MY BATTLE FOR SENATE SEAT, BY CHRIS ANYANWU
Senator Chris Anyanwu representing Imo East in the Senate on the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has declared that not minding the fact that many of her colleagues could not retain their seat for second term in the senate, the next Senate would be robust because most of the senators are true representatives of their constituencies.
While narrating her role in delivering Imo people from the political slavery the Ohakim administration subjected them to, she applauded the people of the state for embracing change, which, according to her, Owelle Rochas Okorocha represents.
In this interview with Daily Sun, Sen. Anyanwu equally commended President Jonathan for appointing Senator Pius Anyim as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)
Excerpts:
Congratulations on your re-election. What is your take on our democracy in view of the just-concluded general elections?
I think my election and the successful conduct of the elections in Nigeria by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes to show that democracy could be bright if people pay attention and if they persevere. I foresee our democracy deepened with time.
Imo State became the focus as the people's votes counted. What does this portend for our democracy?
What happened in Imo is like, the people had been asleep but an awakening to their rights happened and they said 'never again, this can't go on'. It came like a revolution; the pain and repression that had been there for a long time suddenly exploded; that was what we experienced in the governorship election.
Your movement from PDP to APGA was a bold step and it came shortly before the election. What inspired you?
My movement from PDP to APGA happened as far back as January this year; it was not too soon, the election was three months away. Yes, I will agree with you that it was a very short time to catch on. A lot of adjustments had to happen very fast and you know in this business just like any other business, even in a war situation, which I think in a way it was, you had to be very fast in adjusting; you change your orientation, you are not fidgety in any way. The changes were much; you have to understand the trajectory of this whole journey.
It was a very long journey for me. At a time I was secure in PDP but PDP was in trouble in Imo State and we spent energy and so much time trying to get our act together within PDP family. At a time, it looked as if we were going to reconcile. Efforts were made at reconciling the PDP family but it was impossible, because we had a governor that knew all and it was his word or no other person and you will live only if he wants you to live and you will die if only he wants you to die.
He made up his mind what he wanted in PDP. He wanted to reshape PDP in his own image and some of us did not fit into the kind of personalities he wanted in PDP. So, he did everything to force his will on us and when he found out that it was impossible to force us out before the primaries, he went into outright devilish kind of roguery in the primaries. They actually stole my votes, stole my victory in the primaries and we felt that because there was problem at the national level of the party; at that time you know the PDP chairman was edged out and things started happening, the party at the national level could not focus on the crisis in the Imo State PDP and so just as it was in many other states, a lot of people who were supposed to be PDP candidates ended up not being candidates.
This, I will say was one of reasons responsible for electoral fortunes of other political parties at the National Assembly. Some of the best PDP legislators were edged out due to internal crisis in the PDP. For me, I had to find a home, but I also knew that in the process before, I had been with a group of PDP members who later ended in ACN but I told them I wouldn't go to ACN. I wanted to fight it out with the PDP. I had to make adjustments to get a platform to run. I settled for APGA. It was clear that when I joined APGA, even PDP people supported me and eventually voted overwhelming for me. Again, I was sure that those within the PDP that headed for ACN also wanted me and so I said we have to test our popularity in a general election.
Right from the onset, it was very clear that the governor was trying to stop me from presenting myself to the larger population and I felt it was necessary I went to the people for them to make that decision and that is what democracy is all about. That is why you have provision for independent candidates in the constitution of some countries. What this is all about is that, even though you don't find accommodation in a party, you have a platform on which you as a person can stand up and say vote for me, because I have done this and that or I have these credentials. I will say my candidacy was all about testing democracy and asserting the rights of individuals to present themselves to their people for consideration and affirmation.
Would you say your victory was instrumental to the emergence of okorocha as governor-elect?
Look, I don't want to go into what you are asking me. My victory deepened democracy; that is what I am saying. It gave people the right to say whom they want and whom they don't want; it put the power in the hands of the people. So power has gone back to the people, not to the hands of individuals or elite groups or little power circles that ascribe to them the right of the people to decide.
What we have had so far has been that you had some power cliques run away with our democracy and ascribe themselves the power of the people to decide who will come and who will go; and who would be elected. In fact, they were not allowing our people elect their candidates; rather they will go into their bedrooms and write results, forge documents and do thumb printing. That was the tradition we met in my state and I am sure in many other states; but my election, this election, now stopped all that. It gave the people back their right and emboldened them to assert their right to vote. Let me repeat, or say that ultimately, power lies with the people. They must decide; nobody, no group must go into their rooms and write results for the people and impose persons of their choice on the people as their representatives or leaders. That is the most refreshing thing and that is the lesson for the emergence of our candidate, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
How do you rate INEC on the just-concluded elections?
No one tree can make a forest. Jega had good intentions and he laid out all plans; he made efforts to have good outing, but you see the system is filled up with people who do not share his dream. And the system was corrupted in the process. Look, I will tell you where elections were allowed to happen: at the booth level and that was where we got close to what is expected.
In many cases, people hid the materials and went and wrote them and when you study some of these results you see especially high numbers that emanated from such places. But I would say that at the booth level, where elections were allowed to happen, that was where we got close to what we expected. But at the collation stage, it was terrible because they ran away with the whole process. That is where corruption happened; people were bribed and they rewrote the figures.
For instance if you had 24/7 they will go and add one in the front. From the collation centres, the elections were not perfect and I think if there is anywhere a lot needs to be done to improve our electoral process, it is at the collation centres. I cannot give kudos to INEC right now because of the massive errors they made at the collation centres.
What to expect from the next Senate
I have been in the trenches fighting a war that happily had been won by the people and the fire is still on and I am touching base with the National Assembly for the first time in weeks. I have not fully studied who scaled through and who did not, but what I do know is that some of the brightest legislators are not coming back and that is a huge loss to Nigeria because the number of people coming back is too small for you to maintain a certain level of continuity. You see, a lot of funds go into capacity building; a lot of us went for courses in Harvard and Oxford.
South-East caucus and demand for principal office
President Jonathan did well by appointing former Senate president, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as SGF and this is in line with the request of South-East elders that somebody from that zone be appointed to fill one of the principal offices. And as a season lawmaker with vast experience, he will deliver in his new appointment.
What Rochas will do for Imo?
Rochas is on rescue mission in Imo. Without doubt, we all know that Rochas is for transformation. He came here to rescue the place, the place was going down; we were losing that place. And I kept saying that Nigerians should pay attention to what is happening in Imo State. We saw the whitewashing of a very rotten core in the eyes of the public. Nothing was happening.
Not much was happening, the level of performance was below average, the state of affairs terrible, the people were suffering and they were repressed and nowhere in this world have I seen an election for someone who is going for re-election to subject people to the kind of terror. He put the traditional rulers under threat, ordinary voters under threat; they had to hide and all that. It was a terrible situation and the people just suffered so much in silence, but I'm so proud of Imo people for saying 'enough is enough'. I know that by the grace of God, the people's governor in Imo State, Okorocha and the APGA government will work for the good of the people.