GOVERNOR IFEANYI UGWUANYI
It is not uncommon in Nigerian politics for outgoing governors to have a say or even more. However, Governor Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has been silent over the last three years over who his successor should be and what part of Enugu the next governor should come from, despite constant probing and prodding from several quarters.
The Nsukka Ezue Group backed the zoning arrangement of the governorship position in Enugu State and urged Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to toll the line of his predecessors ahead of the 2023 general elections. Speaking when a delegation of the Nsukka Ezue Group visited the Governor at the Government House, Enugu, chairman of the group, Prof. Damian Ugwutikiri Opata, insisted that the group was in total support of the zoning formula in the state. “Zoning, whether in the mode of Federal Character or rotation of offices is well established in the country. It is the embodiment of equity, justice and inclusivity in any polity, especially one as diverse as Nigeria.”
Governor Ugwuanyi has always kept mum, insisting that the right candidate will emerge; seemingly, without any input from him or anyone. As honest as that sounds, the governor is not above the sentiments of mortals.
In March 2022, his spokesperson, Steve Oruoruo, announced that the governor will back the zoning arrangement drawn up by those who came before him. Shortly before the PDP primary election in the state, it emerged that the governor is rooting for the PDP guber aspirant, Peter Mbah, albeit silently.
He has never said it anywhere and may not, but given Mbah’s antecedents and ties to Senator Chimaroke Nnamani – who is also one of the governor’s allies – it is not so difficult to see where the governor’s cards lie. Political observers in the state were almost ready to bet that Ugwuanyi would rally for Chijioke Edeoga, his commissioner for environment who resigned to pick the PDP governorship nomination form. It was a sleight of hand if the information coming out of Lion House is to be believed.
SENATOR CHIMAROKE NNAMANI
The man who created the ‘Ebeano’ circle was once in the cold and on the brink of ignominy (they say) until Ugwuanyi brought him back into the radar of relevance. The veracity of that news is yet unverified. One thing is clear, though; the governor has found a new ally in the doctor who turned politician. While Ugwuanyi has been coy on who and what zone of Enugu he would prefer, Nnamani has been openly parading his former chief of staff, Mr. Peter Mbah, from Nkanu, as his preferred governorship candidate, while using Ugwuanyi’s influence to push his return to the Senate. Nnamani was governor for 8 years and has been in the Senate for 8 years (almost).
He is gearing for another term. It reeks of a move to keep Senator Ike Ekweremadu in the cold. But the popular belief is that by his vociferousness on Ugwuanyi’s prerogative to appoint his successor, he is not just playing to the sentiments of the people of Nkanu, he is equally using the opportunity to play for political survival against 2023 and beyond. Politics, he always says, is a serious business.
According to Abuja-based journalist, Law Mefor, in his article for ‘The Cable’ on January 29, 2022, Nnamani’s open vote for zoning/rotation and underground effort for the imposition of a candidate of his choosing – also, those in the know have fingered Mbah as his choice – has seen him come under fire. While many have cautioned him not to play ‘boogie’ with the state’s politics as he did in his ‘hay’ day, it has come as no surprise to those who saw him tactically impose Sullivan Chime on ‘Ndi Enugu’. Why has Nnamani remained so powerful a kingmaker? Well, lots of his ‘Ebeano’ proselytes have come through and now hold political offices and it gives him the clout he needs to bulldoze his way through political rubble with reckless abandon.
CHIEF JIM NWOBODO
Of the three kingmakers listed here, former civilian governor of old Anambra State (1979 to 1983), Jim Nwobodo’s influence has been watered down the most and he is only courted out of reverence for what he stands for, then and now. He has not been vocal about any particular candidate but he has thrown his weight behind an Nkanu east candidate, in the spirit of unity and oneness of ‘Ndi Enugu’. What cemented Nwobodo’s place as a kingmaker in Enugu politics was his role in the emergence of Nnamani as governor of the state in 1999.
However, Nnamani has consistently denied this open secret. Nnamani’s claim, that “Chief Jim Nwobodo did not handpick me as governor; neither did he anoint me… I paid my dues. God bless my hustle… I would not leave America and return for a handout.
I am an American-trained member of the board ofcertified obstetrician and gynaecologist and feto-maternal medicine specialist… To say I was handpicked is a gratuitous insult” has not changed the fact that is in the public domain. While this claim may have soured his relationship with Nwobodo, those who know the pioneer governor of the old Anambra attest that his mind is still as witty and schemes just as well as it did back in the day and, as long as God gives him life, he will continue to have a say in Enugu politics, his personal shortcomings notwithstanding.
Nwobodo may not have the braggadocios mien of Nnamani but his mind and his deeds from back in the days still speak for him. That modicum, many dare say, embodies more than Nnamani could ever muster, even as a senator in the 21st century.
