PRES STATEMENT
The attention of the Nsukka Zonal Forum, NZF, and indeed the good people of the zone has been drawn to a recent news story in a national daily entitled “Nsukka Union Warns Ekweremadu on Enugu Guber Poll”, which was credited to the Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of Nsukka Zonal Union, Chief Matthias Ezema.
The report claimed in part: “It is ridiculous that the Deputy Senate President is now trying to destroy the party (PDP) because of his vaulting ambition of either remaining perpetually in the Senate or becoming the governor.”
It also claimed that “Ekweremadu had never hidden his hatred for Nsukka people . . . and his ‘evil machinations’ against the collective will of the electorate in Enugu State will fail.”
The National Secretariat of the Nsukka Zonal Forum, NZF, wishes to totally dissociate itself and the good people of Nsukka zone from this calumny, show of ingratitude and disrespect to the person and Office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
It is laughable that the illogical statement claimed Senator Ekweremadu was bent on denying Nsukka people their gubernatorial slot, and then in another breath accuses him of trying to destroy the party to perpetuate himself in the Senate. Such untruths and tantrums could only come from those who are not at ease with his rising profile and also his overwhelming popularity among his constituents. If his constituents choose to re-elect him a million times, how is that the business of Nsukka Zonal Union?
Ironically, this fallacy came the same weekend the NZF hosted a cultural night in honour of the lawmaker and our son, Chief Chinedu Onu, whom the Senator facilitated his appointment into the Board of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund- TETFUND.
Senator Ekweremadu’s well-published reaffirmation of support for Nsukka’s gubernatorial quest during that cultural night/reception preceded the report further exposes those behind the report as mischief-makers.
As rightly noted by Chief John Nnia Nwodo at the event, outside the NNPC, no board is more important than the Education Trust Fund in Nigeria, yet Senator Ekweremadu denied his Enugu West Senatorial District that position on that board and gave it to an Nsukka man.
This is just one out of the many federal appointments and numerous visible infrastructural development projects, which the Senator has attracted to Nsukka Zone even though it is not his primary constituency. The Enugu North District has also been a beneficiary of the Ikeoha Scholarship Scheme and other human development programmes under the Ikeoha Foundation since 1997.
It needs to be emphasised that rather than Ekweremadu, it is actually the financiers of this smear who have actually expropriated all reasonable and juicy positions in the State at the State and Federal Level to their one local government and have done all within their powers to emasculate Nsukka zone politically.
NZF wants to place it on record that Senator Ekweremadu HAS NEVER been opposed to Nsukka people producing the next governor of Enugu State. Rather, while stating clearly from the outset that he had no governorship ambition in 2015, he emphasised that he was solidly behind Nsukka people in this venture on the basis of equity, justice, and fairness, not on the basis of unilateralist pronouncement of anybody.
The NZF therefore wishes to apologise to the Senator over this indiscretion by some mischief-makers and calls on those who have political axes to grind with Ekweremadu in Enugu to please count Nsukka people out of it their anti-Ekweremadu campaign.
Importantly, we also call on our qualified sons and daughters who have gubernatorial ambition to be bold enough to declare it to enable us choose from the best because we would not allow anybody to impose a governor on Nsukka and Enugu people.
Those who think that anti-Ekweremadu campaign is the road to realizing their personal political ambitions are certainly daydreaming. They should turn a new leaf or find other platforms rather than use the Nsukka to market their indiscretion.
Hon. Okey Agu
National President, Nsukka Zonal Forum
Former Member, Constituent Assembly
Former Chairman, Igbo-Etiti LGA
