By Damian Ugwu Nwaeze (Ph.D)
Elections have come and gone, but the scars remain, especially in Enugu North senatorial district where some political bigwigs were said to have disappointed the ruling party, lending support to the Labour Party in the March 18 Enugu guber election.
The betrayal and backstabbing experienced in the election by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) political heavyweights from the zone is still glaring to all, but the worst of it all was the disappointment they all got from the guber candidate of the Labour Party, Chijioke Edeoga who was said to have wooed many PDP politicians with promises of juicy positions. Some well-known young entrepreneurs of the zone he did promise the Chairmanship of their respective local governments. He promised to dissolve the leadership of all the 17 local government councils two days after his inauguration as the governor, and appoint them first as caretaker council chairmen.
It was gathered that the guber candidate outsmarted his benefactors, who were happily donating multi-millions to their much expected incoming governor, by promising a single position to more than ten people with the others unknown the rest.
The fate of Engr. Emeka Eze, an Iheakpu Awka- born contractor is still not known. He transfered about 70 per cent of the money paid by his client for the construction of multiple two-storey hostels somewhere in the University environment called Odenigwe to the Chijioke Edeoga Campaign Organization. It was gathered that Edeoga promised a lion’s share of all the building contracts under his administration.
However, the moment Edeoga lost the election, Engr. Nweze disappeared into the tin air for fear of retribution by his clients. All efforts made by the Nsukka Area Command to track him down has proven abortive.
The line of action of Mr. Maduka Onyishi, the CEO of Peace Mass Transit, is not yet known, as information trickling in gradually shows that Chief Nnia Nwodo, a former Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General, Prof. Barth Nnaji, the former Minister of Power, Okey Ezea, Mark Chidi Obetta have gone with Chijioke Edeoga to seek funding support. Onyishi, it was learnt, told them that was building a university, and as such may not be able give much, freely. He, however, said he could lend the sum of N500M to them if they could repay back on or before October 20,2023. The condition was accepted, with Okey Ezea and Nwodo standing as surety. How these men will go about refunding the money is yet unknown, especially given the cold war between Edeoga and Okey Ezea were currently having a cold war over the “do-or-die statement” credited to Ezea before the gubernatorial poll.
Edeoga was said to have accused Ezea of undoing him as his supporters, a good number of his support, especially from Nkanu, dumped him and started supporting the PDP candidate, Peter Mbah, after Ezea said the election was a war between Nkanu and Nsukka people. Okey Ezea did not take Edeoga’s attack lightly.
As it stands in Enugu North today, the businesses of many young men and women have already slid into coma since many of them used their life savings and even borrowed from business associates to support Edeoga’s guber project with the expectations of being found in the corridors of power when Okaome (Edeoga Chijioke) becomes governor.
Not only that, many who had already started building in some parts of Nsukka and Enugu towns have to quit the building and invest the money in Edeoga’s guber project.
The case is not also different for Barr. Ikechukwu Ayogu, who had to sell his building at Thinkers Corner, Enugu, and invested the money in Edeoga’s campaign to secure the position of the Attorney General of the state.
Mrs Beatrice Asadu, the CEO of Zinco Alluminium Sheets, is a partaker of this sour bread being served by the Labour Party guber candidate. She was promised appointment as the Chairperson of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), an offer for which she dolled ₦47M in support of the candidate, and handed the keys of one of her Company’s brand new Toyota Hilux vehicles to Edeoga’s campaign organization.
The different offer of juicy positions made to different people in Enugu State, most especially in Enugu North, accounts for their desperation, as their lives and future are now dependent on Chijioke Edeoga becoming Governor.
Covers have been blown open as many Nsukka young men, women and entrepreneurs have been lamenting their misfortunes since Edeoga’s gubernatorial project crashed. Many believed him because he told lies that the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was standing with them. He even went ahead to tell so many that the INEC Chairman and Chief Nwodo were Siemese twins, re-echoing that they (Enugu Labour Party) had gotten the assurance of electoral umpire that they would win, no matter what.
Just as Edeoga’s gubernatorial project ruined many businessmen and women of Enugu North extraction, the politicians too, have not found their feet. Most of them are still finding hard to send congratulatory messages to Dr. Mbah as they’re are still struggling to come to terms with their losses, especially after betraying their party, the PDP.
As it is now, Edeoga himself knows that his political career has been ruptured. But his greater worry is all the funds he and Nwodo have collected as loans and ‘donations’ from investors in the ill-fated gubernatorial project.
