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APRIL 23, 2007 VOL. 21. NO 2

Araraume’s Loss, Agbaso’s Gain

**Senator Ifeanyi Araraume**

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wields the big stick, expelling Senator Ifeanyi Araraume from its fold and unwittingly making Martin Agbaso of APGA governor of Imo State
By Eugenia Okpara, Owerri
The expulsion of the Senator representing Okigwe senatorial district in the National Assembly and governorship candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume, few days to the April 14, 2007 polls and the sacking of the State Executive led by Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo for alleged gross indiscipline and wanton violation of the party’s constitution rattled not a few political followers in the state.
The governorship candidate was also accused by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that took the decision to show him the way out of allegedly being disloyal to the party.
Nlemigbo and his fellow executive members were on their part accused of parading Araraume as the Imo State governorship candidate of the party, without clearance from the national leadership of the party after the Supreme Court judgement on the issue penultimate week.
Confirming the expulsion of the governorship candidate, President Olusegun Obasanjo who flew into Owerri around 4.30pm in a helicopter, on Tuesday, April 10, said that one person cannot be allowed to hold the party to ransom, adding that the party’s supremacy must be upheld in all situations.
He said that even though the party believes in the rule of law, it must instil discipline on its members, because according to him, what happened if allowed to continue would leave the party in tatters. He reiterated that the expulsion of Senator Araraume is aimed at maintaining discipline.
Obasanjo: “We believe in the rule of law. If a court makes pronouncement, whether good or bad, we must accept. If it makes a bad prouncement, we can appeal but if it is the Supreme Court, we have nowhere to appeal except to God. The People’s Democratic Party has party machinery where everybody must exploit. If we allow what happened to continue, the party will be in tatters”.
President Obasanjo, reiterating that Araraume was expelled because he showed indiscipline, said that the action means that members should not vote for him in the April 14 election.
He further stated that the party would go to any length to enthrone discipline, insisting that nobody will be allowed to hold the party to ransom in order to actualise the person’s selfish ambition and interest.
This confirmation by the party elicited confusion and sharp criticism from the people who questioned why it took the party so long to show that the party does not want him to fly their flag in the governorship polls.
Speaking earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Ahmadu Ali, revealed that Araraume was allegedly briefed about the secret report against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and was accordingly requested to step down – an advice which he refused to heed.
This statement immediately drew very sharp criticism from the crowd which queried why this vital information has never been made public until the Supreme Court upheld Araraume’s candidacy and most importantly when the election is just four days away.
They reasoned that the party chairman was just calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it, wondering why a ruling party like PDP with all the security agents and reports at its berk and call, would allow somebody in EFCC’s bad book to purchase their nomination form that enabled him contest the primaries last December.
Ali said also that PDP has complied with the Supreme Court order by withdrawing Chief Charles Ugwuh’s candidacy in accordance with the court order, but pointed out that by the expulsion of Senator Araraume and the withdrawal of Ugwuh’s candidacy, the party has no governorship candidate in Imo State for the Saturday, April 14, 2007 polls.
It is only natural that somebody must benefit from any crisis, either directly or indirectly, so it is with the expulsion of the flag-bearer.
As is expected from politicians, alignment and realignment talks began immediately the president and the national chairman confirmed the expulsion of the party’s candidate, which meant that the PDP has no governorship candidate in Imo as well as the sacking of the State Executive, with the Governor, Chief Achike Udenwa holding several meetings.
He met with an expanded Executive Council last Tuesday and all the traditional rulers in the State on Wednesday, where he reportedly instructed them to start immediate mobilisation for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate, Chief Martin Agbaso.
Udenwa: “Consequent on the decision of the National Working Committee of the PDP to expel Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and the withdrawal of the candidature of Chief Charles Ugwuh in obedience to the Supreme Court ruling, PDP has no candidate for the April 14 elections. To this end, therefore, the State PDP has upheld the candidature of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) flagbearer, Chief Martin Agbaso”.
Reacting to the expulsion of Senator Araraume, the chairman, Publicity Committee of Senator Araraume campaign organisation, Dr. James Okoroma, said in a press release that his principal’s offence was the adoption of lawful means to challenge the illegal substitution of his name with that of Ugwuh.
Okoroma said that it has become necessary to state that the expulsion is not only a flagrant violation of both the constitution of the party and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but also an infringement on the fundamental rights of the Senator.
His words: “It is imperative to state categorically here that the purported expulsion of Senator Araraume from the PDP is a flagrant violation of both the constitution of the PDP and the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria. This illegal expulsion is an infringement of the fundamental rights of the Senator as spelt out under section 36 of the 1999 Constitution. PDP’s decision to disregard the verdict of the Supreme Court on the Imo governorship ticket is a shameless affront to the laws of the land”.
Okoroma went further to state that a party that expels its members for going to court is indirectly encouraging anarchy, an illegality which he said his group will challenge as it will never be allowed to stand, warning “democracy cannot thrive in a situation where the rule of law is violated with impunity by a handful of men who hold the rest of us to ransom; might cannot always be right”.
The Director of the Araraume campaign organisation, Okenze Sylvester Obinna, briefing newsmen Wednesday on the official reaction of the campaign outfit to the expulsion of their principal said that the Senator is still very much in the race for the Saturday, April 14, 2007 governorship.
Obinna: “The Senator is very much in the race for the Saturday, April 14, 2007 governorship election. He never sued his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). People saying that he sued PDP do so out of ignorance”
On the comment by the party’s National Chairman that there is a report against him as a result of which he was told to step down, Obinna maintained that he has never heard about any report, noting that if there was any report that qualifies or disqualifies him as a Senator, it should also apply to the governorship election.
Stating that it is a case of injustice against Araraume, he said that the problem is a misunderstanding in the PDP family which will be resolved like other family problems, adding that he is not aware that the Senator was at any time invited by the party over the report as he enjoys good relationship with the party’s national leadership.
The Source recalls that the struggle for the control of the Imo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) machinery and structure, which culminated in the dissolution of the then State Executive led by Dr. Alex Obi and the imposition of a Caretaker Committee that later transformed into a substantive executive led by Chief Marcellinus Nlemigbo had degenerated into a serious crisis.
This crisis not only polarised the once strong united PDP into Abuja and home-based politicians, popularly called onongaono, but also created lack of confidence among the party stalwarts. This manifested during the ward congresses which went along the two major divides.
The crack in the party resurfaced during and after the December 13, 2006 PDP governorship primaries, as inspite of the smokescreen reconciliation, the onongaono used the adoption of Chief Charles Ugwuh, an engineer, as the party’s candidate for the governorship election to ensure that the Abuja group do not succeed the out-going governor, Udenwa.
Although the Chairman of the sacked executive, Nlemigbo was co-opted into the campaign machinery of Ugwuh as the State Chairman of the party, it was Dr. Obi that actually called the shots throughout the period that Ugwuh was a candidate.