Governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu and Abia states, Prof. Bath Nnaji, and Senator Emma Nwaka, have respectively, warned the party leadership not to jettison zoning in the 2023 elections.
Nnaji while speaking with journalists shortly after the submission of his nomination and expression of forms, in Abuja on Friday, said zoning has helped the party to continue to maintain victory and peace in Enugu state.
The former minister of power said, “The zoning in Enugu state has maintained peace in the state. It has been possible for us to have peace because of rotation.
“The governor is in support of zoning and looks at himself as a product of zoning and we all look at zoning as a way for us to continue to maintain peace in Enugu state. Therefore I am fully in support of zoning.”
He pledged that if elected governor he would ensure reliable and stable electricity supply across the state.
On security, he said: “If you have peace, then people would come to invest, you know, money is a coward. Money doesn’t go where there is a crisis. So what we want is to have this so that we can attract investors.”
Similarly, Nwaka, who also submitted his expression of interest and nomination forms on Friday, said the PDP would be doomed if it jettisoned zoning in Abia state.
He warned that if PDP wanted to win the state it should not truncate the charter of equity which allows rotation of power among the three senatorial districts in the state.
He said “Like I said earlier if PDP wants to retain Abia State we don’t have to truncate the charter of equity. We must bear in mind that PDP is not the only party in Abia state. If we make the mistake of doing a wrong zoning, it will create a major problem.
“Already there’s tension in the state because the party announced that the position of governor has been zoned to Abia North or Abia Central. You do not do things like that unless you want to create confusion.”
He explained that it is the turn of Abia North to produce the next governor of the state based on the charter of equity arrangement.
In a related development, a governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom state, Obong Akan Udofia, has pledged to bring about an infrastructural revolution, a human capital revolution in the state.
He made this pledge while speaking with journalists shortly after the submission of his nomination and expression of forms, in Abuja on Friday.
“My people are urgently in need of emancipation. Poverty alleviation is going to be prime in my government.
“When I talk about human capital, I’m going to build people, I’m going to skill people. I’m not talking about education. I am going to make people aware, I’m going to join Akwa Ibom people with the rest of the world. That’s what I mean by human capital,” he promised.
