Uju Okeke, is former senior special assistant to the Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and the deputy director general of the Emeka Etiaba Campaign Organisation.

In this interview with our Senior Correspondent, Joe Nwankwo in Abuja, she spoke on the 2010 governorship in the state and other issues on the race for the Awka Government House. Excerpts:

What reinforced your belief that Emeka Etiaba is a better alternative to Governor Peter Obi?

I was part and parcel of the Governor Peter Obi campaign for the governorship elections in Anambra State in 2003. After the elections I worked as a senior special assistant to the governor but I resigned based on principles. I resigned because I felt that many things were going wrong and people were not being carried along especially party members.

Well, Emeka Etiaba is a man of mission and vision and he has a lot in his manifesto. He has been part and parcel of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and there are so many things I know that he can remedy to carry Anambra State to the next level in terms of education, health, road construction, agriculture, the provision of pipe borne water and rural infrastructure. Education is a sector where he would do major work as the sector is dwindling by the day. There is an urgent need to revitalise that sector. Another major area of concern in the state is the level of insecurity, which Emeka Etiaba has pledged to tackle headlong.

Your party at its last National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Abuja adopted Peter Obi as its candidate for the governorship race in Anambra State in 2010. Don't you think that that resolution has put paid to your campaign and for Etiaba running on the APGA ticket?

I don't think so because right now that issue has not been resolved, as in APGA constitution we give people a level playing ground, everybody is given the opportunity to aspire to any office of his choice. The constitution gives any eligible candidate the free rein to participate unlike what is obtainable in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which already has over 20 candidates coming out, the Action Congress (AC) and other parties in the state also have many candidates coming out for the elections. For us in APGA, it does not amount as anti-party activities for anybody to aspire for the governorship position under the party. Emeka Etiaba is still contesting in that election, the NWC erred when it said that it has adopted Obi as its candidate in the election. Don't forget that the resolution will have to be rectified by the National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees of the party, so we are still working to overrule the NWC.

If you have followed the trend in Nigerian politics, there has hardly been a situation where a sitting governor is denied the party's ticket for a second term in office except in Anambra State in the case of Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Most of the state's have already adopted their governors for a second term, so why should the case of Obi be different?

That shows you that something is definitely not right, and we are saying that we want a change.

What are the chances of Etiaba beating Obi for the party's ticket, as you are well aware, the delegates would be mainly commissioners, special advisers, special assistants and other government appointees, how do you intend to cross that hurdle?

You are right but I promise you that Etiaba will emerge the winner as party members will also vote and most of them would want a change as they have not been carried along.

Is it all about not being carried along, and would you explain what you mean when you say that party members are not being carried along as one would get the feelings that you are only interested in sharing government funds?

The governor ought have taken care of party members that were in the struggle with him. Remember that ours was not a case of winning an election and being sworn-in, but we were in court for three years, and that is why he should have taken care of party members which would not have prevented him from working for the people.

How would you assess the Obi administration in the last three years?

In retrospect, when the Emeka Etiaba Campaign Organisation was being commissioned, our leader Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, stated emphatically and Emeka Etiaba also said the same thing that the governor has done well but that there is the need to do more. And that is why he is in the race, to carry the people of Anambra State to the next level, there is still more to be done there are still more to be achieved.

What are the areas you think the governor has not done well?

He should have done better in education, rural development and the development of the capital city, Awka. The state capital, as long as I'm concerned is a glorified local government headquarters. In the areas of agriculture and public utilities and I bet you that Emeka will take the state to the next level in these areas. He is prepared to tackle the problems in the health sector and another crucial area is that of security, which people are being kidnapped and robbed on daily basis. These are issues that our candidate is prepared to deal with on assumption of office.

When you say that the Obi administration has not done much in the area of education one then wonders if the accolades he has been receiving in the development of the educational sector even from some international organisations are mere propaganda?

I have not said that Obi has not done well, but Etiaba will do more and better than the governor has done now, that is the assurance.

Emeka Etiaba could be said to be a neophyte in the game of politics. Come next year there are many heavy weights that are coming into the race. What gives you the confidence that your candidate, assuming he wins the primaries, can match the likes of Chris Ngige, Andy Uba, and Nicholas Ukachukwu to emerge as the governor?

Does it really matter how many years you have been in politics? After all, Governor Peter Obi came out for the first time in 2003, Barack Obama of the United States of America also came out for the first time and he won. So, I believe that it is all about issues and what you have for the people and I also believe that the will of God has a lot to do with who will rule the state.

There has been a lot of insinuations that Etiaba is only in the race to spoil the chances of APGA winning the state for a second time, and assuming your candidate loses the APGA ticket, would be looking at the option of trying another party or would he consider stepping down for another candidate?

Well, we have not thought about those options, but I believe that when we get to the bridge we will cross it. But I want to tell you that Emeka Etiaba is not in the race as a spoiler, we are running an issue-based campaign here and not running people down. He is not in the race to bargain for the deputy governorship of any party, he is in the race to win. He is not an agent of any person or party. And as I'm talking to you now he remains the candidate to beat in 2010.