One of the promoters of Abia Charter of Equity, Chief Chinweuba Wachukwu, has called on the Ukwa people from Abia South to support power shift to Abia North in 2023, saying this will guarantee fairness, justice and equity in the state.
In statement titled, ‘Arise Ndi Ukwa’, Wachukwu implored the Ukwa people comprising East and West in Abia South to mobilise support for Abia North to produce the next governor of the state in 2023.
He advised the Ukwa people not to join the present scheming by their Ngwa people to retain power in the South after the tenure of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, noting that they have been victims of political betrayals by their Ngwa brothers.
According to him, “politically, Ukwa people have been marginalised, mostly by their brothers, the Ngwa people.For instance, have you wondered why, of all the over five times Ukwa Ngwa group was given the opportunity to produce the deputy governor of Abia State, no single Ukwa man was chosen.”
“Even in the senatorial seat, they agreed on power rotation with their Ngwa brother but they ended up being cheated.
“Adolf Wabara from Ukwa was elected Senator in 1999 he was reelected in 2003 and his tenure ended in 2007, after which the seat was rotated to Ngwa clan, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe was elected Senator of the zone, at the end of his second term in office as Senator in 2015, he cunningly returned back to the Senate even when an Ukwa man, Chris Nkwonta who was then running for the Senate reminded them (Ngwa people) of their pact with their people, yet Abaribe did everything he can to return to the Senate again and again.
“Even when the governorship seat was zoned to Abia South, yet an Ngwa man, Okezie Ikpeazu from Obingwa was chosen.
“From 2015 till date, Obingwa people occupied both the Senatorial seat of Abia South and the governorship seat of Abia State leaving Ukwa with nothing.
“Even now that the incumbent governor is being persuaded by Ngwa group to retain power in the clan (Ukwa Ngwa) yet Ukwa was never considered to produce the governor,” Wachukwu noted.
He further said:”Ukwa people have for long been treated as ‘use and dump’ by their Ngwa counterparts. They are only remembered whenever power is being canvassed, once the Ngwa group actualise their dream (power), then the relevance of Ukwa group to them will automatically be dismissed.
“ If Ndi Ukwa, will look at their back, look at their front, look at their right and left, if they will be honest to themselves, they will see a enough reason to support power shift to Abia North Zone. So that when next it will be the turn of Abia South Zone to produce the governor of Abia State, other zones will in turn support the emergence of an Ukwa man as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer for the governorship position. For, it is only through power rotation that an Ukwa man can one day become the governor of Abia State.”
