Anambra: Parties roll out campaign teams

THE candidates of the various  political parties for the November 16 election have rolled out their campaign teams which are now working hard to sell their governorship hopefuls.

Shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the list of candidates and their deputies, the campaign teams began to emerge and from the teams so far named, it is obvious that the parties have selected gurus in marketing to put their candidates in good shape before the election.

Indeed, the feeling in Anambra State is that some of the candidates may actually throw in the towel before the date and ask their supporters to vote for their preferred candidates. Political analysts have narrowed the contest to be among five parties namely, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; All Progressives Congress, APC; Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA and Labour  Party, LP.

Ngige, APC; Obiano, APGA; Nwoye, PDP; Uba, Labour

Pat Orjiakor leads PPA’s onslaught

PPA’s Mr. Godwin Ezeemo has since named a formidable team with Chief Pat Orjiakor, the former Anambra State chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, as his campaign manager.

Ojiakor, who was at one point, the interim chairman of APC in the state, was also a former deputy chairman of Awka South Local Council.
Also in the campaign team is Dr. Nnamdi Godwin Nwakaozor, a former chairman of Idemili North Local Council, who is the director of administration.

Chief Okey Nwoke, a former secretary of the FCT chapter of ANPP is in charge of information and publicity. Nwoke was also the director of youth affairs for Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau presidential organization in 2011.

Others in the Ezeemo campaign team are Dr. Peter Ejikeme (director, planning and strategy), Comrade Elochukwu Ofili (director, protocol and general duties) and Mr. Bernard Okonkwo (director of finance and supplies).

Ezeemo, while inaugurating the committee in Awka, said they were appointed based on their individual track records in mobilizing the people at the grassroots and urged them to ensure that every member of the party was carried along during the campaign.

Uzodike anchors the race for Obiano

For the ruling APGA, Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Chief Joe Martins Uzodike is the director general for the candidate, Chief Willy Obiano. Both Uzodike and Obiano have something in common.

First, they both attended the famous Christ the KingCollege, CKC, Onitsha in the 1970s. Secondly, they won the then popular J.F.Kennedy Essay Competition as students of CKC at different times.

Uzodike was a practicing advertising practitioner before he was appointed a commissioner in the state. The appointment has been approved by Governor Peter Obi, APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh and Obiano.

Muoghalu returns to the trenches for Ngige

APC has appointed Chief George Muoghalu, the former national secretary of All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and former governorship candidate of the party in AnambraState as Senator Chris Ngige’s campaign committee’s chairman.

Muoghalu has a formidable team that includes Governors Rochas Okorocha, Adams Oshionmole and Rauf Aregbeshola, among others, as well as the Asiwaju himself, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Like Uzodike, Muoghalu is an advertising practitioner of note.

Nwoye assembles a crack team

The Tony Nwoye Campaign Organization already has former secretary to the Anambra State Government, Prince Okey Ezenwa as the director general, with a former deputy speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Chief Kelue Molokwu; and a legal practitioner, Mr. Clems Ezike, among others, as members of the team.

Though the development that saw the INEC’s removal of Nwoye’s name from the list as the PDP candidate jolted most members of the party, Ezenwa is optimistic that the issue would soon be resolved. To him, it is a temporary set back that will soon be resolved in Nwoye’s favour

Ubah enlists ace columnist, Nkemjika

The LP candidate, Ifeanyi Ubah, has assembled a powerful team made up of media practitioners and marketers.

One of the men dictating the pace at the campaign directorate is Nkemjika, a well known columnist who has since relocated to Nnewi, Ubah’s hometown from where he is calling the shots.

Okorocha engineered manipulation in APC primaries — Ezeemo

Meanwhile, the PPA Candidate, Mr. Godwin Ezemo, has accused Governor Okorocha of masterminding  the manipulation of the APC’s primaries that saw Senator Ngige winning the ticket of the party.

Addressing reporters in Awka, Ezemo, who spoke through the director of media and publicity of his campaign organization, Chief Okey Nwoke, said that but for the external influence, which he said came mainly from those who believe they own APC he would have won the primaries convincingly.

He said: “Initially, Ezemo wanted to serve the people of Anambra State on the platform of ACN which later became APC, but unfortunately the primaries of the party was highly manipulated because the people were afraid of Ezemo who, it was obvious, was going to win.

“It was unfortunate that people from outside the state came here to dictate to our people who will govern them. They stayed in a hotel and came up with mind-boggling figures and that was why Ezemo decided to pursue his governorship ambition in PPA.

“APC is substantially controlled by people from outside the state without recourse to the party’s constitution. In PPA, the situation is different because nobody will shortchange us, in addition to the fact that the party has good programmes for Nigerians.”

…Okorocha’s relocation  ‘ll not save Ngige — Obiano

2:58 AM