With less than one month to the commencement of primary elections of the political parties, it is not unimaginable that some desperate office seekers are, today, employing below-the-belt tactics and antics to win voters’ sympathies or smear the image of known rivals.

That, clearly, explains why media attacks have now reached new levels of vitriol. It is the season of calumny campaigns, needless instigations and character assassinations. These dirty games are now becoming more evident and frequent on the pages of newspapers, and understandably so.

Politics, as they say, is a game of intrigues and high cunning. While some employ sane minds to market their aspirations, others hire gangsters who deploy all sorts of unholy acts to achieve their evil missions.

Of late, we have begun to see such demonstration of desperation in the politics of Enugu State, especially as it concerns one man’s undying desire to govern this Coal City State, by all means. This is, however, not the first time that Senator Ike Ekweremadu nursed such an ambition.

It will be recalled that he was up in arms way back in 2013 when the then state governor, Sullivan Iheanacho Chime had insisted that his successor in 2015, in line with the zoning principle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), should come from Enugu North Senatorial District.

The then Deputy President of the Senate objected to that decision of the state caucus and told the press that there was no zoning arrangement in the state. Chime kept faith with the rotation, giving rise to the emergence of the incumbent governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Roll the clock forward a little and it is the same story between Governor Ugwuanyi and Senator Ekweremadu. It is only but a contest between lust for power and insistence on equity, fairness and justice. One is blinded by the trappings and attractions of power; the other is consumed by the necessity to maintain peace, harmony and order through the upholding of the rotation principle.

For clarity, the subsisting zoning in Enugu State favours Enugu East Senatorial District. Senator Ekweremadu hails from Enugu West Senatorial District. The latter remains the only governorship aspirant from outside Enugu East zone who came for the screening exercise last week.

It is for this reason that Governor Ugwuanyi is being lampooned in the media from an obvious quarter. They see in him a stumbling block to the aspiration of their principal. Truth is that the facts on ground do not support their preference.

Writing with pseudo names, just to mask their true identities, they attack the governor, either in the social media or on the pages of newspapers. The hatchet job is meant to put Ugwuanyi under pressure to toe their path, and/or concoct lies and distort facts about power rotation.

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It was even more amusing reading one Ogbuefi Arthur Okolie in Saturday Vanguard edition of April 30, 2022 wherein he labored in vain to make unintelligent comparisons about the senate seat in Enugu North District and the governorship of Enugu State. One could not but sympathize with his hollow arguments that do not merit being repeated here.

It is not for me to defend the governor because he has appointees who are paid to do just that. My only interest is that it is a matter of integrity for people to respect agreements that have enthroned peace and unity in the state. It is defeatist for the greedy clique to pick on imaginary enemies and mount smear campaigns in the papers just to achieve their goal or to distract the government or its agents. My primary concern is that politicians must not endanger the peace that we enjoy today.

As things stand, Gov. Ugwuanyi has not barred Senator Ekweremadu or anybody else from pursuing their constitutional rights to seek elective posts of their choice. Precisely on May 23, 2022, the Enugu State PDP delegates will be electing their governorship candidate. It is, therefore, up to the gubernatorial aspirants to rev their campaign engines with a view to winning the primary election.

It does not have to be this dirty. The time is now for aspirants and their supporters to mount whatever strategies or lobbies to win the mandate to fly PDP’s flag in the 2023 governorship election.

So, rather than heighten the negativity, every attention should shift to the statutory and ad-hoc delegates who were elected across the 260 wards of Enugu state last Saturday in an exercise which the chairman of the electoral committee, Vincent Yandev Amaabai described as “free, fair and transparent.”

As the days draw nearer, let there be decency, respect and decorum from the contestants. Let these tendencies dwarf the sentiments of hate, name-calling and narrow-mindedness.

From the onset, Governor Ugwuanyi had long carved an image of a peace agent and bridge builder who does not engage in any war of words with people. He has taught the people some vital lessons on how to deal with friends and adversaries by sheer meekness rather than meanness.

He is advised to deploy his trademark calmness and humility to supervise the emergence of a candidate who will be chosen by the delegates in a free and fair contest.

•Roma Nwalor contributed this piece from Enugu.