By Ugochukwu Alaribe
UMUAHIA—The Ukwa Ngwa Council of Elders, a socio-political association of elders of the nine council areas of Ukwa Ngwa bloc, in Abia State, is currently enmeshed in crisis over the adoption of a consensus governorship candidate for the 2023 election.
The council has worked for the election of a governor from the Umunneato Ngwa area, comprising Isiala Ngwa North, Osisioma Ngwa, and Isiala Ngwa South council areas.
Vanguard gathered that two opposing groups have emerged; one led by the chairman of the council, Dr. Max Nduaguibe, and another led by the former deputy governor, Acho Nwakanma who is accused of leading PDP members of the council to form a new group.
Three sons of the Ukwa Ngwa zone emerged as governorship candidates of their various parties for the 2023 election. They include Prof. Uche Ikonne (PDP), Enyinnaya Nwafor (YPP) and Bishop Emeka Nwankpa (Accord Party).
Chairman of the Council, Dr. Max Nduaguibe, told Vanguard that the council had set out to ensure a level playing field for all Ukwa Ngwa sons who are flying the governorship tickets of their various parties, but some PDP loyalists insisted on the adoption of the candidate of their party.
Nduaguibe explained that the Ukwa Ngwa Council of Elders is a non-partisan body that is open to interested elders of the bloc despite their political affiliations.
He stated that after the council of elders had met with the candidates, a group led by the ex-deputy governor started putting pressure on him to endorse the PDP candidate since Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has anointed him as successor.
Nduaguibe also disclosed that his explanations to Nwakanma and other PDP loyalists that the Council needed to wait for the commencement of campaigns to assess the acceptability of candidates by the people angered them.
However, in a reaction to the allegations, the former deputy governor said Nduaguibe is prejudiced against other candidates and had on several occasions shown a preference for the YPP governorship candidate, Enyinnaya Nwafor.
The ex-deputy governor alleged that Nduaguibe only invited members of the council who are sympathetic to the views of the meetings as he has been compromised to adopt the YPP candidate.
He alleged that Nduaguibe has never supported Ikpeazu since he became Governor, stressing his activities show that he has been influenced by “financial or political gain” and pressured to justify the gratification he may have received.
Nduaguibe said; “Ukwa is not a political party. It is not an agency of the Abia State government. It is not a political party, but a pressure group. We promised all the governorship aspirants from Umunneato Ngwa to fight for the ticket of their political parties and come to us.
“It is on this basis that we have been operating. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu nominated Prof. Uche Ikonne as the PDP preferred candidate. Then, YPP came in with Engr. Enyinnaya Nwafor and Bishop Emeka Nwankpa came in with the Accord Party. Our members who are PDP loyalists started urging me to endorse Ikonne as our preferred candidate. They argued that as long as the governor has anointed him, we must endorse him. I told them that this wasn’t the principle upon which we started. That we must give a level playing ground to all our children who have secured their party’s endorsements.
“We had a meeting three weeks ago, a committee of eminent personalities of the Ukwa Ngwa council of Elders was set up and they met with the candidates. Bishop Nwankpa did not attend but Ikonne and Nwafor were there. After the meeting, we said that there was still time since the campaigns had not started. We can’t make a decision immediately. When the campaigns start, we will see how the various candidates are accepted by the populace of the state. It is not only Ukwa Ngwa people that are going to vote but the entire Abia state. But some members who are PDP loyalists started agitating. We later discovered that they had infiltrated our WhatsApp group with people who are not elders.
This was why Dr. Chris Nwagbaoso ordered all the PDP loyalists who were insisting that Ikonne must be endorsed, to exit. They have formed their PDP Elders council with Chief Acho Nwakanma as chairman. We are not worried about that, but the Ukwa Ngwa council of Elders, which I lead, cannot endorse any candidate at this time. I explained to them that there are court cases that are yet to be decided. Campaigns have not started. INEC has also extended the timeline for the publication of candidates. So, what is the urgency in endorsing a candidate at this time? This is the problem we have with them.
The council is not an agency of the state government. It doesn’t belong to PDP or Ikpeazu. It is also not an extension of any political party. We stand alone on our own, we are apolitical. The problem is that our people are impatient. Unfortunately, members of the PDP find it difficult to be principled. We started on a clean note with understanding. Why will they want to force me midway to make a declaration? I’m not going to make such a declaration because it is not a principled thing to do at this time.”
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