Appreciating Governor Obiano’s Pragmatic Approach To Politics

EGBUNA AMUTA

Prior to August 2013, when he won the gubernatorial primary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Anambra, Chief Dr. Willie Obiano, was virtually unknown in the political arena of the state, nay Nigeria. His emergence was actually facilitated by the fact that APGA had in 2010 adopted the zoning and rotation formula and resolved during the famous Nteje Accord that former Governor Peter Obi, would necessarily be succeeded by a person of Anambra North extraction in 2014. Luckily for the party, the Anambra electorate concurred with it and voted massively for Willie Obiano, who undoubtedly performed brilliantly in his first term. Consequently, he was overwhelmingly re-elected in November 2016 for his second tenure which would endure until March 17, 2022.

Apart from the fact that he delivered verifiable democracy dividends in his first term, Obiano demonstrated his political sagacity and organisational ability, hence his seamless resounding victory in all the twenty one local government areas of the state during the gubernatorial poll. He equally ensured that his party won twenty four out of the thirty seats in the state legislature during the re House of Assembly polls.
This is because the incumbent Anambra State Governor deliberately brought his experience as an accountant, investment banker and strategic planner to bear in his style of governance and politics. He recruited many professionals in the corporate world into his government and, unlike his predecessors brought greater number of politically conscious young persons from all electoral wards in the state into his administration. This has ensured that Akpokuedike, more than any other politician in Anambra history has the highest number of committed and motivated political foot soldiers and grassroots support base in the state.

Under Obiano’s watch as the National Leader and Board of Trustees Chairman of APGA, the party has evidently won more seats into the National Assembly, unlike previously. Ten members of the party would be sworn into the House of Representatives of the ninth National Assembly in June this year. Today, APGA has significant foothold in the legislatures of Anambra, Abia, Imo, Benue, Bayelsa, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Niger states as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, where it is governing the Gwagwalada Area Council. Save for the Southwest and Northeast, the All Progressives Grand Alliance is physically present in the Southeast, North Central,  NorthWest and South South geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

As a result of this positive development, APGA is no longer perceived as a regional political party.  It has indeed practically justified why it was registered as a national party by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. However, if not for paucity of funds and minor intra party squabbles generated by the party primaries especially in Imo and Abia states, APGA would have recorded more impressive performance in the 2019 general elections in the country.
That notwithstanding, the party still has the capacity to foray into more states in future elections. This is because, its present leadership is poised to correct mistakes made during last year’s primaries and also consolidate on the party’s gains in the last general polls.

It is worthy of note that despite APGA’s faux pas in Imo and Abia states, the choice of retired General John Gbor, a Tiv man from the Middle Belt region as its standard bearer in the February 23, 2019 presidential election paid off. General Gbor’s selection was a nostalgic reminder of the fruitful political alliance between the peoples of the Middle Belt and Southeast in the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP, in the country’s Second Republic.

Governor Obiano, who according to the APGA constitution is the National Leader and BOT Chairman of the party has with the National chairman of the party, Dr. Victor Ike Oye and their lieutenants apparently adopted pragmatism and dialogue as the best option in their relationship with other politicians and groups. This mature approach to politics was made popular in Nigeria by the first ceremonial president of the country, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who also led the now rested National Council of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC and Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP, respectively in the First and Second Republics. Obiano’s cordial and fruitful relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government is doubtlessly explained by his pragmatic and realistic approach to governance and politics. Despite the negative wishes of some cynics and anarchists who want him to be confrontational to the President Buhari, Governor Obiano does not allow political differences or affiliations to be an impediment to the socioeconomic well being of the masses. This is probably because he strictly believes in the postulation of a Western political thinker, Alexander Pope, who said; “for forms of government, let fools contend, whatever is best administered is best”.

With his style of leadership and responsiveness to the yearnings and aspirations of the people, Obiano is definitely poised to, sooner than later, take Anambra, Ndigbo and the All Progressives Grand Alliance to greater heights in Nigeria’s politics.

Egbuna Amuta, a Political Analyst writes from Onitsha, Anambra State.