I stumbled upon a news publication where Dr. George Moghalu who is the Managing Director of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and one of the governorship aspirants in the just concluded APC governorship primary, was asking a Federal High Court in Abuja to among other reliefs, delist the name of the governorship candidate of APC in Anambra State, Senator Andy Uba and that of APC itself from list of gubernatorial candidates and political parties that would contest in the November 6 governorship election.
To say the least, I was gobsmacked! My bewilderment was not because I have not seen where someone sued his opponent or party to register his dissatisfaction over a process, it was rather due to the manner in which Dr. George Moghalu without qualms boldly asked the court to DELIST HIS POLITICAL PARTY (APC) and bar its candidate from participating in the November 6 governorship election. Dr. Moghalu is in essence begging the court to come and demolish his house!
I want to believe that he didn’t think through this properly before embarking on this judicial voyage, otherwise he would have reminded himself that he is presently heading an important government agency (some would say, juicy agency) courtesy of the same party he wants the court to delist. This is from the back of being a National Auditor of our great party. If there is anybody who would want the downfall of APC, it is certainly not Dr. George Moghalu but here we are. While it is within his right to sue anybody or anything ‘sueable’, it is patently foolhardy and in bad taste for such a major beneficiary of APC’s benevolence to seek the downfall of his benefactor. Even such benevolence from the party to Moghalu has been unmerited as he has never won his polling booth for the APC talkless of his ward. How he now wants to take such benevolence for granted is mind befuddling.
Did it occur to Dr. George Moghalu (or his advisers) that if in the unlikely event that the court grants his reliefs and APC misses out on the ballot for the November 6 poll, he will be the first casualty of APC’s misfortune. It means another party will be in charge of Anambra State and come 2023, APC will likely not win any NASS or State Assembly seat and may not muster up to 25% of the votes in the presidential election. At a time Igbos are working hard to realize an Igbo presidency project, a major stakeholder in APC is working hard to push APC out of the ballot and later he will still turn around and demand that APC zones its presidential ticket to the South East. Is this not confusion at its most confused state?
Another part of the reliefs Dr. Moghalu is asking the court to grant him that I find amusing is the award of ‘N122.5 million general and exemplary damages’ to him to cover the cost of his form purchase and other sundry expenses. I don’t want to dwell much on that anyway but I am tempted to believe insinuations from many quarters that Dr. George Moghalu relied heavily on NIWA and a fellow aspirant from Nnewi to prosecute most of his pre-primary election campaigns, which means if there is anybody that needs refunds or damages, it is NIWA and that aspirant. I just pray this is not true.
Finally, there is a saying that he who comes to equity must come with CLEAN HANDS. Dr. George Moghalu is claiming he is coming to equity for justice. The question one would ask is, ‘are Dr. George Moghalu hands clean?’. If we go by the shoddy manner in which the APC Registration Exercise was carried out in Nnewi North which is his local government area, then one would be in agreement with the news that he was just a front for another aspirant from Nnewi who is alleged to have heavily settled Moghalu. It was also alleged that Dr. George Moghalu was frequenting Abuja in the build up to the primary and even shared around N500 million to some ‘power brokers’ money he cornered from that particular aspirant from Nnewi in Abuja to ensure he gets the ticket by all means. So, tell me, where is the cleans hands which equity demands?
What Moghalu’s suit tells us is that having lost his bid to becoming a surrogate candidate for a particular aspirant, he now wants to acheive the APC’s defeat through the courts, thus APC supporters in Anambra State must be wary of such a party functionary who is in the business of playing anti-party politics for their private pockets.
The events leading to our party, the APC losing out in Zamfara State in 2019 is still fresh in our memories where Senator Kabir Marafa effectively made sure APC lost the governorship seat it won through a landslide because he felt aggrieved. It is due to sheer diplomacy that we recently got Zamfara back to the APC fold. I therefore want to ask, is Dr. George Moghalu, MD NIWA trying to become Anambra’s MARAFA?
Only time will tell.
Okey Okeke writes from Nnewi
