A few weeks before the 2023 polls, the Labour Party Candidate for Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency, Dr Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh plainly explained why Ebonyi state needs well-informed candidates in the tenth (10th) National Assembly.
Excerpt.
Aside from the aforementioned exceptions, federal lawmakers from Ebonyi State have mostly been beneficiaries of the state government's 'benevolent' whims.
The situation became the order of the day after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) quickly entrenched its garrison politics and high-handed political impunity in the post-1999 electoral season(s). The PDP, as such, facilitated the imposition of several fringe persons as the representatives of the people.
The 1999 general elections made it possible for men and women with sound minds and deliberate good intentions to be elected into public office save for the unfortunate rigmarole occasioned by the unending transition, which frustrated professionals and men of integrity from the eventual contest.
Be that as it may, those who contested were not candidates imposed by godfathers and political contractors. They were therefore able to win elections by riding on their goodwill, accomplishments, situational luck and know-how.
But, from the 2003 elections, when prebendal politics had come into full force, elections became rigged, and nomination processes were manipulated, just as some state governors were impeached in clear breach of extant constitutional provisions. The music changed.
In a clever bid to escape the ugly incidence of induced impeachments, state governors decided to start handpicking representatives - State and National Assembly reps alike - by handing them party tickets from various government houses.
All that was required from prospective nominees was a pledge of loyalty, sometimes through fetish oaths and a promise to undertake only legislative duties/actions sanctioned by the governor, who bestows the honour, even on dishonourable persons that could barely write their names.
In Ebonyi State, the build-up to the 2003 general elections witnessed the fight between those who claimed they wanted to ensure good governance through proper separation of powers and those who were apparently at home with the status quo.
Unlike other Southeast states that had been more used to democratic elections, Ebonyi was affected, when the Abuja Group and Home Front factions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clashed. The Home front, which was led by the then governor, Dr Sam Egwu, battled the Abuja Group, which comprised members of the National Assembly and some appointees into the federal cabinet and parastatals. The Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, happened to be the rallying point of the mostly Abuja-resident Ebonyians.
While Egwu and his group deployed huge financial resources to ensure that the Abuja politicians did not outwit them, Senator Anyim pulled strings through his networks in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to sustain the heat on Egwu.
It was in the heat of that power tussle over who takes ascendancy in the control of the PDP structure that the then PDP national chairman, Audu Ogbe, was alleged to have declared that it would take an angel in heaven to reject bribes from the Ebonyi State PDP fold.
That statement, though unconfirmed, paints the picture of the monumental wastages that accompanied the political battle among PDP heavyweights, leading to the de-emphasis on fiscal responsibility and expected focus on the provision of socio-economic amenities.
For instance, there were insinuations that the said supremacy battle was one of the major incidents that distracted Egwu, who also fought to secure his second term, from continuing the construction of Ebonyi State University. Other infrastructural projects such as the ten-storey Ebonyi Trade Centre, Unity Square, and International Hotel, among others, were also affected.
So, for Ebonyi State, which embraced democracy just three years after its creation, the infighting between Abuja Group and Home Front became more or less the state’s equivalence of Nigeria’s civil war. To date, the scars remain conspicuous in different aspects of our socio-political and economic lives, even in various communities, as well as in the psyche of most Ebonyi politicians.
As the pre-election year (2022) marks the 20th "anniversary" of that ruthless political battle, it could be said that the disintegration of PDP as it concerns Ebonyi State, which was characterized by the existence of parallel structures during the party’s primaries, actually reflects the seeds sown during the said supremacy battle in 2002.
It could be recalled that a splinter group, consisting of Abuja-based politicians, tried their luck under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) during the 2003 governorship election.
It was partly out of apprehension about the likelihood of a similar political uprising by Abuja-based politicians that in the past 20 years, almost 70 per cent of lawmakers elected from Ebonyi State are often those considered to be core loyalists of the State government. So, to most of them, their positions came as meal tickets and rewards for slavish loyalty rather than mandates for service delivery to the people.
This could explain why, in each legislative season, one could barely notice any voice at variance from the state government's position both on regional and national issues. The legislative arm became appendages of state governors, thereby making governors lose canonical emperors. The other issues of making notable contributions during debates/motions or creating significant impacts in the lives of constituents are thus put on the back burner and ignored.
There are sundry socio-economic and political issues in the state that require serious legislative interventions, deserving to be urgently mainstreamed for national consideration. But, handicapped by low-level exposure and perhaps, poor understanding of why they are in the Green/Red Chambers, most of our federal lawmakers are often content with just making the number and warming their sits during plenary.
It is in the light of the foregoing that many believe that Ebonyi State has come of age and is mature enough to gift Nigeria with Federal lawmakers that are exposed and vibrant enough to take frontline positions in national legislative affairs. This is more so, especially now that young people's political awareness has grown magically as demonstrated during the 2020 #End SARS protest and current campaigns by the Obidients Movement for a New Nigeria.
Interestingly, notable private sectors moguls like Sir (Dr) Edward Nkwegu, Dr Nkemkamma Osikama and the erstwhile President of Ebonyi Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (EBCCIMA), Dr Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, have decided to leave their comfort zones to participate in the electoral process as candidates.
Already, all things are working together for good for this new political thinking in the state. PDP, the great octopus began to wane in its overbearing influence following its loss in the 2019 presidential poll and the subsequent defection of Governor David Umahi to the All Progressives Congress, APC- a party which came up in 2018 and quickly surpassed PDP in prebendal political impunity.
As the campaign season keeps heating up, Abakaliki/Izzi Federal Constituency may present a historic upset powered by youths who want to take back their state, and country. Indeed, a new Nigeria is possible!
*To be Continued*
@featuredesk/Victor Nwegede/Hassan Adamu/ NATIONAL PANEL
