Four months after he joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has got a first challenger to his reelection bid, following the resignation of Dr Chinyeaka Oha from the Mbah administration.

It was gathered that in the last three months, Oha, who had served as Accountant General of Enugu State under the Dr Chimaroke Nnamani administration, had been holding consultations with prominent politicians from the Enugu North Senatorial Zone, expressing his determination to renew his gubernatorial ambition.

The people of Enugu North Senatorial zone, otherwise known as the Nsukka bloc, have been exploring ways to support a credible governorship aspirant from the Enugu East Senatorial District, from which Mbah and Oha hail, following what they called a strategic blunder in 2023 by supporting Chigozie Edeoga from Isi Uzo Local Council Area of the state.

Nsukka stakeholders believe that Edeoga’s loss to Mbah was ostensibly caused by the perception that his Local Council Area, Isi Uzo, is part of Nsukka despite the administrative exercise that ceded the council to Enugu East shortly before the creation of Enugu in 1991.

Announcing his resignation from the position of Chairman, Governing Council of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUTECH), Oha, who served as Director in some Federal Government ministries, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Power, said he was leaving on personal reasons.

He thanked Mbah for “the honour and privilege to serve the government and people of Enugu State in the capacity,” stressing that the appointment offered him the opportunity to contribute his quota to the growth and development of ESUTECH.

Although the former chairman assured the Enugu State governor of “his highest esteem and continued goodwill toward the advancement of education in the state,” his former colleague in the FCT confided in The Guardian that Oha had to leave to prepare for his governorship election. (The Guardian)