Barely 24 hours after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced the commencement of the sale of nomination forms for Anambra gubernatorial primaries to pick its flag bearer, Professor Charles Soludo, the former CBN Governor, Friday, picked nomination forms.
Soludo picked his nomination forms just as other governorship aspirants; Chuma Nzeribe, Kodilichukwu Okelekwe and Emeka Nwandu, also picked up the governorship forms on Friday after paying the mandatory fees of five million naira and N250, 000 for the nomination form and expression of interest respectively.
Our source told us another aspirant, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah also picked nomination forms but Andy Ubah has not picked the PDP Forms.
Ubah is at the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division asking it to issue an order restraining INEC from conducting fresh elections on the grounds that although the Supreme Court asked him to vacate the office for Obi to enable him complete his tenure, it did not nullify his 2007 election as governor of Anambra State.
His prayer is to simply take over when Obi completes his term next March.
The PDP Form is selling at N5 million, while the expression of interest form goes for N250, 000. This has set the ball rolling towards the emergence of its candidate for the February 6, 2010 gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
The sale of the expression of interest and nomination forms commenced Thursday, while deadline for the submission of the forms is September 14. Screening of the aspirants will commence on September 14 and 15.
On Wed. Sept. 9th 2009 at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja (Lagos Hall), Soludo had an opulent party to celebrate his exit from the Central Bank. The former CBN governor, under whose watch and connivance the Nigerian banking industry came to the brink of collapse, celebrated what was meant to launch his bid to become governor of Anambra State.
The party was held with a small group of people, most of them Nigerians with shady pasts or ties to Soludo during his tenure as CBN governor. People like Chief Anenih, Alhaji Mangal and Jonathan Zwingina.
The Anambra PDP chapter has nearly 70 party members who have indicated interest to contest for governor under the party’s platform.
Prior to the Soludo entry, the leading PDP aspirants in the Anambra race include Chief Andy Ubah, who ruled the state briefly in 2007 before the Supreme Court ruled that Governor Peter Obi’s tenure had not expired. Other aspirants include Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, Senator Anie Okonkwo and Chief George Okoye. Minister of Information Professor Dora Akunyili is also mentioned as a possible aspirant, as is National Communications Commission [NCC] Executive Vice Chairman Mr. Ernest Ndukwe.
Ukachukwu contested the 2007 gubernatorial elections in the state under the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and is now at the Supreme Court, asking it to compel INEC to conduct fresh elections in the state at the expiration of Governor Obi’s tenure next year.
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