ELDERS and leaders of thought in Ebonyi State have backed the state governor, David Umahi, as the senatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for Ebonyi South senatorial district.
Twenty main stakeholders, comprising senior citizens, top government functionaries and community leaders said in a resolution, on Tuesday, that Umahi remains the choice of the people, distancing themselves from the controversy stirred by an APC aspirant, Mrs Ann Agomeze, on the matter. .
The signatories to the resolution included: president general, Ohanivo General Assembly, Honourable Darlington Okereke; Chief Onyebuchi Ogbadu (deputy president general and chairman, Ivo Local Government Area); Dr. Tina Nweze (assistant secretary general); Barrister Chukwuemeka Oji (legal adviser); Princess Rose Ajanwachukwu (treasurer); Honourable Uchechukwu Afudike (financial secretary); Honourable David Ngwe (organising secretary); Ogbuatu Chidi Simbad (publicity secretary); Honourable Chika Nwangele (youth leader); Princess Francisca Okeke (woman leader); Honourable (Princess) Nkechinyere Iyioku (chairman, Ohaozara LGA) and Honourable Ogbonnaya Igboke (chairman, Onicha LGA).
Others were the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike; Honourable Orji Uchenna Orji (Commissioner for Information and State Orientation); Chief Donatus O.Njoku (Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Matters and Rural Development); Barr. Mrs. Chioma O. Nweze (Commissioner for Trade and Investment); Engr. Ogbonnaya Obasi Abara (Commissioner for works and Transport); Orlando O. Nweze (Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development); Chief( Barister) Samuel Okoronkwo (Chief of Staff to Ebonyi State Government) and Chief Emmanuel Obasi (Principal Secretary to the Governor) In the document signed on behalf of the Ohanivo General Assembly, the stakeholders strongly condemned the recent chicanery to undermine the zoning policy adopted in the district for key elective offices ahead of the 2023 general election.
The resolution was partly titled: Ebonyi South Senate: Ohanivo General Assembly stands with Governor Dave Umahi, in which the leaders also criticised the ploy to subvert the agreement that the governor was the preferred candidate for the senatorial zone, while the ticket for the House of Representatives was conceded to another area. The Ohanivo General Assembly membership cuts across indigenes of Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo LGAS.
“As a socio-cultural umbrella organisation bound by the considerations of peace, equity and unity, Ohanivo General Assembly notes that by the APC zoning arrangement which was agreed upon before the party primaries by all members of the party in Ebonyi State, the senatorial ticket for Ebonyi South senatorial district was zoned to Ohaozara Local Government Area where incidentally, the incumbent governor hails from.
“The General Assembly of Ohanivo further notes that by the APC zoning arrangement, the Federal House of Representatives ticket for Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency was zoned to Onicha Local Government Area, where (Mrs.) Ann Agomeze hails from by virtue of her marriage, and that the APC candidate for the Federal House of Representatives Constituency has been produced from her Local Government change.
“To the chagrin of Ohanivo General Assembly, (Mrs.) Ann. N. Agomeze unlike cohesive women of Ohanivo, jumped up to the senatorial primaries and contested for the ticket contrary to the APC zoning arrangement agreed upon by the people of the senatorial zone and yet lost colossally to Chief Austin Umahi in a primary election held on May 28, 2022.”
They claimed that she did not only “accept her defeat at the said primaries, she went further to file documents at APC national secretariat duly signed in her hands and seal and supported by court affidavit indicating that she had voluntarily withdrawn from her intention and ambition for Ebonyi South senatorial race.”
and then