Gov. Ikpeazu
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia state, Chief Charles Ogbonna, has warned that the present zoning of the 2023 governorship position to two senatorial districts will destroy the party in the state, adding that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, is rooting for an Ngwa man who will cover his track to succeed him.
Recall that the ruling party strangely zoned the slot to both Abia Central and North Senatorial Districts, simultaneously, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Ogbonna told SummitNews in Umuahia that the zoning arrangement would reverse the party’s political fortunes in the state, if the issue was not jettisoned in favour of Abia North.
He said: “The zoning of the governorship by PDP has raised some undesirable dust in the state for sometime now.
Today, PDP has become a house of commotion, where things are not working well.
“The way things are going today, they will destroy the party. My fear is the consequence of such actions.
Calculating the voting pattern of Abia people, it means that the unexpected is going to happen. The consequence will be for people to join the opposition.
“In a situation where the governor does what he likes, then the people will engage in protest vote during the elections.
Remember what happened to PDP in the 2015 general elections. It was only that we manipulated the result.”
He said that prominent members of PDP, including the former Senate President, Senator. Adolphus Wabara, former NDDC Chairman, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, and former Secretary to the State Government, Dr Eme Okoro, had separately spoken in favour of power shift to Abia North.
He said that the intention behind the zoning of the governorship to Abia Central and North was to facilitate the emergence of Ikpeazu’s successor from the Ngwa axis of Abia Central.
“Ikpeazu wants to hand over to his kinsman because he wants somebody that will protect him,” he said.
Ogbonna, who claimed to have joined PDP in 1998, said: “The party belongs to all of us and I have greater stake than most of them.
“The right thing has to be done. It is only when the right process is taken to get the next governor that all hands would be on deck to ensure the party’s victory.
“If you use your position to have your way, we will shoot you down.”
He recalled that the governorship position had rotated in sequence, beginning from Abia north in 1999 with former Gov. Orji Kalu.
“After Abia north, power shifted to Abia Central with ChiefTheodore Orji, and later, it went to Abia South.
“Power has rotated on the basis of senatorial districts and all the districts have enjoyed good relationship,” he said.
He said that a meeting of the old Bende bloc “insisted that power must shift to Abia north.
“We know that the governor has the money to buy the delegates, but we are not afraid,” he said.
He, therefore, advised other political parties, especially the All Progressives Congress (APC), and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to nominate their candidates from Abia North.
Ogbonna, a former Commissioner under Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, said that Abia people were not happy with the present administration because of the appalling state of infrastructure.
He said that the state lacked basic infrastructure and social amenities.
According to him, Umuahia, the capital city, looks like a glorified village.
He expressed worry that Ebonyi, which was carved out of Abia state in 1991, “has overtaken Abia”, given its massive infrastructure development.
Ogbonna described some politicians in the state, including the former PDP Chiarman, Chief Tony Ukasanya, who paid solidarity visits to Ikpeazu as “sychophants, political jobbers and praise singers.”
He said: “Ukasanya has spent his future 30 years ago. Those who go to pay solidarity visit to the governor when there is no single project on ground in Abia state are hungry politicians.”
He further noted that some people in the state were afraid to say the truth because they were afraid to die.
“They forgot that if they say the truth, they will die, if they refuse to say the truth they will also die. For me, I have chosen to say the truth and die,” he said.
Ogbonna, who reportedly poured libation in his house, while praying that power would never go back to the Ngwa bloc, said the action was in line with his belief and conviction.
“I am a traditionalist and I believe in pouring libation. I believe in my ancestors and it has been working for me. I believe that the small, small gods do errands for the big God. Libation is a way of asking god to do something for me. It is left for it to do it or not. This was not the first time I had poured libation. Libation is a way of life. It does not stop me from going to church.
“I did it when Okezie was contesting election to become governor in 2015, nobody protested and he won. I also poured libation when he was at the Supreme Court, yet nobody protested and he won,” Ogbonna revealed.
