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| Barrister Humphrey Anumudu |
The PDP leaders in the State, who do not want
to leave any stone unturned in the struggle to defeat the incumbent governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015, recently embarked on local government tour, where they interacted with their members and supporters. The tour also offered them the opportunity to sensitize their supporters at the grassroots level.
Besides, the leadership of the party has taken necessary steps to achieve their target. Recently, a general meeting of the party was convened in all the electoral wards in the State. They want to use the meeting to consolidate their structure at the ward level, an indication that they know full well the importance of grassroots’ support.
The party’s leadership is doing its best to win the state in 2015. But, it still has much to accomplish. Of course, how to get a credible candidate that will give the party victory in the 2015 governorship election in the State remains its greatest challenge. I say this because what determines its fate in 2015 is the kind of person it features as its flag bearer.
It should be noted that it is not always easy to defeat an incumbent governor. Therefore, any political party that wants to dislodge a sitting governor must choose a sellable candidate. The leadership of the party will not allow itself to be carried away by sentiments. It should critically assess all the aspirants and choose the one that will win votes.
Till date, about 30 persons have declared their interest to run for the governorship election under the PDP in the State. Some are serious, while some are mere jokers. It is the duty of the party to create an atmosphere for a credible candidate to emerge. I mean a candidate who has the capacity to win the governorship election, and also rule the people of the State well.
As a political analyst, I have, in collaboration with others, assessed all the aspirants of the party in the State, and came up with certain discoveries. First, we observed that a number of the aspirants have created enemies here and there, and will not get the people’s votes during the election.
Again, the people of Imo State have already shown that they are getting tired of the aspirants in question. They allege that they have occupied one political office or the other, and failed to deliver. They describe the aspirants as “failed politicians”, adding that they cannot vote for them in any election.
We equally discovered that, apart from those ones, there are few other aspirants in the party that can make a wave if allowed to fly the party’s flag in 2015.
Prominent among the silent and powerful aspirants is Chief Humphrey Anumudu. It has been proved that with Chief Anumudu, the PDP will certainly defeat the incumbent governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha in 2015. This is because the aspirant has all that it takes to politically dislodge Chief Okorocha if given the party’s ticket.
The Imo electorate had alerted that the PDP will fail if it picks somebody with questionable character as its candidate. They have said that any candidate that is not credible will fail at the polls.
With his clean records, Chief Humphrey Anumudu is apparently the most popular candidate. His antecedents showed that he is credible and reliable. Nobody in the State has found him wanting since he began the struggle for the governorship seat in 1999. He is largely known as a good party man. Of course, it is rare to get a politician that will do what he did for the growth of the party in 1999. Following his political history since 1999, I want to assert that he is the best man for the job.
Commenting on the politics of the State, a political leader from Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, Chief John Oguoma, said that Anumudu’s political style is quite incomparable. He enjoined the State chapter of the PDP and its delegates to pick him as their candidate for the 2015 gubernatorial election.
In the same vein, Chief S.N. Ugo described Anumudu as a successful businessman and stressed that he will bring his wealth of experience to bear in the administration of the State if elected the governor. He also stated that with Anumudu’s pedigree, Imo State will fare well under him.
While expressing hope that Anumudu may pick the party’s ticket, Ugo said that he has the political clout and experience to win the guber election in the State if given the chance.
I am not using this piece to promote Chief Anumudu’s political ambition. I only want to tell people what they should know about the Mbieri-born politician. With Anumudu, the PDP will achieve victory in 2015.
The leaders of the Imo PDP should not allow what happened in 2007 to repeat itself in 2015. In 2007, they refused to agree on a particular candidate because of the undue influence of some money-bag politicians. That mistake affected the party to a great extent, as it has never won any governorship election in the State since then. The party has been in the opposition since 2007, thereby creating a wide room for other parties to thrive in the State.
What is now in the lips of Imo people and PDP members in particular is the question of how to correct the mistake of 2015. Though, it may be corrected by the party delegates, but I still maintain that the party leadership in the State still has a big role to play. It is their duty to assess all the aspirants and field a candidate that will win votes.
To achieve this, the party’s leadership in the State has to be very careful. They should not place their individual interest above that of the party. The party will fail if they feature a candidate based on sentiment. Fielding a wrong and unpopular candidate for the election will not only cost them the governorship seat in 2015, it will also cost them other positions in the State. A word they say is enough for the wise.
Source: Sunnews
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