The choice of the popular Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as the consensus candidate by the mainstream section of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP aligned to Governor Sullivan Chime as the party’s 2015 gubernatorial candidate was received with excitement across many.

Hailed as Gburugburu, Ugwuanyi had represented the Udenu/Igbo-Eze North Federal Constituency for three straight terms since 2003 and had gained some measure of popularity not just across his federal constituency, but across the state.

Even more remarkable, he had been able to ably manage the difficult bridge between the Chime camp and the camp of PDP stakeholders aligned to Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Having served three terms in the House, Ugwuanyi was already looking beyond the chambers of the House of Representatives for his future political directions, especially given the directive by the governor that federal lawmakers who have served two terms would not be returning to the National Assembly. He was among the more than one dozen aspirants who had quietly commenced mobilisation for the governorship contest.

Last Friday the governor had called all aspirants interested in succeeding him alongside some major stakeholders including the party chairman to a stakeholders’ meeting. All the aspirants as had been resolved by Chime were from Enugu North senatorial district, the only section of the state yet to produce a governor in the Fourth Republic. Some aspirants claimed that they were hitherto not briefed on the purpose of the meeting.

Once the meeting commenced, the governor was said to have briefed his guests on the need to produce a consensus candidate among those interested for the purpose of a seamless transition. Some of the aspirants were said to have expressed uneasiness with the arrangement, notably, Senator Ayogu Eze, a two term member senator, Speaker Eugene Ode, the presiding officer of the House of Assembly.

As the meeting progressed some of the aspirants as if they had earlier been briefed started stepping down for Ugwuanyi prompting fears among some of the aspirants of what one of the aspirants called a kangaroo arrangement.

With more than eight of the aspirants having stepped down for Ugwuanyi, Governor Chime according to sources was said to have proposed that the stakeholders should formally adopt Ugwuanyi, a proposal that said through despite the opposition of some of those present, notably Senator Eze and Odo.

The opposition nonetheless, the stakeholders progressed to adopt Ugwuanyi and the decision quickly seeped through to the mass media the following day, Saturday.

Indeed, barely 48 hours after the resolution, Senator Ayogu Eze, the two term senator representing Enugu North senatorial zone came out to openly denounce the decision saying he was hoodwinked into the meeting. He pledged to forge ahead with his gubernatorial ambition on the platform of the PDP.

Expressing his rejection of the decision on Ugwuanyi, he said: “My supporters are particularly worried by the aspect of the story claiming that I have stepped down for the said anointed candidate. I wish to state clearly and unambiguously that I’ve not and will not step down for any anointed candidate. I’m still squarely in the race for the Enugu Lion Building in the year of our Lord 2015.

“I was invited to a meeting of a gathering of the people of my senatorial district presided over by the governor at the Governor’s Lodge in Enugu on Friday September 26, 2015. Prior to our arrival at the Government House that Friday afternoon the agenda of the meeting was not circulated. Neither was the criterion for selecting those attending the meeting made known to me.

“At the meeting I pointedly stated that though I was already in their midst in a sort of an ambush I was not bound by their decision, to which I believe they were entitled. It is their inalienable right to choose a consensus candidate in the same manner that to my supporters and well wishers. I’m also consensus candidate.

“I look forward to all the consensus candidates of the various interest groups meeting in the field at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primaries on November 29, 2014 to test which of the various consensus blocs is numerically stronger.

“Democracy is about elections and the will of the people. Those elements of democracy will be put to test when we arrive the field for the primaries. I’ll gladly accept the outcome of the primaries and go the extra mile to work for the party with resources and whatever it will take to give the opponents of the PDP a run for their money.”

•Excerpted from a Vanguard report. Photo shows Hon. Ugwuanyi.

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