2015 Guber: Enugu Stakeholders Endorse Ugwuanyi to End Rift in PDP

Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

• As speaker, party chair, others withdraw from race

Christopher Isiguzo 

There were strong indications at the weekend that the emergence of the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Transport, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as the consensus gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2015 elections in Enugu State would reduce the lingering political disagreement between Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, and members of the National Assembly.

Stakeholders of the PDP caucus mainly drawn from Enugu North senatorial district had last Friday night endorsed Ugwuanyi’s candidacy for the governorship election after a three-hour closed door meeting held at the instance of the governor at the Government House.

At the end of the meeting, no fewer than 10 frontline governorship aspirants from Nsukka zone pulled out of the race preferring Ugwuanyi as the candidate with the capacity to unite the various feuding factions in the state.

The aspirants who stepped  down for Ugwuanyi include PDP state Chairman, Vita Abba;  a former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi; Senator Ayogu Eze, Hon. Pat Asadu, Mathew Agu, Fidel Ayogu, Prof. Osita Ogbu, Chief Ikeje Asogwa, Prof. Simon Ortuanya and Dan Onyishi.

This came as jubilation was said to have taken the centre stage in the Igbo-Eze North/Udenu federal constituency, where Ugwuanyi is presently representing and the remaining four councils in Nsukka. PDP had zoned the governorship to Enugu North.

THISDAY checks revealed that most of the stakeholders at the meeting did not oppose the emergence of the lawmaker as a consensus candidate, a development that would go a long way to reduce the enormous political tension in the building up over who picks the ticket of the party.

The meeting was said to have been attended by at least 90 notable chieftains of the party including members of the party’s working committee, Board of Trustees (BoT), commissioners, national and state lawmakers, elders, council chairmen and their deputies from the zone.

Some of them were former National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze; Chief Fidelis Okoro, Ambassador Fidel Ayogu, state PDP Chairman, Chief Vita Abba; elder stateswoman and former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Justina Eze, and  chairman of the PDP in that zone, Chief Mike Ejinima.

A former member of the National Assembly who was at the meeting said: “What happened yesterday is a good development for our zone and for the state because the decision of the governor and other stakeholders to support the emergence of Ugwuanyi would, at least, reduce the tension created by the governor’s problem with the National Assembly members over the agreement banning second and third term seekers from seeking re-election next year.

“Now, one of them who was affected by the agreement has been chosen as the consensus candidate and another member of the National Assembly present, Dr. Patrick Asadu, spoke on behalf of others to support the choice of Ugwuanyi and it means that the fear of those in Abuja who the governor wants to retire them from politics may not be real afterwards.”

It is also believed that the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, who is seen to be embroiled in a political battle with Chime may not be opposed to the person who emerged as consensus candidate since he (Ugwuanyi) is said to be a bridge builder and has reportedly worked to douse the tension generated by the face-off with the governor.

Another stakeholder at the meeting on Friday said “again, the other intrinsic value of the choice of the National Assembly member is that it is likely to reduce what was feared as a formidable force-base being built by the federal legislators to fight the governor over the 2015 sensitive matters.”

Meanwhile reports from Igbo-Eze North and Udenu Local Government Areas yesterday said there was visible elation among politicians following the choice of the candidate who would soon be presented to the political leaders of the remaining two zones in the state, namely, Enugu West zone which is the home to Chime and Ekweremadu, and Enugu East zone home to former Governors, Chief Jim Nwobodo and Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani as well as former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani.