be returning from Gambia later today (yesterday),” the same day the flag-off was taking place.
A source within the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) had, on Friday in Awka, disclosed that “Mr. President would not be attending Nwoye’s official campaign flag off owing to strategic political considerations that make it quite risky for him to be in Anambra to scout for votes for the PDP candidate.”
Vice President Namadi Sambo, who was visiting the State for the second time, stood in for the President.
The source disclosed that some “well-entrenched interests” in the Presidency wanted to pressure the President into attending the party event in line with his similar visit to Benin during the recent governorship election in Edo State; “but political strategists in the Presidency convinced him that Anambra was a different ball game from Edo.”
For instance, the source said, “a good number of financiers of Jonathan’s presidential campaign are from Anambra State. And unless one wanted to be myopic, you cannot discount the incumbent Governor’s support for President Jonathan over the years. At last, reason prevailed that it would amount to dividing Mr. President’s friends and supporters if he comes to side with his party.
He noted that the pressure by those who wanted President Jonathan to attend the function was also doused by the claim that if he (Mr. President) goes to Awka it would confirm speculations by Prof. Soludo’s supporters that Mr. President failed to campaign for him in 2010 because he did not want to have anything to do with the former CBN governor.
The source added that the former Special Assistant to the President on Technical Matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, has been working quietly behind the scene winning new friends for President Jonathan, pointing out that the electoral worth of persons like Senators Ben Ndi Obi, Annie Okonkwo and Prince Ken Emeakayi have been harvested by Nwankpo for Jonathan’s cause.
“So it would not be wise for President Jonathan to come campaigning in Anambra when you have people like Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah and Peter Obi’s candidate, Dr. Willie Obiano, running for the same office as Nwoye,” the source declared.
He said the mindset of President Jonathan is that Anambra people should elect their governor without adventitious advantages and that whoever emerges on November 16, 2013 should acknowledge the contribution of the President’s electoral reforms to his victory and cooperate with him to push further the transformation agenda for the development of Nigeria.
Attempts by The Guardian to cross check the facts with Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo could not yield immediate results as the former Special Assistant and Secretary to the SURE-P committee told the reporter on phone to “call me back on Monday, so we can talk.”
But a reliable source in the state said the President would visit Anambra on Thursday for Nwoye’s campaign, a claim, which Okupe said he could not confirm. “Sorry, I cannot. (I) Don’t have information on that. Thanks,” was his response in an SMS exchange.
On his official response to the allegation that President Jonathan was “advised to stay away and play safe from the highly combustible Anambra politics,” the Special Adviser said: “No such thing. Mr. President runs an extremely tight schedule of national and international importance in the overall interest of the Nation.
“The PDP is the strongest (political) party in the land and has more than its fair share of men and women of means and stature that can, on behalf of Mr. President, unleash effective political machinery to galvanise support in Anambra.”
Meanwhile, PDP stalwarts from across the nation stormed the State, yesterday, to support Nwoye, who successfully flagged off his campaigns.
Those who were at the event held at the Alex Ekwueme Park Awka, were Vice President Namani Sambo, the party National Chairman, Alhaji Bamangu Tukur, former National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmadu Ali, the National Vice Chairman South-East, Col. Austin Akubundu (rtd), former Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, National Publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metu, National woman leader Amb. Kema Chikwe and the Anambra State PDP Chairman, Prince Ken Emeakayi.
Others are senator Hope Uzodimma, member PDP BOT, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dakwambo, Mrs. Josephine Anene, among others .
In his keynote address, Sambo said that Anambra PDP made a wise decision to pick Tony Nwoye as governorship candidate, saying he was chosen by God, who crowns. “Nwoye has the wisdom to take Anambra to greater heights, we need a youth as governor.
“He is the governor that will move Anambra forward and to progress. He will work with President Goodluck Jonathan to industrialise Anambra State”, he said, insisting that PDP is ready to take over the Government House in Awka.
Source: Guardian
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