Senator Stella Oduah's defection back to PDP and the return of oath taking and rituals in Anambra State politics

By Okechukwu Uyanne.

Prayers are to start immediately against the return of the terrible era of dragging political aspirants to shrines for oath taking by political cabals and godfathers in order to give tickets to aspirants who wish to vie for elective offices particularly for the upcoming 2019 general elections.

Oath taking,visit to shrines and all worth not we remember,characterised the infamous Mbadinuju administration and the early period of Dr  Chris Ngige administration for which he was dragged to a popular shrine.
Only recently,the Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial Zone at the Senate,Princess Stella Oduah in what surprised many of her supporters,admirers and well wishers,bolted away from her new found love,the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)and returned to her former party,the People's Democratic Party (PDP) following allegations that a cabal who seized power in APGA insisted that she must go through the process of oath taking in a dreaded shrine somewhere in Calabar or Aguleri before getting the ticket to run for Anambra North Senatorial seat.

This allegation,whether true or false,looked real and possible because nobody from APGA top hierarchy have come out to deny or prove the allegation wrong. It is the more surprising that those at the helm of affairs in APGA did not show any concern that a huge political figure like Senator Oduah,who defected to their fold from PDP was allowed to leave in frustration.
That single action or inaction suggests that something very close to the ignoble act of visiting a shrine for oath taking may have come to play as one of the conditions to clinch the Senatorial ticket.

This situation regrettably,brought to an abrupt end,the fanfare with which many APGA members including majority of the top echelon of the party celebrated Senator Oduah's defection to APGA. She was known to have spent huge sums of money to settle all necessary financial obligations to be accorded full membership of the party including payment for nomination forms and expression of interest for the 2019 Senatorial race which the party authorities celebrated and gave wide media coverage. It was widely reported that APGA had caught a "Big Fish" which of course lifted the profile of the party as attracting top political personalities to it's fold.

This seeming bizarre return of fetishness,visit to shrines for oath taking in Anambra politics negates all norms of civilisation and Christianity which we all profess.
Those behind this plot knew that Senator Oduah as a practicing  Christian and staunch Catholic,would not accept nor venture into such condition before laying such atrocious trap for her.

This act of blackmail is no doubt suffered by many other aspirants who did not or do not have any choice or courage to speak out.
Some have been known to indulge in ritual killing and drinking concoctions of various kinds for oath taking.

Former governor of Anambra State, Dr Chris Ngige and Dr Chinweoke Mbadinuju are living witnesses of the ritual and oath taking saga.
Senator Princess Stella Oduah's strong inclination as a devout Catholic is not in doubt.
Apart from her genuine humanitarian disposition and services to the less privileged over the years, She has been and is still the Patroness of Catholic priests in West Africa.
Senator Oduah built two churches to her credit and instituted two humanitarian foundations, the Princess Stella Oduah Foundation and the MaxLife Foundation all set up to touch the lives of the less privileged.

The various empowerment programmes of Senator have been consistently ongoing much more than any other political aspirant or incumbent in the history of Anambra State.
One Chief Jude OGBUAGU while commenting on this disturbing development on social media said,"I don't know what is happening in APGA. It's like it has turned into a one man show. Otherwise why should they allow the hard working and God fearing Senator Stella Oduah to return back to PDP. Why should a Senator and governor come from the same area as they are plotting. The zoning system is wrong. What offence has this God fearing bulldozer committed that APGA party should not give her express ticket for second tenure...."

Many share the same opinion as chief Ogbuagu.

Anambrarians must therefore watch out and defend the 2019 general elections by looking well and profiling all the candidates to know who is really genuine. There are many questionable characters seeking to displace credible candidates as they are prepared to do anything at their disposal to get to their destination even if it means killing.

This alleged Senator Oduah's encounter with blackmailers, ritualists and fetish ministers of oath as a condition for her second term bid is not only repugnant to high heavens but most unfortunate and unacceptable.