Guber: Reactions Trail Senator Ekweremadu’s ‘Lies’ About Zoning In Enugu State

Some concerned natives of Enugu State, Wednesday, described the recent declaration by a former deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, that there was no time rotation of governorship in the state was signed as a result of the senator’s ‘inordinate ambition’.

Ekweremadu had during his declaration for the governorship last Friday in Enugu stated that, “I challenge anybody who says there was a zoning arrangement to come and say where the discussion and the agreement took place.”

However, the document where the hierarchy of the Peoples Democratic Party signed the agreement had emerged.

In the document, dated July 7, 2013, Ekweremadu was number four person to sign the zoning agreement. All the federal lawmakers from the state, including incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, also signed the document.

Chikeokwu Onuh, a public affairs analyst, told our correspondent that, “At times, one wonders why man doesn’t learn from the past. Hubris kills a proud man. Ekweremadu is trying to truncate the peace in Enugu State for selfish reasons.

“He has been in the Senate for Donkey years, and voluntarily decided to leave. His vow to become the governor of Enugu State in 2023 is an antithesis of somebody his calibre.”

Sunday Vitus wrote, “He can deceive the gullible but not everyone. When the chips are down, the agreement will surface and the signatories will be unveiled. Perhaps he is ready to contest with APGA.”

Prince Joseph Eze, a business man, said, “It is a case of inordinate ambition. How can anybody say that Enugu State has no zoning arrangement for the governorship? The agreement started in retrospect from Okwesilieze Nwodo of Enugu North zone; to Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu East, and then to Sullivan Chime of Enugu West. It is presently in Enugu North where Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi comes from.

“It should naturally return to Enugu East zone in 2023. Anybody against this has a skeleton in the cupboard. It is left for the voters to use their powers to either make or mar our peaceful state.”

Meanwhile, a group from Ekweremadu’s Enugu West senatorial district, named Ife Emelumma, also faulted Ekweremadu’s claims.

The leader of the group, Senator Ben-Collins Ndu, regretted that the former deputy Senate president, ‘who is a Christian, chose the Lenten period to tell a big lie that there was no zoning in Enugu State’.

Chief Ndu said, “This is somebody who has benefited so much from the party and the state, and he should allow peace to reign, but we know that at the end of the day, he will come back to his senses because he is one of us.

“It is the turn of Enugu East senatorial district. Ike will see a reason to step down.”