All lovers of truth must worry about the news report emanating from a news conference by Senator Obinna Ogba held at his Nkalagu community home in Ishielu Local Government on Sunday wherein he ignominiously and fruitlessly justified the loss of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the general elections.
Obinna Ogba, a PDP member who is representing Ebonyi Central in the Senate, said that the party deservedly lost the 2023 general elections in Ebonyi state because of mismanagement of affairs by its National Working Committee (NWC).
He applauded the founding fathers of Ebonyi State for zoning the governorship position to Ebonyi North senatorial zone, adding that the emergence of Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the governor-elect is a divine arrangement.
“Whether we like it or not, Ebonyi is our state. Political parties are just vehicles to get to our destination. The leaders of the state decided that the north zone should produce the governor. The NWC of PDP for reasons best known to them shot itself in the foot. It decided to give the ticket to the incumbent governor’s cousin.” This has been Ogba’s mantra of defeat since he lost the PDP Primaries in 2022.
He is a very bad loser, indeed. But when he jumped out to contest the primaries, he never talked about being a cousin to his fellow Izzi aspirants. He was cocksure to circumvent the rotational principle for his selfish interest. It is only now that he lost that he quickly remembers that it was the turn of Nwifuru, his cousin from Ebonyi North Senatorial District.
It would not have been fitting for us to engage in any exchange of discourse with Ogba but for the deceitful attempt to arrogate to himself the undeserved recognition as an accessory to the ignoble and travestied exercise called election that took place in Ebonyi State on 18th of March 2023, the result of which Ogba would want to associate with as a facilitator. We therefore have the responsibility as decent and patriotic citizens to keep the records straight.
On the issue of equity, many have made presentations on the vexatious issue of equity in support of its application in 2023, all of which were fabricated on the ground of ignorance, deceit, mischief and sophism. Those involved in the irritant disposition are David Umahi, his cohorts, and mainly the people of Izzii who are being beguiled into believing he cares. He has made promises in the same manner a randy infatuated young man does. All logical parameters have been thrown aboard in an inordinate and sordid selfish-obsession.
On its face value, Governor Umahi’s presentation would seem innocuous but a thoughtful appraisal will reveal either a deliberate and covert disposition to sweep under the carpet the facts or a remote knowledge and awareness of the situation. In all, he succeeded in shrouding the principle, concept, purpose and process of ultimately deferring to equity in the body politic of Ebonyi State such that the non-participant in the process and the uninitiated will remain befuddled. It is equally obvious that he took the injurious path of pandering to mischief as a means of achieving an ignoble result.
Shortly before the creation of Ebonyi State, the Ebonyi State Movement constituted a committee to draft a charter of Equity to guide the allocation of positions to the two blocks of Abakaliki and Afikpo and stem likely disagreements that could occur after its creation. In spite of efforts made by the leaders of the movement to have the Ebonyi Charter of Equity whose contents were agreed on by the leaders of the movement endorsed, they could not append their signatures to the document to transform it to a working document. Unfortunately, the state was created with the document remaining inchoate.
The charter recognized that there are two blocks – Abakaliki and Afikpo, not senatorial zones that were eventually adopted against the spirit of the agreement – that would make up the state, and that whichever block that was favoured to host the capital city would yield to the other block the opportunity to produce the first governor. As Ebonyi State became a reality, it became certain that some of the leaders from the Abakaliki block were not sincerely interested in the charter.
As the military administration was winding up, a search for the first civilian governor ensued. Some of those who participated in drafting the charter spoke about the inconsequentiality of the document on the ground that it was not endorsed. The tenability of a gentleman’s agreement, into which the charter would have transformed to, was lost on those men. Consequently and eventually, the Abakaliki block forsook the now apparent gentleman’s agreement, resulting to Dr Sam Egwu becoming the first governor.
Notwithstanding, the governorship slot moved to Ebonyi Central District after Dr Egwu and eventually to the South. But it is not sacrosanct that the slot must return to the North to commence another round. Rather, all groups in our society should be given opportunity to consummate their socio-political rights irrespective of countervailing circumstances or systems.
If equity must thrive, and peace and progress flourish, there is the expedient need to exploit the operational mode of the system of credit contribution club called Isusu, a veritable indigenous source of capital formation among the Igbo of South East. The mode of operation is equity-based. In other words, every member enjoys fair and sustainable access to the funds according to the ballot. When the last person has benefitted, they proceed by the reverse order such that the last beneficiary takes the first slot in the next round. That is equity at work.
Many Ebonyians of good intentions have contended that competence, capability and credibility should be the yardstick to elect anyone aspiring to the office of governor of the state Ebonyi people truly deserve nothing but the best, most credible and competent hand it can get from any part of the state who understands the prevailing challenges of anthropogenic poverty, lack of human empowerment, health and educational deficiencies arising from poor policy planning and executions among other negative trends and its attendant consequences on the people, which Governor Umahi has aggravated.
Senator Obinna Ogba further said: “The people love PDP. It is just the management of the party. No other party is as strong as the PDP.” Perhaps, this is the only truth that has ensued from his septic mouth. The party won convincingly but obviously what happened in Abia State is a clue to the level of compromise to which the INEC subjected itself. Whereas the Abia returning Officer rejected the morbid inducement, in Ebonyi State, the reverse was the case.
Ogba, just like his ilk, Pius Anyim, lost in his polling booth. This rabidly angered him. We however, have information from impeccable source that while counting was going on the election day, he went about the polling booths destroying PDP ballot papers. This is a manifestation of his worthless political value even in his village.
During the Press Conference, Ogba noted that PDP leaders supported the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for equity and fairness in the state’s power rotation formula, adding that “Political parties are only avenues to get to various political destinations. He realized this only after he lost the party’s governorship ticket after a protracted legal tussle decided by the Supreme Court. Like the snake, Ogba has double tongues which move simultaneously at opposite directions from one side to another unleashing contradictory information.
On November 5, 2022, a news report by Daily Post newspaper captioned: 2023: Ebonyi PDP ex-guber aspirant Ogba sues for peace after Supreme Court loss
The former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ebonyi State, Senator Obinna Ogba at the weekend said he has forgiven those that betrayed him during the contest.
Ogba, who represents Ebonyi Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly, made this known while speaking with newsmen in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State.
Senator Ogba, who aspired to be governor of Ebonyi State in the forthcoming general election, discontinued his ambition after the Supreme Court struck out his request for a review of its September 14, 2022, judgment, that upheld Chief Ifeanyi Odii as the governorship candidate of PDP in the state.
According to him: “The Supreme Court gave a final judgement on the lingering matter emanating from the outcome of the 2022 Peoples Democratic Party primary election in Ebonyi State. The outcome of the judgement may not be what we wanted or what we worked hard for and I am sorry that we didn’t win this legal tussle for the values we share and [the] vision we had for Ebonyi State.”
He, however, affirmed that he will never dump PDP for any other party, especially as the 2023 general election approaches.
Ogba also announced the donation of his campaign office located along Ezza Road, Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State, to the Presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
He added: “On my political stand, I was first a human being before venturing into politics and I am a believer in politics of greater good for the greater number of our people and that is what the focus in the days ahead will be. Ebonyi people deserve peace, welfare and happiness.
“In every contest, the human plan is always to win but nature always has a way of letting us win some and lose some, most times, for a better alternative. I have forgiven those who in any way or manner willingly betrayed our just cause.”
However, Ogba was still dissatisfied. Consequently, he returned to the same court seeking a review of the September 14 judgment but was withdrawn by his counsel. Yet, he lost again.
Ogba is a peddler of falsehood, a merchant of distortions, irregularities and fraud. It is regrettable that Ogba will not be done with public exposure of his infamy. But it is not surprising that he would go to this length. Ogba was dismissed from the Police for gross misdemeanor. He was a Police Constable who joined the force with a First School Leaving Certificate, out of anger, after failing in his bid to be recruited as a Teacher by a former Chairman of Ishielu Local Government. And up till today, his educational qualification has never improved beyond the same level apart from false claims that are subject to litigation in the courts.
In a clime where decent conduct mattered, he would not have had any opportunity to serve in the sphere any public service, if not for former Military Governor of Ebonyi State, retired AIG Simeon Oduoye, who recruited him into political thuggery and later imposed him as the Chairman of Ishielu LGA.
Of course, he is well acknowledged in the business of perjury. The May 27, 2019 edition of The Tide newspaper reported inter alia: “The Ebonyi State Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, has set-up a 5-man committee to probe the emergence of Sen. Obinna Ogba, representing Ebonyi Central, and other contestants for the state Football Association (FA) elections”.
TideSports source reports that the June 1 election, has been shrouded in controversy over the alleged monopolisation of the process by Ogba, who is the incumbent Chairman and the Senate Committee Chairman on Sports.
Ogba, according to sports ministry sources, has occupied the seat for more than 10 years.The Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Mr Charlse Akpuenika, who inaugurated the committee, expressed dismay that he and other state’s sports stakeholders were not aware of the processes which led to the emergence of delegates and other activities concerning the election.
Sen. Ogba, in his press conference claimed, “Our presidential candidate (Atiku Abubakar) had no business contesting the election. It could have been left for an Igbo man. Even the presidential candidate (Atiku) is battling to reclaim his state,” adding that Atiku Abubakar should have allowed an Igbo man to fly the flag of the Party as the presidential candidate.
According to him: “The National Working Committee, NWC, deserves to be suspended, starting from the national chairman who lost his booth, ward and state. All the conspirators who gave tickets to those who understood their languages lost. This is arrant nonsense. Why is Ogba still concerned about PDP? Why is he so full of vendetta, simply because he was defeated in a primary election. Has he not defected to APC? He must not allow his state of mental turpitude to lure him into loitering about within the precincts of PDP. He has betrayed the party. He should be contented with his new party and talk less of PDP.
It is a substantiated knowledge that Obinna Ogba and Pius Anyim invidiously worked with Governor Nyesom Wike against the PDP. After their debasing and churlish activities on the side of the APC, men of such reprehensible character ought not open their mouth in public but should at all times hide their faces in shame. How could an Igbo man of South East extraction have won the PDP Presidential primaries when men like Ogba, Sen. Anyanwu and others, recruited as Wike’s foot soldiers had been used to hijack the party to undermine South East Presidency. Wike installed Anyanwu as PDP National Secretary. Even Anyim who pretended to be in the race had been settled by Nwike. So, who is fooling who?
Men without compunction and deficient in morals and capacity to respect norms of relationships and organizational patterns should not be found where decent persons ply their business. Ogba is an irredeemable embarrassment to party politics and decency as a principle. I expect that he and his ignoble friends should be seen as what they really represent – leprous appendages that must be abhorred.