Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Enugu State chapter, has raised the alarm that some individuals it described as “secessionists” are making efforts to destabilise the second-term bid of Gov. Peter Mbah in the state.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in the state, Dr Ben Nwoye, made the allegation when he received members of the state chapter of Asiwaju Renewed Mandate South East (ARMSE), led by its leader, Chief Josef Onoh, in his office on Monday in Enugu.
Nwoye, however, clarified that the secessionists were not agitators for a separate country from Nigeria, but groups within the state seeking the creation of a new state out of Enugu State.
He noted that there are different groups of new-state agitators in Enugu State who are pushing for a state to be carved out of the existing one, and in some cases, in combination with parts of other states in the South-East.
The chairman alleged that such agitators had been going round, making efforts to field other candidates for the 2027 governorship election — sometimes from the same senatorial district as Gov. Mbah and sometimes from outside the Enugu East Senatorial District, which the existing rotational arrangement in the state currently favours.
Nwoye, however, said such efforts would be counterproductive, given what he described as the excellent administration of Gov. Mbah in the state.
“Those in opposition to Gov. Peter Mbah want to destabilise the state. There are those who are secessionists, even though they are not Biafra agitators, but elder statesmen recruiting others from Enugu East Senatorial Zone to run for governorship in 2027.
“There are also external factors from outside Enugu State. They say they want a new state, but they should not destabilise the state before going anywhere.
“We are in support of the creation of an additional state, but you cannot come and destabilise the one we already have. Don’t create stories to damage what we have for now,” Nwoye pleaded.
Speaking, Onoh stated that any attempt to truncate Gov. Mbah’s re-election would erode the tripod rotational agreement entrenched by the founding fathers of Enugu State.
On the reason for the visit to the party office, he said that beyond the mandate to campaign for President Tinubu’s re-election, the group also felt compelled to advocate Gov. Mbah’s re-election for political stability in the state.
Onoh traced the trajectory of the rotation of governorship positions in the state from 1999, as instituted by the state’s founding fathers, including Sen. Jim Nwobodo, late Chief C.C. Onoh, and Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, among others. He said the arrangement entrenched a peaceful political agreement in the state and had maintained uninterrupted two-term tenures for governors since 1999.
He said: “Though the Asiwaju Renewed Hope Mandate was designed to promote President Tinubu’s re-election, we sought his permission to also use it to support Gov. Mbah so that Enugu State can remain stable.
“It is safer for Gov. Mbah to complete two terms so as not to destabilise the ongoing rotational process that has stabilised the state.
“It is to avert crisis in the state that we came, because such instability has affected other states in Nigeria. So, we came to pledge our support to ensure that the understanding in the state is sustained.”
