Guber Election: Why Enugu PDP is in Trouble

Guber Election: Why Enugu PDP is in Trouble

Edeoga

In the last 23 years, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu state bestrode the state with unchallengeable clouts that had always made nonsense of other opposition parties. The party even boasted to remain in power for 50 unbroken and unchallenged years. As at the month of May this year, everything political appeared to be working well for the party in the state except for the intra party shenanigans that was rocking it. As the key player in the fight, Senator Ike Ekweremadu threw in the towel and withered away mid-way into the fight, supporters of the government without any clairvoyant instinct took to the street to celebrate the abrupt end of what many pundits thought was going to be battle of the Titans.

First, Senator Ekweremadu withdrew from the party's guber primary election before the D-Day when he discovered that he had no chance of getting any vote from the delegates who were already commanded on how and who to vote and were cooling off in the wings of the governor with no less than 800k in their respective pockets. Although, the whole process was skewed to achieve the result, Ekweremadu's exit from the primaries resonated some air of pyrrhic ecstasy within the governor's camp while they waited for any other joker that may come next. But what appeared to be a sweeping pleasant surprise came next – Senator Ekweremadu throws in the towel. This mid-day news eventually consummated the joy in the Lion Building.

Meanwhile, in the camp of Ekweremadu, there was a deafening silence even with hundreds of his supporters who had gathered in his house to know where next their ship would be heading only to be told by Ike himself that the battle had come to a dead end. Because none of his supporters was given any prior information or expected that bombshell, they were all looking marooned, helpless and obviously rudderless when he said he was throwing in the towel. None of these supporters who thought they were dreaming could even ask any question as to why the abrupt change. Like the Biblical mob who were ready to stone a prostitute to death, they dropped their 'stones' one by one and within minutes, they had all disappeared from Ike's expansive home at Iyienu Street, Independence Layout, Enugu. It was certainly one of the greatest shocks of their lives.

Peter Mbah

Back at the Lion Building, there was great joy and merry. Tumblers were jamming together with some quantities of the best of  wines depending on your level. Those who don't drink alcohol made do with water and were still in joyous and blissful mood like those who downed some bottles of whiskey and champagnes. But while they celebrated, they kept a tab on the senator to ensure that he was not planning something else. While they were still sipping their drinks, the thought that the renegade senator might still go to another party for a ticket came and the celebration was cut short. Calls were allegedly made to other 'lesser' political parties including the Labour Party to know their state of affairs especially as it concerned their gubernatorial primaries. Mouth watering offers were allegedly made to the party big-wigs for them to relinquish the tickets for the Guber, Senatorial, House of Reps and State Assembly candidates but the Labour Party refused and insisted that only the candidates that will win elections for the party must be adopted.

The Starlite gathered that when the Labour Party refused to acquiesce to the overtures, the PDP now suspected that though they may have won the battle in the PDP, the real war during the general election was far from being over. The thinking according to close watchers of the Lion Building was that with Barr. Peter Mbah of the PDP, Chief Uche Nnaji of the APC and Chief Frank Nweke (Jr) of APGA, somebody else from Nkanuland should take the ticket of the Labour party to make the race an all Nkanu affair but the idea could not see the light of the day as Barr. Chijioke Edeoga from Isi Uzo in the same Enugu East Senatorial District snatched the Labour Party ticket. The situation instantly threw up another wave of fight.

 

The Angst in Enugu

 

Ab initio, the controversy within the PDP which has dominated the political landscape in Enugu since the current republic was the issue of rotation. There were three opinions. One, that the Enugu North Senatorial District which has the biggest population having waited for the two other zones in Enugu to first take their shots at the Lion Building should be given the first offer of refusal to start the next round of rotation. Two, that the rotation must move to Enugu East Senatorial District. Three, which area in Enugu East should produce the candidate?

 

The Enugu North made her submission as was captured by Mr. Ike Abonyi, a journalist attached to The Daily Telegraph Newspaper in his open letter to the governor of Enugu State he said:

Utazi

“In carrying out this assignment of where the guber slot goes, therefore, the incumbent should not be oblivious of history and the norm. He should also not fail to consult widely. Gov Ugwuanyi's case is not exceptional; Chimaroke did it and got away with it, Sullivan did it even more smoothly than Chimaroke, Ugwuanyi is expected to follow the tradition and move on.

“Political musing this week is therefore, to draw Ugwuanyi's attention to some salient issues he needs to put into consideration before making his very critical decision. Critical because the future and continued stability of Enugu and its citizens are hinged on who takes his place in 2023.

“Enugu State is politically incongruous and structurally defective. At creation out of the old Anambra State, it had three Senatorial zones of Abakaliki, Nsukka, and Enugu. When Ebonyi State was taken away, one zone, Enugu, was divided into two, Enugu East and Enugu West while Nsukka remained one with only Isi Uzo Local Government Area taken away to create a semblance of balance. In creating local government areas, Nsukka, indisputably half of the state in numbers, was given seven LGAs while Enugu has 10.

“Notwithstanding its electoral advantage, Nsukka has been a political underdog in the state since it was created. Despite its number, it had to wait for 16 years before exercising executive power. Even when it got it, it continued to suffer bullying from the other zones. In this dispensation, while Nsukka, the toothless majority, had to wait for 16 years to seize the chief executive officer position at the Lion Building, top positions meant for the state were being shared within the Enugu zone. For example, Senate President Ken Nnamani, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Ministers - Jim Nwobodo, Frank Nweke, Fidelia Njeze, Chinedu Nebo, and Osita Okechukwu (head of a federal agency) ... all from the Enugu zone. Since 1999, no Nsukka person has been found worthy to occupy any top executive position at the federal level. Anybody who knows the benefit that accrues from these positions will know what Nsukka has missed despite its immense electoral value.

“Ostensibly, it's for the same reason that no Nsukka person has had access to the Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, three decades after its establishment in 1960. Yet, Nsukka has a large concentration of distinguished Professors.

Yes! Nsukka people may be blamed for their docility over time but shouldn't that end at some point? Gov Ugwuanyi seems to be the history boy who will halt this abnormality in his political interest anyway.

“In some of my previous writings on the lopsidedness in Enugu, I have been confronted with the reasoning that Ugwuanyi cannot stand the pressure and that at the last minute he will chicken out or make mistakes. This warped school of thought is not entirely correct; it may just be misconstruing humility and modesty for timidity and cowardice. There is always this thinking that when you are a political leader, toeing the line of peace and stability in your style of governance is a weakness, even if you are backed by reason. But the truth remains that if you want to confront injustice in society and expect results, you must embrace Martin Luther's statement: "The movement for equality and justice can only be a success if it has both a mass and militant character; the barriers to be overcome require both."

“With over three decades in journalism practice, I have devoted many of those years to fighting injustice and inequality as it relates to Ndigbo and Nigeria. Strangely, what I fight against nationally is being practised in my home state. The advantage the Fulani and Yoruba, the other two of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria have for lording it over Ndigbo is more voting power because of apparent Igbo apathy to elections, but back in Enugu state, the reverse is the case, Nsukka with their undisputed voting number are the underdog whose patience and humility are either rarely appreciated or being exploited.

“In Enugu State instead of the macro zoning being between Enugu and Nsukka the two senatorial zones left after Abakaliki Senatorial zone was taken away and made a state capital the way it is done nationally between North and South, they settled for micro zoning just to give Enugu zone undue advantage. Instead of Enugu and Nsukka you now hear of Nkanu, Udi and Nsukka zones. As a result, Senator Ekweremadu is adding greater Awgu, equating it with Nsukka and bullying everybody to accept it because it suits his present interest.

“Given all this obvious lopsidedness, Governor Ugwuanyi in choosing his successor should be properly guided. He should be incredibly and ruthlessly selfish on his stand on equity and fair play. Any pick that is not Nsukka (whether from Enugu North or East) is a perpetuation and preservation of injustice against Nsukka. Such a move may not be appreciated by some but the focus should be on what posterity holds ahead of you, not the drums of praise singers and sycophants.

What makes for enduring stability of any political environment is that justice and equity is its modus operandi. Fairness may not mean everybody getting the same thing because that is utopian but it means that everyone gets what they need. Emperor Marcus Aurelius whose reign brought peace and stability to Rome has this to say on the secret of peace building, "That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee”.

To be specific, politicians from Nsukka accepted the fact that if the rotation must move to Enugu East, then Isi Uzo must be allowed to take the slot - a proposition that infuriated the people of Nkanuland.

The Starlite gathered that on several occasions, leaders of thought had meetings with governor Ugwuanyi wherein he promised to accept the proposal to allow an Isi Uzo man fly the flag of the PDP. The Starlite further gathered that he said he should be allowed to go to the senate as a precondition. During the meeting it was alleged that the entire stakeholders pleaded with Senator Utazi to step down his ambition to return to the senate. Senator Utazi allegedly insisted that if the governor fails to give the slot to an Isi Uzo man, he would have no option than to throw his hat into the ring to return to the senate. In what appeared to be a truce, Senator Utazi accepted to step down, unknown to him that the governor was not going to honour the unwritten agreement.

Sources revealed that during the discussions, the stakeholders frowned at the concentration of all the top political positions in one area and suggested that if Isi Uzo was not going to produce the guber candidate, it must be allowed to produce the senatorial candidate adding that Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani must step aside from contesting the seat but this arrangement failed. According to an insider sources, several top politicians in the state were said to have roundly condemned the resurgence of Senator Chimaroke Nnamani who was called back from retirement to go back to the senate describing it as the worst political calculation by governor Ugwuanyi.

The next action that followed the agreement was to organize a zonal rally in Enugu North Senatorial District where Senator Utazi was expected to publicly step down for Governor Ugwuanyi. The rally was quickly organized and Utazi was the hero of the day as he announced his decision to step aside after his second term in office. Few days to the guber primaries, the stakeholders met again, with His Excellency in attendance and the topic of discussion according to eye witnesses was the consummation of Isi Uzo candidacy but the stakeholders got the shocker of their lives. The agreement was no longer feasible and therefore not going to be honoured. The issue of money allegedly came in  as a determining factor  but it was already too late. At the end, a reliable source told The Starlite that the governor stormed out of the meeting to the amazement of all. It then dawned on the stakeholders that they have been dribbled. What happened later has already been consigned into the womb of history. That was where the camel’s back was broken and the goodwill began to tumble headlong.

Few days to the PDP primary elections that produced the candidates into the National and State Assemblies, a good number of aspirants discovered that primaries were going to be the worst ever in the history of the party in the state. A good number of aspirants expressed their anger that despite the governor's nod for them to go into the election, he eventually did something quite different therefore sending shocker waves down their spines.

According to a very strong member of the party from Nsukka Local Government, he was deceived into going to run for the state house of Assembly by the governor but at the end was disappointed. He said: “As a group, we were on a visit to the Lion Building to have a parley with His Excellency and after the discussion, he told me to stay back for a while. I did. And when all had left he asked me of any appointment that I would love to take but I quickly told him that it was within his powers to appoint me into any position. As the discussion continued, he interjected,, reminding me that it is the turn of my area to produce the next House of Assembly member and I answered in the affirmative. He then asked me to go and get ready to be the candidate. I was full of happiness because he was the one that raised the issue not me. As we progressed, I kept calling him  to seek his confirmation which he gave with a tacit nod everytime. But by the time we got to the venue of the primary, it had become so obvious that I had been deceived all these while”.

The Starlite gathered that another contestant who was recommended by a former senator allegedly on request from His Excellency suffered stroke when he learnt the governor had recommended a lady to be the candidate. Stories like this are legion in the state.

However, the face-off between the former governor, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani and Barr. Chijioke Edeoga at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium venue of the guber primary election brought back sad memories of intimidation and violence witnessed during the period Nnamani was the governor of the state. To a good number of Enugu people, it was a bad sign that  Enugu might be heading back in full force  to the days of evil leadership and many were ready to resist it. The ex-governor's action against Hon. Edeoga was coming few weeks after it was widely reported that Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani physically assaulted one Mr. Chiene during one of the PDP rallies in Enugu.  Many who were very close to the scene where Chimaroke moved to attack Edeoga said Chimaroke was questioning Edeoga's audacity to buy form to contest the governorship position in Enugu State. Although The Starlite Newspapers gathered that shortly after the faceoff, Chimaroke came back to Edeoga to profusely tender an apology  stressing that he was not serious.

Furthermore, based on rotation, equity and fairplay, it was reliably gathered that it is the turn of the people of Igbo Eze South to produce the next senatorial candidate for 2023 but because the governor wanted the position, the Local government Area was alleged to have suggested that Igbo Eze South should produce the deputy governor but the suggestion was rebuffed as the two plum jobs were taken to Udenu Local Government Area. This obviously perceived infraction led to the emergence of people like Barrister Okey Ezea to  run for the senatorial seat.

 

Deplorable Road Networks

In Enugu North Senatorial District, apart from the Opi-Nsukka road which has all the trappings of one of the best in the south East, the inland arteries of roads in Nsukka Metropolis and other  roads in all the other local government areas are in sorry states. As at the time of writing this report, almost all the road networks in the rural areas in Enugu State are in  deplorable situation. 

In the assessment of majority of the people of Enugu State, they hold the view that the governor acted every inch unprepared or was not mentally ready to manage the rigours of governance. They think that his administration appears, from day one, to be driven by guess work and pandering to the whims of a few lackeys not minding that he appeared like a workaholic, staying in office every day until the wee hours, but nothing tangible appeared to manifest physically from his long hours in office other than “the soulless manipulation of the people with little or no dividends delivered”.

According to Chief Johson Ogbuebor, “people expected that his experience at the National Assembly for 12 years should have equipped him with the skills and capabilities of a master administrator, but Enugu people have been disappointed with the outcome. The capital city of Enugu has been in progressive decay since he assumed office and there appears to be a tendency to personalize governance while leaving projects of impact unattended.

From my encounter with his commissioners, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi seemed to have run a most toothless cabinet. Commissioners under him are so powerless that they cannot do anything on their own. Brilliant ideas for governance are also not sought, and even when it comes before the Governor, they are thrown out of the window. For this reason, the government has failed to attract those who could have made the difference, and those who have loitered around discovered that the game is survival. Thus, they decided to keep their fine ideas to themselves for fear of being seen to be trying to outshine their principal.

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