•Reject Imposition Of Eburuaja As Councillorship Candidate
By Onyekachi Eze
The process to nominate candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the September 21, 2024 Imo State Council elections may not go by without attendant loopholes.
Barely 12 days to the Local Government polls to elect respective Chairmen and Councillors, Owerre-Nkworji Ward 7 in Nkwerre LGA boils over an imposition of a non compliant APC member.
In a Press briefing held yesterday, September 9, 2024, in Owerri, converged by the leaders of Owerre-Nkworji Ward 7, it was disclosed that, there is fire on the mountain if there is no review of the name entered for the Councillorship position of the said Ward.
A two term former State Lawmaker who represented Nkwerre in the Imo State House of Assembly (2003-2011), Hon Prince Ugochukwu Nzekwe, briefed that in Owerre-Nkworji Ward 7, they were faced with attempted imposition of a person who never believed in the consensus agreement as others did.
He added that as a former Adviser to governor Rochas Okorocha on mobilization; a pioneer deputy Chairman of Imo APC, and recently an aide to governor Hope Uzodimma on Public Safety, it would be misleading if he fails to address and point out most of the lapses observed in the Councillorship list of his Ward.
He stated that after the enlarged meeting at the Party’s Secretariat where the governor suggested for a consensus agreement as the optimum format, they were perplexed seeing a non indigene’s name (Mbaeri Osita E.) as Ward 7 Candidate.
After deep search and they discovered that the said Mbaeri Osita E was neither an indigene of Nkwerre nor a Party member from Owerre-Nkworji according to their register, they discovered that same name was also listed in Ideato North LGA, hence, an error.
Nzekwe then said, upon gathering the facts,
they reached the appropriate channel for possible correction of the name for Ward 7 Owerre-Nkworji.
According to him, it became more disturbing when a correction was effected and someone who never participated was written as Councillorship candidate.
“The name Mbaeri Osita E was listed in Ideato North and Nkwerre LGA. We discovered it was a mistake and we drew the attention of those who released the list on that particular name for Ward 7. Instead of the correction to be made to accommodate the actual person, we heard that there was a name, that name never participated in the Primary.
“I attended the meeting organized in Owerri, the governor made it very clear that APC in Imo should embrace consensus because APC is one family.
“To my knowledge, I know what consensus means. As a former Deputy Chairman, I am conversant with the happening and stipulations”.
Speaking as a pioneer APC member, Hon Nzekwe read out page 74, article 20 of APC constitution which states that elections and appointments of the party either on consensus or not, a vote of yes or by ballot shall be held to make sure it is not on imposition basis.
He revealed that the man whose name is currently in the circulating list, Edward Eburuaja was allegedly nominated and being forced on Ward 7 by one Mr. Benneth Nwokediobi known as “Duru” from Ward 6.
Eburuaja was said to have never took part in the nomination process with the other aspirants and leaders, but only relied on his backbone, Duru, for the miracle to happen.
“The man (Edward Eburuaja) whose name appeared on the list did not come for that meeting convened at the Secretariat, only for his name to be pen down as Ward 7 candidate. That is imposition on us, and we vehemently refuse to accept that.
“Exactly what the governor opted for (consensus) was what we did. Rather than correcting the names accordingly, another big error was committed.
“Someone claiming to be closer to the governor is imposing a candidate on us. We beg the party leadership not to replace party leadership with party moneybags. Let them do something that will maintain integrity and due diligence”, Nzekwe said.
He prayed that the party Chairman in Imo State do not to allow individuals create problems in the party when the governor did not say moneybags should appoint candidates for the people.
While insisting on a level playing ground where aspirants in the Owerre-Nkworji Ward 7 would take a unifying decision of choosing among themselves who would be the candidate, Hon Nzekwe added that if not corrected, the stigma would not augur well for the other councillorship aspirants, leaders and the members.
Also, he posited that the Party cannot afford to lose core loyalists for the sake of one person.
“Money politics is good, but party integrity should not be exchanged for money. This is not acceptable to us in Owerre-Nkworji Ward 7, let the right candidate emerge and from a decent process, not by imposition.
“We all seated here today have all paid our dues. Accepting such manipulation is a slight on us”.
Other Leaders present at the briefing were; Hon Chineye Maduakolam (former SA to the governor on food vendor), Hon Ndubuisi Osunkwo (a philanthropist of repute), Hon Boniface Ogoke (Acting Ward Chairman of APC), Ikechukwu Ajaegbu, Mac-Aneleh Tochukwu aspirant, Anowai Onyemaechi Councillorship aspirant and immediate past Ward Chairman, Mrs. Chukwukere Josephine, Ward 7 Woman Leader.
