By FRANCIS IGATA, Enugu
There has been an uneasy calm in the build-up for Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency following the ambition of the seating chairman of Enugu-East Local Government Area, Mr. Cornelius Nnaji to jettison his chairmanship and contest for the House of Representative of the constituency. In this interview, the Commissioner for Inter-Ministerial Affairs, Enugu State, Pastor Beloved-Dan Anike vows to truncate the efforts of the council chairman. Excerpts….
You had the ambition to the run for the House of Representatives in your area, Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency. Why are you no longer running?
Yes, anybody in the political arena, either appointive or elective will have ambition to climb higher. I have been a Commissioner in Enugu state since 2011 till date where I have served as commissioner for transport and was later redeployed to the Ministry of inter-ministerial affairs. I have served my people well which triggered the ambition to run for the house of Representatives.
Pastor Anike
As it stands, my primary consultation started with the hierarchy of the party in the state. On consulting the hierarchy of the party, they advised me to jettison the idea in order to allow the incumbent holder of the office, Amb. Kingsley Ebenyi who is serving his first term to complete his second term in line with the party’s pronouncement that those who are at the national assembly serving their first term, should be allowed to complete their second term in office. I had to abide by it. The seat belongs to Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo federal constituency. Enugu-East has been
I always heed the advise of the leadership of the party to hold-on my ambition.
We are told that the Chairman of Enugu-East Local Government Area, Mr. Cornelius Nnaji has picked the nomination form to contest for the Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo federal constituency even as a seating council chairman. How do you react to this development?
The issue before us is that we are wondering why a seating chairman
who is only in the first term of two tenures, having been sworn-in January this year wants run for the house of representative. He should have waited to exhaust his tenure as local government chairman before aspiring to run. What I am opposing is that if he wants to resign as chairman and run, there are eligible people in the council area that are professionals in different fields who are ably qualified to occupy such position.
It should not be only him that is qualified as he is trying to prove that he can run for the election. Elective offices are not about the occupier of the seat. Giving the fact that he is also from the same family that has produced the last house of representative member, in the person of Gil Nnaji who is currently serving as a senator and also is his elder brother while he, Cornelius is a seating local government chairman they should have considered others.
His elder brother is also contesting to go back to the senate, he Cornelius also wants to contest for house of reps. That is why the gods are wise. The leadership of the party has declared that Isi-Uzo should be given a fair chance to go for a second term and that is where I stand.
The two brothers have had it all. Starting with the local government chairman, house of representative and now senate at the same time. You people have never complained, why now?
The issue is that in the past, Cornelius had not been in the same political group with his elder brother. Going by his pedigree, we never campaigned for him to become a council chairman on the basis of family politics. It was based on what we thought he could deliver and represent. But this representation now, is what is putting us back. His action is pushing us into another circle of servitude and domination by the same family.
If your elder brother has been a local government chairman, house of rep member and now a senator and you want to have the same circle as your elder brother how will it play out? He is now a council chairman and is proceeding to become a house of representative member and will also want to become a senator. My intention has never been to oppose him but to run for the house of representative seat. But I cannot run on my own because our caucus has taken a stand. I have to abide by the party decision.
What if there are forces in the state leadership of your party backing his political ambition?
Let’s not think about it. What have been said by the party is clear. In this state we respect zoning. Like I am leading the campaign for the emergence of the governor’s successor from the Enugu-North senatorial district extraction.
The leadership of the party made it known that they are zoning the governorship to Enugu-North senatorial zone. Likewise, the leadership of the party has made it known that they are zoning it to Isi-Uzo. What we are now saying is that Cornelius is driven by power that is why he cannot abide by simple party decision. He believes he can find a way to truncate what the party has already zoned. My position is what I want to make clear.
The position of Nike people is that we have eligible people who can fill any position, whether in the state, house of reps and anywhere. It is not only Cornelius Nnaji that is qualified to run for this election. I am talking for my generation.
There are people more qualified than myself. I told Nike people that it must not be me and it must not be Cornelius. If they do not want me, we can fish for other people if it is zoned to Enugu-East. But it should not be Cornelius.
He is a serving council chairman and has their mandate for which he was elected. Whatever he has promised the people during his electioneering campaigns, he should fulfill that promise. He should not abandon the projects he started for the people so that at the end of his four year term, we will be able to judge him based on his performance which will qualify him for another position.
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