PDP and the Abia Governorship Race
Perspective
The zoning of the Abia State governorship to Ukwa/Ngwa part of the state may have turned out a problem in disguise, writes Chinedu Nweze
If threats by Ukwa indigenes of Abia State at a press conference in Abuja to disrupt crude oil production from their land and write to the National Assembly to withdraw their support for the creation of Aba State are anything to go by, then the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) and in fact the Federal Government of Nigeria must do everything possible to intervene and settle the cause of the threats before they are carried out. This is because the Federal Government cannot afford further cut down in oil production as a result of political crises in host communities.
If threats by Ukwa indigenes of Abia State at a press conference in Abuja to disrupt crude oil production from their land and write to the National Assembly to withdraw their support for the creation of Aba State are anything to go by, then the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) and in fact the Federal Government of Nigeria must do everything possible to intervene and settle the cause of the threats before they are carried out. This is because the Federal Government cannot afford further cut down in oil production as a result of political crises in host communities.
Ukwa, the only oil producing area of Abia State is one of the two political blocs that constitute Abia South senatorial District of Abia State, the other being the Ngwa bloc.
Ukwa people are upset by the Abia State Government and the Peoples Democratic Party, National Working Committee’s attempt to cede both the senatorial seat to the district and governorship of the state to the Ngwa bloc contrary to the natural order of things that when two things are given to two people, they should take one each.
The bone of contention, therefore, is firstly, the decision of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party to grant automatic return ticket to two senators per state which prompted Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (a former governorship aspirant) to go back and buy the senatorial form of the party, in preparation to return to the senate in 2015.
Secondly, is the continuous rumour deliberately sponsored by the state government that Okezie Ikpeazu is the adopted governorship candidate of the state government.
With respect to Okezie Ikpeazu and the governorship position, what was thought of as a rumour and most often clandestinely and surreptitiously done came to the open when two Saturday ago, Senator Adolphus Wabara called a meeting in his house at Ohambele, where he purportedly adopted Ikpeazu as the governorship aspirant for the senatorial district without batting an eye lid about the interest of his Ukwa people. As usual with such transactions, it was alleged that the state government influenced the adoption with financial inducement.
The questions that people are asking are: why won’t Ukwa people be allowed to produce the governor of the state since the Ngwas are to retain the senatorial seat. Why will the state government be pushing and sponsoring the adoption of Ikpeazu as the governorship candidate of the party in the state as against supporting Ukwa to produce the governor.
Is that fair and equitable? Are Ukwa People slaves to the Ngwas as being propagated by the Abia State Government? Ukwa people recall that the Ngwas have consistently monopolised state and federal positions allocated to the two blocs in the state to the exclusion of Ukwa people.
For example, the Ngwas have monopolized the deputy governorship position since the days of Chief Sam Mbakwe as the governor of the old Imo State when Prince Isaac Uzoigwe was the deputy governor till now that Sir Emeka Ananaba is the deputy to Governor Theodore Orji. For the senatorial position, it has been the same – from Jaja Wachukwu in 1979 to Enyinnaya Abaribe in 2015, and to continue till 2019.
Within the period of 1979 to 2015, there have been 13 positions allocated to the two blocs out of which the Ngwas have taken 11 of the positions; eight deputy governorship slots, namely, Prince Isaac Uzoigwe, 1979 – 1983; Dr. Chima Nwafor, 1992- 1993; Enyinnaya Abaribe, 1999–2003; Dr. Chima Nwafor, 2003 -2005; Hon. Acho Nwakanma, 2005 – 2007; Comrade Chris Akomas, 2007 – 2010; Hon. Acho Nwakanma, 2010 – 2011 and Sir Emeka Anamaba, 2011 till date.
For the two senatorial periods, 1979 to 1983 and 1999 to 2015, the Ngwas have also dominated, namely, Dr. Jaja Wachukwu 1979 to 1983 and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe 2007 to 2015 (now to continue till 2019).
For ministerial appointments, it has been the same thing. Chief Emeka Wogu from the Ngwa bloc is the immediate past Minister of Labour and Productivity. The Ukwas have only occupied the senatorial position for the two blocs through Senator Adolphus Wabara 1999 to 2007. Sir Emmanuel Adiele also from Ukwa was a second Republic Minister of Communications for just three months (Oct to December, 1983).
With these lopsided statistics in favour of the Ngwas, members of Ukwa Progressive Union, Ndoki Chapter in Abuja were understandably livid and seething with anger at their last press conference to call attention of the federal government and the PDP to their plight in Abia State. While waiting for their chairman to commence the press conference, they highlighted their misfortunes in their relationship with the Ngwa bloc.
They lamented how they have often been used during elections and dumped thereafter; how their land has been desecrated and despoiled by international oil companies exploring oil to sell and service the Nigerian state that has foisted a leprous political system which has reduced their people to slaves serving their Ngwa neighours.
They bemoaned their fate in the hands of the current state and federal government representatives, especially the mismanagement of the senatorial position by the incumbent senator. They hear of constituency projects but there is nothing in Ukwa to indicate their existence. Their people lack the most common and basic infrastructural facilities such as electricity, roads, primary and secondary schools. Even social amenities such as potable water and hospitals are non-existent.
The Azumini-Obehie road is the worst road network in the whole of Nigeria. Save for the distance between Umuogor and Abia Palm, part of Ohumbele that had been tarred, the rest of Ukwa East and the entire Ukwa West Local Government Areas lie there like a wasted land. Yet people claimed to be representing us at various levels of government in the last eight years.
As the press conference was about to start, one of them a lawyer, arrived with the information that Mr. Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP told him that governors are never elected but anointed by incumbents and that this was the situation in Abia State where Chief Orji is about to anoint Ikpeazu.
This incensed the gathering more so that PDP is no more interested in elections, the PDP is now a military government, they chorused. One of them observed that it is unfortunate for this political system that people like Metuh are permitted to perch around without any contributions to the system.
It is much more unfortunate that Metuh, a lawyer who is supposed to be better grounded in egalitarianism is one of those projecting this perfidy of parochialism. And that is the kind of politics that the Ngwas like to play – opportunistic and exclusionary!! When things go awry, they will turn around to blame Ukwa people for always supporting old Bende people in power”.
And the clincher, they vowed to join their youths at home to stop all crude oil productions in their areas if the PDP NWC, the federal and state governments continue to facilitate the political and consequential economic deprivation and enslavement of their people by the Ngwas. They will also withdraw their support for the creation of Aba State if this is how the Ngwas will manipulate and monopolies positions in the new state, to their exclusion.
And the clincher, they vowed to join their youths at home to stop all crude oil productions in their areas if the PDP NWC, the federal and state governments continue to facilitate the political and consequential economic deprivation and enslavement of their people by the Ngwas. They will also withdraw their support for the creation of Aba State if this is how the Ngwas will manipulate and monopolies positions in the new state, to their exclusion.
For a people whose oppressed and hopeless political situations have reduced to slaves, Ukwa people are on the verge of joining their Ogoni neighbours on the other side of Imo River to stop crude oil production on their land.
The questions are: can the federal government afford this at this time? Is it not better for the PDP NWC to intervene and redress these genuine grievances of Ukwa People?
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