Aggrieved members of Enugu East local government council have protested alleged imposition of a candidate for the scheduled February local government election in Enugu state.
The protesters who took to the streets with placards further lamented the domination of the council by a particular family since its creation in 1996.
They, therefore, appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to wade into the matter and liberalise the political process in the council area.
In a petition to Governor Ugwuanyi, the Mbuluiyikwu Peoples Assembly noted that since the first administrator of the council came from the Nike-Uno zone, the zone has utilised without recourse to equity, justice and fairness to exclude the other two zones (Mbuluiyikwu/ Ugwuogo and Mbulunjodo) from producing the Chairman of the Local Government in the name of stakeholders’ consensus.
“I’m sure you can agree that there is a hyper-messianic expectation for the people of Nike or Enugu- East Local government area that its high time the position is moved to other zones,” Mbuluiyikwu petitioned.
The leader of the protesters, Prof. Paul Nnamuchi from Eko Nike, said they were protesting to register their grievance over the 26 years of domination of the council’s political space by one family that dictates for the entire people.
Nnamuchi said: “The Local Government is made up of three zones and we feel it’s high time the chairmanship position moves to another zone. Since the Local Government was created 26 years ago, it has remained in one zone and more or less one family. It is time to move it around for equity, for peace.
“Call the stakeholders, call everybody, it becomes consensus and not this kind of deceit. So, we enjoin the peace-loving Governor of Enugu State to ensure that peace is enthroned in the Local Government. We are one people, Nike is not divided. We are good people, nobody is more than others. The Governor should please come to our rescue; there is a need for fairness, equity and fair play and this is the time.”
Another member of the protesting group, Hon. Bertrand Anike said they had suffered so much humiliation and injustice in Enugu East Local Government Area.
He recalled that the Governor invited them on the 5th of January, 2022, during which they were given the opportunity to meet and choose the next Chairman of the Council.
He, however, lamented that “instead of the stakeholders meeting to that effect, the directive of the Governor was flouted. Nobody met anywhere, including the traditional rulers.
“The traditional rulers, the stakeholders, the youths, the women, nobody invited them. This is not democracy; we have a peaceful Governor who has a listening ear but the reverse is the case in Enugu East. But we say ‘No’ to this kind of intimidation. The Governor should invite us and address this matter.”
“The Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Edward Ubosi came and announced a name to us without discussing it with anybody. He told us, he lied to us that the Governor gave him and Hon. Cornelius Nnaji the authority, by virtue of their positions, to appoint, to impose a candidate on us where we are preparing for the election. We say we cannot take it.
“The Governor should attend to us; something is about to happen to Enugu East. The Governor should save us; the Governor should help us,” Anike pleaded.
