Amongst Umeh, Udeh, Ndukwe … who does the cap fit?

AS The Anambra South Senatorial representation garners momentum, feelers seem to have settled on three confirmed interests within the APGA fold. As of time of writing, three aspirants have so far obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms from the party secretariat in Awka.

Maja Umeh, the formal commissioner for Information under Chief Peter Obi’S Anambra State needs little, if any, introduction. His stint within ex-governor Obi’s governing council was devoid of any controversy neither was he ever fingered for nonperformance. No right-thinking Anambrarian would hold anything against Chief Umeh’s aspiration. He has the requirements and enough pedigree to become a senator.



So does Chief Okey Udeh, a former deputy governor and ex-congressman. Even when Chief Udeh’s short stint as the state’s second-in-command was on the poisoned chalice of a stolen mandate, it wasn’t entirely his fault that a journey which started with Dr Chris Ngige ended prematurely that moment Dr Ngige was kidnapped in the aftermath of the deepest of Godfather/Godson chasms that threatened Anambra State to its very foundations. Dr Udeh’s attempt to benefit from the impossible-to-amend feud between ‘father’ and ‘son’ hit the rocks as the embattled Ngige recovered, just in time, to oust his deputy via the State Assembly. Dr Udeh’s impeachment paled to lesser news when Dr Ngige was equally sacked via the courts. Despite his involvement at this very moment when Anambra State entered the darkest history side of excessive political impasse, Dr Udeh shouldn’t really be singled out for condemnation. He still has all the pedigree to be a senator, after all, his master on whose shoulders every crime of that mandate theft rested on has already enjoyed four years in the upper chamber of the nation’s Congress. And the white-bearded one is jostling to extend that stay even when those four years he had cornered already have been viewed by those who know as uncharacteristically quiet, if not dumb.

Then there’s Dr. Ernest Ndukwe the ex-NCC boss, whose ten-year stint as CEO of the Commission galvanized a revolution in Nigeria’s communication sector never imagine attainable … from when it was ‘not meant for the poor’ to now where over 80 million Nigerians enjoyed the modern GSM technology. While assiduously moving Nigeria from near zero efficiency in the telecommunication hemisphere to 100% efficiency, Dr. Ndukwe had cause to report to three Nigerian presidents where none ever found him wanting. While challenges poured in, the electrical/electronics engineering graduate of University of Ife had cause to report to various senate committees on communication, senate presidents, et al. While he admirably became the nation’s bacon on whose shoulders rested the fulcrum of new Nigeria, the Oraifite-born technocrat garnered friends in high places. Those friends, those contacts are highly, if not compulsorily, needed to help attract both Federal and International presence in both the zone and Anambra State in general.



In a pool of three qualified individuals, it is glaring, if not overwhelmingly clear, that Dr. Ndukwe towers. People like Ndukwe don’t come to the podium every day. When they do come, it is the duty of the people to quickly grab the opportunity. Anambra State should not hesitate to usher in another vibrant senator, a quality representation that has eluded her since that moment she lost the charisma and doggedness of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo. The vision, the passion, the pedigree and the connections to lighten up the upper chamber are all openly visible in this man who has been tested and found trustworthy in every sphere of our sustainable growth as a nation.

And more, the struggle to get to Abuja does not just end with APGA primaries…there is still the incumbent, Senator Andy Uba, who has been representing the zone since last four years under the platform of PDP….he has the resources, the reach, the connections to steal another one from APGA if not appropriately checked. Of the three APGA candidates, the party evidently stands the best chance with the man who equally has enough resources, reach and even more connections at required places to wrestle it from Uba and the PDP. Dr Ndukwe is APGA’s head on which the senate cap appropriately fits in Anambra South.