'Competence, not zoning', Ebonyi group faults Governor Umahi's choice of successor

Ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, an Ebonyi diaspora group, Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-cultural in Diaspora (AEISCID) has faulted the State Governor, Dave Umahi over insistence on the zoning of the governorship slot to Ebonyi North.

Governor Umahi while addressing a gathering of certain elders in the Southeast state at the weekend, had said for equity, fairness, justice and peaceful coexistence, his successor should emerge from Ebonyi North Senatorial District.

Reacting in a press statement, AEISCID’s president, Ambassador Paschal Oluchukwu, asked the electorate in Ebonyi State to be guided by the capacity and competence of the candidates that would seek their votes.

He accused Governor Umahi of using a decoy to market the candidacy of his anointed choice and current Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Honourable Francis Nwifuru who incidentally is from Ebonyi North.

The statement reads in part: “For us, Governor Umahi’s equity call when he has already given endorsement to the Speaker of the State’s House of Assembly is rather anchored on selfishness, greed and in fact, his desperation to continue to control the affairs of our dear State from behind the scene.

“As a matter of fact, the endorsement of the Speaker and his running mate- should they eventually make it to the ballot should be seen very glaringly for what it is: A third term agenda by the Emperor Umahi dynasty!

“We feel and rightly too that the governor is only deeply angered by the overwhelming unpopularity of his choice candidate and is therefore looking for a means to sell and push his evil agenda through our elders and founding fathers some of who have been severely subjugated and are also not very well informed on the happenstances in the present misgovernance that Umahi has brought upon our dear State which has left key critical sectors like education, health care and even Agriculture in ruins.

“Otherwise, were they not the same founding fathers he, (Umahi) snubbed upon ascension to power in 2015- insisting he does not need their advice to govern Ebonyi? Why market his unsellable and unpopular gubernatorial candidate through the same elders and leaders now?

“Or is Nwifuru not the same stooge who as the head of the Legislative arm of government has been approving loans, memos and requests without any form of debate just to please the Governor whom he considers and calls his boss? That Ebonyi’s debt profile has soared under the present human-less Umahi administration which mainly considers concrete-mixing as development is now audible to the deaf and visible to the blind.”

The statement cautioned the founding fathers, leaders, elders and traditional rulers of Ebonyi State to be wary of any political product Governor Umahi might be trying to install in 2023.

“The youths and the younger generations won’t forgive them if they avail themselves to be used by the outgoing governor who is now drowning and looking for any straw to hold on to.

“Of course, we are glad that Umahi did express a little bit of his frustration and anger over his lost APC Presidential bid. “He even opened up that he is yet recovering from the pains of Presidential election defeat. It is therefore wisdom for them and indeed, all lovers of our dear State to distance from his counsel while allowing him to lick his wounds.

“We encourage and challenge the Ebonyi electorates to make history by supporting and electing into office in 2023 elections not on emotional or zoning sentiments but on competence, capacity and credibility. Those who we would wish to see occupy elective offices in 2023 must be people with known antecedents and proven capacity to deliver good governance in Ebonyi State.

“Very good a thing that the tremendous improvements in the electoral system have made it uneasy for elections to be rigged or for brazen manipulations to take place. We encourage Ebonyians to leverage on this to elect competent and credible leaders with proven and verifiable credentials in 2023.”

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