This Saturday, the people of Enugu join the rest of Nigerians in electing the country’s President, as well as members of the National Assembly from the Coal City State.
Since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, Enugu has remained a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, State, with the party winning all positions in every election that has been conducted in the past.
Former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, who held sway from 1999 to 2007 had built a political family called ‘Ebeano’, which produced many crops of new politicians. Although the dominance of the political group suffered what seemed to be a setback when Barr. Sullivan Chime took over, the group is now back on track.
However, for the first time in the history of the party, there exists an opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress. The party has the likes of former governor, Sullivan Chime, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, Senator Ayogu Eze whose guber candidature of the party is now a matter of litigation, former Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon, Eugene Odo, among others. A former governor of old Enugu State, dumped the party a fortnight ago and returned to the PDP.
Expectedly, the PDP will have an upper hand in the election. Despite the presence of APC, many factors will sway votes in favour of the ruling party in the State.
First and foremost, in Enugu East where former governor, Chimaroke Nnamani hails from, there is hardly any other more popular politician from the area. Chimaroke is a household name, he is loved by his people owing to the development projects he brought to the area during his era as governor. He is also said to have so much empowered several people with political positions irrespective of their previous backgrounds.
This was evident during his campaign rally across the zone as it turned to carnivals wherever he visited. It could be recalled that the former Governor after one term in the Senate made two more unsuccessful attempts on the platform of the Peoples for Democratic Change, PDC. Although he was believed to have won both elections, the rest is now history. Now that he is back to the PDP, the ruling party in the State, he is seen as having no challenger in the election. It is believed that the candidate of the APC for the Enugu East Senatorial Zone, Prince Lawrence Eze would be no match to him. The Ebeano family, as seen during his campaign, is a movement that cuts across ages and barriers, and as such analysts say they are coasting home to easy victory.
Going by the above, it is also believed that other National Assembly candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the area will achieve victory at the polls. This is as Senator Nnamani campaign along all of them, an indication that they would all be beneficiaries of his unrivalled popularity.
In Enugu West, it may not be anything different. It is the home of the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu. The Senator is not new to political battles, having defeated Chime as a sitting governor. The former governor had lost in his effort to stop Ekweremadu’s return to the Senate in 2015. Despite misgivings from a section of the people in the area that he had ‘over-stayed’ in the Red Chamber of the Senate, it is believed that the APC candidate, Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, may not have the needed structure to give Ekweremadu a challenge owing to his popularity. He is also said to have attracted a lot of infrastructure to his zone, more than any other Senator has ever done in the State. In all, the result from Enugu West may not be anything far from that of Enugu East.
And then Enugu North Senatorial Zone. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is from the area. Gburugburu, as he is fondly called, will no doubt deliver his zone to the PDP. He is another politician in the State loved by his people and as such it is believed that the Senator from the zone, Chukwuka Utazi, as well as other National Assembly candidates from the area will emerge victorious. Gov. Ugwuanyi has not disappointed his people, having delivered both in terms of infrastructure and human empowerment, a situation that has earned him ‘Governor of the Year’ award from several National Dailies.
DAILY POST reports that another factor which has further boosted PDP’s chances in the State is the endless crisis rocking the APC in the State. As it stands, the party is not even sure of its governorship candidate. This is as a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had last week sacked Senator Eze as the party’s candidate. It went ahead to order INEC that Barr. George Ogara should be recognized. Our correspondent reports that INEC has since been served with a copy of the judgement.
Before the judgement, the party was also sharply divided between two camps. While one is under the chairmanship of Barr. Ben Nwoye, another group is with Deacon Okey Ogbodo. Right now, the Ogbodo-led faction are going round the State campaigning for only President Muhammadu Buhari. The campaign team has the likes of the foreign affairs minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama and the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu. They are completely silent on the governorship candidate of the party in the State. They are not left alone as other key members of the party, including the former Senate President, Nnamani are also involved in any campaign for their guber candidate. All of them are said to have one grouse or the other. It, is, therefore highly doubtful whether the party will make a meaningful impact in the election under such division.
By and large, President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate will garner more votes than he did in the State in 2015, but Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP will certainly win the State. Enugu is undoubtedly a PDP State and Peter Obi, the running mate to Atiku, being from neighbouring Anambra, is another driving force that will gift the PDP victory in the presidential election in the State.
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