By Dennis Agbo

There is a politics of anger presently ongoing in Enugu North Senatorial district, also known as Nsukka zone. The anger is actually a transferred aggression against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senatorial candidate for the constituency who incidentally is the incumbent Governor of Enugu state, His Excellency Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Going by emotional outbursts, tirades and soliloquies, from those against Ugwuanyi’s candidature, the problem was not that he clinched the party’s nomination ticket, at least the present outcry was not there on May 24 2022 when he won the nomination of the party, but it saturated on May 25, the day the governorship nomination of the PDP for the state was contested, won and lost, respectively. Since then, Ugwuanyi came under severe attack by those who lost in the PDP governorship primary election and they have remained obstinate and ceaseless. 

On the eve of the governorship primary election, news made the rounds that Nsukka people, including the present Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Chief Okey Ezea, were on their bended knees, begging the Governor, even with alleged inducement, to crown Mr. Chijioke Edeoga as his successor, but that the Governor refused to be induced and requested that the 17 PDP governorship aspirants in the state should produce themselves for primary election and be ready for fair contest.

Earlier than then, aspirants such as the Senator Ike Ekweremadu had cried blue murder that there was a conspiracy by Governor Ugwuanyi to arrogate his cousin (Edeoga) as the winner of the governorship primary, even when it had not held. Truth however is that Edeoga is not Ugwuanyi’s cousin as wrongly alleged but distant maternal relations, but those who wanted political advantage levied it on the Governor in order to discredit Edeoga and turn the search on themselves, but it didn’t work.

So, when on May 25, Mr. Peter Mbah won the governorship primary election, hell was let loose among some individuals in Enugu north senatorial district, who wanted Edeoga that hails from Isi-Uzo local government, a council area that was formerly under old Nsukka zone but now in Enugu East senatorial district. That was how the disgruntled politicians settled in the Labour Party as opposition to wage war against Ugwuanyi and constituted impediment to his senatorial goal. Subsequently, Chief Okey Ezea, popularly known as Ideke became the Enugu north senatorial candidate of the Labour Party after much legal tussle that saw him displace Mr. Ike Ugwu who had already won primary election as the LP senatorial candidate for Enugu north.

Chief Ezea has a history of opposition politics in Enugu state and has been around for a while in the game of muscle flexing in each election since 2007. In his debut, Ezea contested for governorship of the state under the platform of the Labour party against ex-Governor Sullivan Chime and lost. He subsequently went to court and almost pulled down the roof on the coal city state but Chime triumphed. In 2011, he also contested for governorship and in 2015 he still contested for governorship again under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, against Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and lost. He subsequently returned to court but later withdrew the matter.

In his present senatorial contest, Ezea has not really made categorical statements on his mission to the national assembly, but has consistently attacked Ugwuanyi exploiting any opportunity that presents itself. For instance, following the resurgence of kidnapping along Enugu-Opi-Nsukka road, Ezea was quick to jump at server attacks on Governor Ugwuanyi who he does not only see as a rival for the senate position, but rightly or wrongly as a common enemy in Nsukka cultural zone. 

Mr. Emeka Ogbu from Igboeze north local government area described Ezea as a very cantankerous politician adding that with his temperament, the successful businessman may not fare well in politics. Ogbu said: “I don’t see Ideke (Ezea) beating Gburugburu (Governor Ugwuanyi) because somehow the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know. Ideke is not a straight forward person; he’s not a man of the people, a very hard quarrelsome guy. Honestly, he’s not an alternative to Gburugburu.

“The sentiment against Gburugburu is based on how he handled Edeoga’s governorship primary; otherwise he is not a failure in terms of achievements and political career. It’s just that our people already have sentiment on the issue of governorship and believe that the governor didn’t handle it well but it cannot be resolved with the way Ideke is antagonizing the governor. I expect Ideke to appeal to the sentiment of the people and not all these altercations and trading of words with the Governor.”

Also, the Labour party governorship ticket impasse in the state may equally work against Ezea if the repeat primary election as ordered by the federal high court does not favour Edeoga. Ezea may as well kiss goodbye to his ambition if that happens as it will most likely affect the morale of the opposition against Ugwuanyi in Nsukka district.

The Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the zone, Amb. Simon Ejike Eze hails from Ibagwa-Aka in Igboeze south local government area, a next door community to Ezea who hails from the same local government area. But the APC is not a popular political party in Enugu state, moreso, when Eze, a retired Career Diplomat is not a widely known personality.  

Hon. Emmanuel Eze is the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and hails from Umuida community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area. Eze said that APGA was going into the political battle to unseat the ruling PDP in the State. He reaffirmed commitment to correct the mistakes of past leaders.

Eze said: “I’m capable of correcting those wrongs. I have all it takes to do that, we have all it takes to bring federal presence to Enugu North district. The power we seek is to put food on everybody’s table; power to give our people employment, power to secure our people and power to move Enugu North forward. We’ll bring peace and run a transparent government. I will not fail my people.”

All said and done, most people in Enugu north senatorial district believe that Ugwuanyi will win the election based on his solid achievements in the state. The governor has attracted envy to himself in the state for alleged concentration of his eight years achievements in Nsukka area. Though the Governor spread his programmes and policies in the 17 local government areas of the state, yet some people see his eight years of leadership as Nsukka-centric. It is based on his achievements that will sway votes to him in the February 2023 National Assembly election.