By Chinenye Ugwu
As the political leaders of Enugu East senatorial zone mobilise under the auspices of Oganiru Enugu East for what they described as mother of all rallies to demand the prerogative to produce the governor of Enugu State in 2023, many have not hidden their reservations over the propriety of such a bipartisan jamboree at a time when every political stakeholder should be preoccupied with securing the South-East, Enugu State in particular, from prowling killer herders and unknown gunmen mowing down the innocent and burning INEC and security assets in the region. But this is a matter for another day.
For today, and as I wrote a few months back, it is within their democratic rights to campaign to produce the next governor of Enugu State. The only problem is with building their quest on faulty premises of exclusive right to Enugu governorship seat in 2023, which makes them see anyone else with a tinge of governorship ambition as a mortal enemy.
For this reason, it is not difficult to hazard what they will tell the chief guest of honour, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the rented crowd and the press at the rally. It will be the same old story. They will tell them that there is an existing zoning formula agreed to by the elders of Enugu State, whereby power would rotate from Enugu East to Enugu West in 2007, to Enugu North in 2015, before returning to Enugu East in 2023. Unfortunately, they will not name those who sat to enter the zoning agreement or the venue and date of the agreement, because there was never any.
They will not announce to the crowd that, although Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, a former governor of old Anambra State and a founding father of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former governor of the state and pioneer national secretary of PDP, qualified as Enugu elders in 1998; they nevertheless backed different aspirants from different zones. Whereas Dr. Nwodo backed the aspiration of Nduka Agu, from Udi in Enugu West zone, for the PDP ticket, Chief Nwobodo supported the aspiration of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, from Agbani, Enugu East zone. Or that in the main election, Nnamani squared up to the All Peoples Party (APP) candidate, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu (GNG), who hails from Akpugoeze in Enugu West zone. They dare not, as it would amount to unmasking their own masquerade.
They will not also confess to the rally that the 2003 governorship election was a hot contest between Ambassador Fidel Ayogu (Enugu North) of the ANPP and the then incumbent Governor Nnamani. Also in the race were Barr. Peter Okonkwo (Ohamadike) and Chief Anayo Onwuegbu (Omeiheukwu) from Enugu North and West, accordingly.
Quite significantly, the media, international and local election observers recorded the election as violence-ridden and blood-soaked. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) report titled “Testing Democracy: Political Violence in Nigeria”, recalls that Ambassador Ayogu petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over series of telephone calls threatening assassination if he did not withdraw from the race. Likewise, a June 2004 HRW report titled “Nigeria’s 2003 Elections: The Acknowledged Violence”, profiles Enugu State as one of the hotbeds of electoral violence in that election.
A flip through the pages of April 2003 national dailies will equally reveal the magnitude of arson and fatalities (including deaths of personnel of the Police Mobile Force) recorded in Nsukka zone, the stronghold of the ANPP governorship candidate in that election.
But it is likely that they will remind the crowd how Nnamani “naturally” picked his successor from Enugu West in the spirit of an inexistent zoning arrangement. Nnamani might even say so to the crowd himself. He might also wax musical in his typical manner: “Lotekwanu agreement anyi mere, onye emebina ya… (Let no one breach our agreement so we can continue in peace as brethren).” But he will not tell them who made the agreement, where and when.
However, how could we easily forget that Enugu West and Enugu North lobbied robustly to produce Nnamani’s successor in 2007? How could we forget that it was the main agendum of the Enugu State Development Association (ESDA) meeting, which held at the palace of their president-general, HRH Igwe Charles Abangwu, Ezeigwe of Eha-Alumona, in September 2006? Or that in the heat of strong cases made by Nsukka leaders and Agbaja (Udi and Ezeagu) leaders, Chief Enechi Onyia, SAN, stood up and looked intently in Igwe Abangwu’s eyes. He then asked: “Have you forgotten how Chief Tony Mogboh and I came to meet you and other Nsukka leaders on behalf of Ndi Agbaja in 1992? We proposed to you that rather than ‘Ndienii’ (these people, referring to the people of Greater Awgu, Aninri, Awgu, and Oji River of Enugu West, where the main challenger hails from) to be Governor, Okwesilieze Nwodo (of Nsukka Zone) should take the governorship with our support.”
Abangwu and other Nsukka leaders could not utter a word.
To ensure that “Ndienii” did not smell the Lion Building, Secretary to State Government of old Enugu State, Icha Ituma, who hailed from defuct Abakaliki zone, was picked as Nwodo’s running mate.
But even more important is that Dr. Nnamani’s deputy, Dr. Okechukwu Itanyi (Enugu North), Dr. Osita Ogbu (Enugu North), Anayo Onwuegbu (Enugu West) and Dr. John Nwokeabia contested against Sullivan Chime in the December 10, 2006, PDP governorship primary. There were just about five LGAs out of 17 left to vote when Itanyi and the others confronted the PDP electoral panel headed by Alhaji Shehu Sambo over acclaimed “manifest fraud” in favour of Chime. They staged a walkout and also addressed newsmen at Zodiac Hotels, Enugu. However, no one should expect to hear such inconvenient truth at the Oganiru Enugu East rally.
You won’t also hear that the main guber election in 2007 wasn’t an Enugu West affair, as the most potent opposition came from Enugu North in the persons of Barr. Okey Ezea (Ideke) of Labour Party, who polled 22,502 and Ambassador Fidel Ayogu of ANPP, who polled 19,550 votes.
Not done, they dragged Chime to the election petition tribunal, where they floored him on January 18, 2008, following the annulment of his election. It took the Court of Appeal (highest governorship appellate at the time) to revalidate his mandate.
They will not also tell the rally that Chime’s re-election, just like Nnamani’s, did not come on a platter of zoning. But for God, President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Ike Ekweremadu chiefly, the story perhaps would have been different.
This is so because the incumbent National Chairman of PDP then, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, already had his fate sealed as far as the party’s ticket was concerned. With the ticket huddle crossed, Chime contended with Chief Ezea of Labour Party, Dan Shere of Chimaroke Nnamani’s Peoples Democratic Congress (PDC), and Chief Robert Eze of the ANPP (both from Enugu North) in the 26th April 2011 gubernatorial election.
Nevertheless, you won’t also hear at the rally that the governorship power didn’t get to Enugu North last because they folded their hands and patiently waited for their turn based on an inexistent zoning arrangement. Or that it was not only because Nsukka was the only zone yet to taste the seat of power since 1999, but also importantly because the real bone of contention in 2015 was the Enugu West Senatorial seat for which Chime and Ekweremadu, both incumbent Governor and Deputy Senate President at the time were enmeshed in a fierce battle. It is on record that while they had their political differences, they converged on the choice of Enugu North (Nsukka zone) and Rt. Honourable Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the reason Ekweremadu easily threw his political structure, including the delegates structure behind Ugwuanyi.
So, when people paint a beautiful picture of how power has seamlessly rotated in Enugu based on some inexistent prearranged order and agreement, and how a few “troublemakers” now want to upset the apple cart, you wonder whether they believe that everyone else has been living in the moon. At the end of the multimillion-naira Enugu East jamboree, therefore, hard facts as replayed here remain that there was never any governorship zoning. Every zone had always tried and God gave power to whom He pleased; and it has gone round. Come 2023, Enugu people will go for the best hands. Period!
•Ugwu writes from Enugu