Enugu East warns against tampering with zoning

By Moses Oyediran, Enugu

Enugu East senatorial zone on Thursday warned against any plan to truncate the zoning arrangement existing in the state with regards to the forthcoming 2023 governorship election.

The zone sounded the warning at a mega rally held in honour of Enugu state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi at Michael Okpara Square in the state.

The convener of the rally and Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi stressed that Enugu East people “have blood of a butcher in us, we can do and undo.”

Ubosi who was the first to speak told Governor Ugwuanyi that his predecessors all anointed those that succeeded them, stressing “Your Excellency, your own will not be different.

“In 1999, our father, Distinguished Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo anointed Senator Chimaroke Nnamani to be the governor of Enugu State. Chimaroke later anointed Sullivan Chime to be the governor and after his tenure, he anointed you to be the governor of Enugu State.

“Your Excellency, your own is not going to be different, we are waiting for you to anoint the next Governor of Enugu State from Nkanuland, which compromises six local government areas. Any soul you pick, we will give you and the person all the needed support.”

The Speaker went ahead to knock those he said have been going around with the notion that Nkanu people were butchers.

He stressed that they were indeed proud to be butchers, adding “I agree we are butchers. If not for the insecurity in this country we were supposed to come here with our matchers.

How can you call us butchers? A zone that produced the first governor of the old Anambra State, you are calling us butchers.”

Ubosi enumerated other principal leadership positions that the people from the zone had occupied and warned against any further denigration of the people.

“How can a reasonable person be calling us butchers? An Nkanu man can have anything, with that blood of a butcher in him he can do undo. I want to call on other zones not to undermine us.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye told the gathering that the party has already zoned its governorship ticket to the Enugu East Senatorial Zone.

Nwoye, who lauded governor Ugwuanyi for the existing peace in the State said the zoning arrangement should not be destroyed.

The APC Chairman told Gov. Ugwuanyi that “the fact that you are here means you are with us, the fact that you are here means that you have agreed to bring the anointed one from Nkanuland come 2023.”

“APC has already zoned its governorship ticket to Enugu East,” he said amid applause, adding “we are here to tell the PDP to also zone the position to Enugu East.”

On his part, however, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State, Hon. Augustine Nnamani said his party was yet to cede the position to any of the three Senatorial zones.

Hon. Prince Offor Chukwuegbo, representing Enugu-North/South Federal constituency, who spoke on behalf of members of the National Assembly lauded Governor Ugwuanyi for identifying with them and for the prevailing peace in the State.

He said the essence of the event was to solicit the support for the emergence of a Governor of Enugu East extraction in 2023.

The governor in his response to the people of the zone said that their messages were well understood.

“I have listened to all the speeches. Be rest assured that the contents and contexts of the messages were well understood. Dialogue, equity and justice shall take preeminence at the fullness of time”, he said.

Ugwuanyi said that he appreciated the support given to him by the people of the zone, adding that such would not be taken for granted.

He noted that the zone gave him the second highest vote in 2019 governorship election.

He commended the people of the area for their contribution to the prevailing peace in the state, adding that all hands must be on deck to sustain the same even at the expiration of his tenure.