Politics

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As the search for governor Sullivan Chime’s successor gets into top gear, the question many are asking is: What happens to the zoning formula now?

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jul. 29, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

THE battle for the government house, Enugu, popularly known as Lion Building is underway. The search for the successor of Sullivan Chime is already in top gear across the three senatorial districts in the state. Many politicians are already warming up to take over the governance seat in the Coal City come 2015, as the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, strategises to retain the state.

Going by the principle of zoning, Enugu East and West senatorial districts would certainly be left out of the governorship race as the incumbent governor and Chimaroke Nnamani, former governor, hail from the two zones, respectively. Since the advent of the current political dispensation in the state in 1999, Enugu East had ruled the state from 1999 to 2007. Chime, who is serving his second term in office, is from Enugu West. Against this backdrop, Enugu North is expected to produce the next governor of the state.

Many factors will be considered in determining who flies the PDP flag in 2015. Some of them include, zoning, political influence and godfatherism. Investigations by Realnews have revealed that governor Chime is determined to zone the seat to Enugu North, a decision that many top politicians in the state are not comfortable with. So far, most of the candidates who are scheming to succeed governor Chime are from Enugu North senatorial district and some of them are loyalists of the governor.

The major contenders include Okey Ezea, governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2011 general elections, Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, Senator Ayogu Eze, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, House of Representatives member, Okechukwu Itanyi, former deputy governor, Eugene Odoh, speaker Enugu State House of Assembly  and Vita Abba, state chairman of the PDP.

Governor Chime recently said that his successor would come from Enugu North senatorial district. He made it clear that the idea wasn’t his, rather an agreement reached within the state chapter of the PDP. “It is already being discussed at the caucus level of the party in the state and we are working towards it. The issue of who becomes governor is in the hands of our people. There is an understanding that it goes to Nsukka. It is a PDP affair, all things being equal, our candidate will come from there, and whoever emerges the PDP candidate will be governor,” he said.

According to him, the coast is now clear for Enugu North senatorial district to produce the next governor. But some political pundits in the state believe that the major challenge facing the people of Enugu North is selecting a candidate who would match the pedigree of Ekweremadu if he eventually declares interest to contest for the governorship position. Some of the challenges include the support Ekweremadu is likely to get from the party hierarchy and the number of his supporters in the state.

As things stand, it appears Chime was expressing his personal opinion, and not that of the party. Ekweremadu, has distanced himself from the agreement allegedly reached by the PDP in the state to zone the governorship slot to Nsukka senatorial zone. According to him, he was not aware of any plan to zone the governorship slot in the state to Enugu North, neither was there any document or meeting to that effect.

There are also serious indications in the state that Ekweremadu is seriously preparing to contest the next gubernatorial election in the state. The establishment of a radio station by Ekweremadu in the state has further heightened the speculation that he has a gubernatorial ambition. Before now, his posters had flooded the entire state, particularly the local governments in Nsukka senatorial zone. But he has denied nursing any ambition to contest the next governorship election in the state. A source in the state told Realnews that the 2015 gubernatorial ticket is already resting in Ekweremadu’s closet.  The senator is believed to have gotten the support of President Goodluck Jonathan, to succeed governor Chime. “He will run if he chooses, and that was why he said that he will not support any attempt to marginalise any aspirant or candidate in Enugu East or Enugu West, until the issue of zoning is well discussed and sorted out,” he said.

The quest to pick a likely successor of governor Chime, is not restricted to the PDP. The emerging All Progressives Congress, APC, is not left out. Its leadership is searching for credible candidates who can match the PDP in terms of performance and delivery of dividends of democracy to the people. The party is anxiously waiting to reap from the upcoming crisis in Enugu PDP.  Joseph Okoloagu, coordinator of the party in the state, said that if the party is registered, its gubernatorial candidate would come from Nsukka senatorial zone.

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