Umahi, Agbo, Nkwegu Battle To Succeed Elechi
THE build up for today’s election has been intense. But the game changed a bit with the defeat of the PDP in the March 28 elections.
All eyes are on the southern part of the state, where the ruling PDP has zoned its governorship slot. The political parties involved are putting in all efforts to come out victorious.
Nothing is left out, as everything is being thrown into the race, including ethnic biases, name-dropping, blackmail, spurious endorsements, etc. It was only PDP members that were visibly warming up for now, as other political parties that were supposed to give it a fight were engulfed in one crisis or the other.
From what is on ground, it seems it is the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) that is giving PDP a run for its money, following the former’s aggressive grassroots mobilisation and campaign, coupled with party manifestos that many political observers in the state believe hold something for the people.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP), which were supposed to give the ruling PDP a strong chase were threaten by series of crisis, as the struggle for who control the leadership at the state has become their bane.
Just recently, some APC stakeholders dumped the party for PDP and some of them were accused for gross misconduct, causing disaffection and disunity, embezzlement of funds and running the party as personal property.
A source told The Guardian that the emergence of Senator Julius Ucha as that party flag bearer against the preferred candidate, Chief Austin Edeze, was still causing ripples in the party.
Edeze’s supporters still believed the said primary that produced Ucha was marred with irregularities and vowed not to be part of the party campaign. Ebonyi could safely be described as a PDP stronghold in the Southeast, as the party has been holding sway in the state since 1999.
With the current unity and cohesion in the state chapter of the party, it does appear that its dominance of the party in elections would continue. PDP’s Dave Umahi Chief Dave Umahi, PDP’s candidate and the incumbent Deputy Governor, has had a meteoric rise in politics, after the unprecedented success he recorded in private business.
He was made acting state chairman of the party in 2007 and the substantive chairman in 2009, a position he held till 2011, when Elechi chose him as his running mate in the election.
The civil engineer-turned politician has since assumption of office kept a low profile, a sharp contrast with his flamboyant lifestyle when he was PDP state chairman.
He is also believed to be one of those with firm grip of the political machinery in the state, especially in his Ebonyi South district, more so, since he supervised the party’s primaries that produced all the present state and federal lawmakers from the state.
However, many political observers believe nothing would stop the Uburu-born politician from becoming the next governor of the state.
During the last party primaries, he single handedly dismantled and collected the party structure from Elechi and defeated the governor’s prefers candidate and the former minister for Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu.
During the March 28 elections, his party won all the three senatorial seats and six House of Representative seats. The recent defection of one of the governorship candidates, Mrs. Grace Uduma Eze, and over 50,000 supporters of LP to PDP show clearly that Umahi is few days away fro Government House.
Edward Nkwegu Of LP He is an in-law to Martin Elechi. This multi-millionaire hails from Izzi Council and he came into political limelight immediately his in-law became the governor and since then, he has become so powerful and most of the time influenced some government decisions.
The Guardian learnt that he was drafted into the race by the governor to thwart Umahi’s ambition after he (Umahi) snatched the party structure from him.
He does not appear to be popular in the state and is regard as Abuja-based. His opponents believe he does not have the clout to lead the people of the state.
Some even sees him as not able to withstand pressures. The zoning of the governorship position to Ebonyi South and his closeness to the governor are other factors affecting his ambition of becoming a governor.
Anthony Agbo Of APGA Senator Anthony Agbo of APGA from Ohakwu Council was former Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, a former senator representing Ebonyi North from 2007 to 2011 and a commissioner during the Sam Egwu administration.
He is seen by many as a man who, given the opportunity, could turn around the state, in terms of infrastructural and human development. Agbo is also seen as a perfect gentleman who has carved a name for himself. But his greatest task is how to march the popularity of Umahi.
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