PDP Council Election Primaries: Igboeze South Stakeholders, Delegates Desert Exercise over Marginalization of the West...Decry marginalization, injustice against the west
...Decry marginalization, injustice against the west
The August 14th Enugu State PDP local government chairmanship primary elections may have come and gone across the council areas of the state, but not with hooray at the Igbo-Eze South LGA.
Our reporter who monitored the exercise reported that party stakeholders in the area deserted the primary election deliberately to protest what some of them described as "marginalization and injustice against the West" in the selection of the party's flag bearer.
Barr. Ugochukwu Ferdinand Ukwueze who was selected to fly the party's flag in Igbo-Eze South for the October 5 council election in the state did not go down well with the party stakeholders in the area given that he is from the East part of the local government, an area according to the stakeholders had held Chairmanship position in the LGA for 10 years against the zoning principle in the LGA.
One of the stakeholders who pleaded anonymity stated that the desertion of the venue of the primary and depletion of the number of delegates during the exercise was due to the obvious marginalization of the West by the East.
"I can assure you that people are not happy, no respect for stakeholders, no sense of belonging, there was no known figure at the venue of the exercise. Only a couple of youths who are not known in the polity graced the occasion.
"As you can see, the youths are just handful here. How can we explain it that after fighting with Barr. Ugo Ferdinand during the last election, then he is brought to rule over us. It means those of us who fought with him and his Labour Party have no space in his government. So that is why majority of our youths across the local government are not here. They are not happy. Where are our leaders and stakeholdershere ? Where are the mothers who use to make this kind of event joyous?All these are indications that a huge mistake was made and peopleare not happy", the stakeholder said.
Meanwhile, a youth group under the aegis of "United Igbo-Eze South Youths", has reacted to the outcome of the PDP primary election in the area and also decries marginalization and injustice against the west
In a statement issued in Enugu signed by their coordinator, Hon. Ezugwu Johnson, and was distributed to newsmen on Thursday.
Tagged; "Marginalization And Injustice Against The West Is The Major Reason Stakeholders Deserted Chairmanship Primary In Igbo-Eze South."
The statement reads," Wednesday's PDP Chairmanship primary has proven that there is big trouble in Igbo-Eze South over the choice of zone to produce the council Chairman.
"For the first time in the history of Igbo-Eze South LGA, there was a Party Primary Election, and the party faithful ignored it and went for their businesses.
"The stakeholders and all the influential people from both the Western and the Eastern parts of Igbo-Eze South never recognized that there was anything party primary today.
"All and sundry have seen that the zoning, if not shunned will tear the local government apart.
"From Iheaka, Ovoko (home of Ugochukwu Ferdinand Ukwueze), Iheakpu, Uhunowerre (home of Princess ChinwenduOgbonna), Ibagwa-Aka, Itchi, Nkalagu-Obukpa, Unadu and Alor-Agu communities, the stakeholders, influential people, and party faithful were all absent in the said event.
"Igbo-Eze South as a local government flaunts several major stakeholders, minor stakeholders, influential people, business tycoons, and staunch party faithful who would always travel from far and near to attend this kind of event. But today none of them was seen.
Chairmanship Primary Election has always been a carnival sort of until this injustice and marginalization melted out to the Western part of Igbo-Eze South.
"Out of the forty-eight (48) delegates to vote in the primary election, only seventeen delegates were present and the rest were represented by passersby.
What a protest of absence !!
"We call the attention of the authority not to ignore the impending crisis and doom orchestrated by this unpopular zoning. It will not augur well with the PDP in this prevailing political situation.
"Igbo-Eze South loves Governor Peter Ndubisi Mbah and we will always support him but we advise that he should not allow this camouflage, plotted by external persons for benefit sake, to tear our people apart.
"The demoralization that greeted both the party faithful (especially from his hometown, Ovoko) and the major players in the last general elections can be traced to his (Barr. Ugo Ferdinand's) activities in support of the cancerous Labour Party.
He worked against and fought the PDP faithful during the last general elections just to make sure that the Labour Party won.
He never hid his activities for the Labour Party.
"The question in the lips of many, especially the leaders, influential people, and party faithful, both present and absent is, so anti-party activities are rewarded with juicy positions?
"People who fought with him in Umulolo ward are nursing their wounds in silence.
'To buttress his Labour Party activities, in his OTOBO AMEBODA (007) polling unit, even as SA to former Governor, PDP scored 34 votes while Labour Party scored 159 votes.
Meanwhile, registered voters are 1,428 voters.
"His spokesman and ally in Labour Party activities, Ifeanyi Ogbu who was also SA to former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in his OTOBO AMAUKWA (019) scored one (1) vote for PDP while Labour Party scored 28 votes.
"It is discouraging that a man who openly fought his fellow PDP members in election in favour of opposition is about rewarded with council Chairman. This is a subtle way of killing party loyalty and commitment.
"His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Enugu State, we enjoin you to review and reverse not only the zoning of Chairman and his Vice to Eastern part of Igbo-Eze South but also to give hope for those who laid their lives during the elections.
"We can't afford to allow PDP to die in Igbo-Eze South !.
