A former Member of the House of Representatives and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress from Abia state, Nze Esiaga, has accused Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State of imposing the factional leader of the Abia APC, Ikechi Emenike, as governorship candidate, accusing the Imo governor of ‘territory expansion.’
This comes against the alleged move by Uzodinma to impose Emenike on members of the APC in Abia state in total defiance of the ruling of Justice O. A Chijioke-led Umuahia High court which barred the latter from participating in the concluded gubernatorial primary election of the party.
Justice Chijioke based the ruling on his suspension in 2022 by the immediate past state executive committee over gross misconducts, ranging from operating a parallel structure of APC chaired by kingsley Ononogbu.
Recall that the suspended Abia chieftain had in late 2021, declared his intention to run for the seat of Governor of Abia State in the upcoming general elections in 2023.
On Thursday 26th May, 2022, a parallel structure of the Abia APC, backed by Emenike, who also doubled as the immediate past Chairman of Governing Council of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), held an indirect mode of primary election, wherein he emerged the governorship candidate of the party, in defiance of approval and directive by the party’s national leadership for direct primaries in choosing Abia gubernatorial candidate for the forthcoming 2023 elections.
However, while alerting APC members on the latest move by the Imo helmsman, the ex-federal lawmaker, Nze Esiaga, in a press statement made available to newsmen in Umuahia, on Tuesday, called on the people of Abia to rise in condemnation of Governor Uzodinma’s clandestine efforts to annex the state to Imo.
According to the party stalwart, “he is using Chief Ikechi Emenike as a willing tool to actualize his devilish ambition. Lest we forget that when late Senator Arthur Nzeribe attempted to grab Abia State in 1991 when the state was newly created, Abia Progressives ably led by late Eze Elechi Ikoro, resisted him at a very high cost.
“Yours sincerely was in the forefront of the battle on “Abia belongs to Abians”. To God be the glory that we chased Arthur Nzeribe away from Abia State and confined him to his Orlu Senatorial zone in Imo state. Let all hands be on deck to salvage Abia once more from another Orlu son, else history and posterity will judge us”.
Continuing, Esiaga added, “Chief Emma Enukwu, the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressive Congress was sponsored to the office by Governor Hope Uzodinma against Senator Ken Nnamani of Enugu state. Enukwu is now merely acting the script written by Uzodinma against Abia state and I stand to be corrected.
“Governor Uzodinma and his co travelers must be told in the language they understand that those whose kernels were cracked for them by the benevolent spirits of Supreme Court judges against the wishes of Imo people should not fail to be humble.
“Any further encroachment into Abia State henceforth will earn them the wrath and anger of our ancestors. I am neither a prophet nor the Son of One but anything short of direct primary election in Abia state chapter of APC will spell doom.”
