Baring any last minute change of mind, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga of the Labour Party is set to withdraw from the forthcoming 2023 governorship election in Enugu State, impeccable sources have confirmed.
It was reliably gathered that Edeoga was dispirited and devastated by the recent press statement issued by Peter Obi, the party’s popular presidential flag-bearer, wherein he sternly warned him (Edeoga) to desist from exploiting the goodwill he enjoys from the Nigerian citizens to sell his candidacy. Edeoga was said to have been particularly piqued that Obi went public with his excoriating statement instead of communicating him privately.
According to insider sources familiar with the development, the last straw that appeared to have broken the camel’s back was the cold shoulders he got from the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, during the 70th birthday celebration of former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo.
Edeoga has been a subject of mockery by social media users since a viral video of him touting himself as “candidate” to the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, in a desperate bid for a photo opportunity with the presidential candidate, who apparently ignored him and calmly chatted with some other persons at the event.
This, according to the source, drove the message home to Edeoga that his hopes of returning as Labour Party governorship candidate in Enugu may have been dashed.
It is recalled that the Isi-Uzo-born politician, who served as two-term commissioner in the Governor Ifeanyi administration, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Labour Party after he polled 9 votes and lost to Dr. Peter Mbah, who polled 790 votes in the party’s governorship primary held on May 25, 2022.
However, on November 9, Justice Nkonye Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Abuja, annulled his nomination in August as the Labour Party gubernatorial candidate and ordered a fresh primary election within 14 days.
Chief Evarest Nnaji, popularly known as Odengene, had gone to court to challenge Edeoga’s emergence as the Labour Party governorship candidate, alleging unlawful exclusion from the primary election contrary to the extant provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
But the fresh primary could not hold within the stipulated time frame, as Edeoga appealed the judgment. Legal analysts have described Edeoga’s appeal as an academic exercise as he was neither a party in the lower court suit nor sought to be joined.
There is also the contention that the trial court overreached itself since, according to them, having failed to conduct a valid primary within the specified period in the electoral laws, Labour Party had lost the opportunity to field a governorship candidate in Enugu in the 2023 general election.
“The Electoral Act is deliberate and clear that every party must conclude its primary election not later than 150 days to the governorship election. But the period from the date of the court judgment on November 9, 2022 to the governorship election scheduled to take place on March 11, 2023, is about 122 days.
“Therefore, having not complied with the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act 2022, and consequent upon the provisions of Section 84 (13) of the Act, LP has lost the right to field a governorship candidate in Enugu 2023”, Enugu Good Governance Group, insisted.
Meanwhile, Edeoga’s desperation to have a picture Obi opportunity is interpreted as a ploy to validate himself as the “authentic PDP candidate”, despite the court decision.
Obi is also said to have tactfully avoided being caught in the crossfire of the local contention between Edeoga and Odengene camps.
“Obi was being politically tactful. As you know, Enugu Labour Party is clearly factionalised into Edeoga and Odengene (Nnaji) camps. If you remember the “Charity Begins at Home” rally of 28th August organised by Odengene at the Shoprite Enugu premises to mobilise support for Mr. Peter Obi’s presidential ticket ended in fiasco when Odengene was introduced as Labour Party candidate.
“So, Obi understands that identifying with Edeoga as the candidate despite the court ruling and the local division would cost him a lot. He needs the support of both camps and it was right he played safe.
“Besides, Edeoga’s desperation was too bad. He shouldn’t have continued parading yourself as a candidate when the court says otherwise” the source explained.
The source also said that Obi might also have decided to play safe in Enugu so that the PDP will not see the presidential election in Enugu as a do or die affair.
“So far, Obi enjoys popular following in Enugu because the faceoff between PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the G5 Governors led by Governor Wike of Rivers State has taken life out of PDP’s presidential drive in Enugu. So, you cannot rule out the possibility of the G5 working for Obi’s emergence or staying neutral in their states.
“That will be a plus for Obi in Enugu because the PDP is the ruling party and occupies every elective position in Enugu from the local government to the National National Assembly.
“Edeoga lacks the war chest, followership, and charisma to disrupt the system against the PDP, let alone the capacity to dislodge the behemoth. Add also the fact that the Labour Party is polarised in Enugu already. So, Obi will smartly not want the more entrenched, loaded and sophisticated political system in Enugu to mobilise against him.
“Edeoga should have understood all these. However, the message has now sunk well after that ‘Candidate, Candidate’ incident”.
Meanwhile, all these developments have taken heavy tolls on Edeoga’s electoral war chest, it was further gathered.
Another insider said: “Truth is that too many things are working against Edeoga in this election. Elections cost money everywhere in the world, be it in America or Britain. Even as a sitting Nigerian or American governor or president, you still need support from political allies and businesses.
“The court ruling, division in Enugu Labour Party, and the fact that Edeoga is not showing any promises of the needed capacity to dislodge the PDP from its stranglehold on Enugu have all combined to deny him of the needed war chest because those who initially promised to back him financially are all backtracking. How many of his outdoor adverts do you see on the roads or jingles do you hear? How many places do you see him campaigning?
“Politicians and businessmen are not Father Christmas. Nobody wants to invest his money in a bad market that the Edeoga governorship run has become. Apart from losing money, don’t forget also that supporting a losing candidate against the eventual winner comes with unpalatable consequences”.
It was also gathered that Edeoga’s decision to reduce his governorship ambition to a project of Enugu North has badly hurt him.
“The popular opinion is that power should rotate to Enugu East predominated by Nkanu in line with the zoning principle. But Even though Edeoga is geopolitically from Enugu East, but culturally from Enugu north or Nsukka zone where the the current governor hails from, Edeoga has not pretended about the fact that he is running as a candidate of Nsukka zone because Isi-Uzo was part of old Nsukka zone.
“The fact that Edeoga is an Nsukka candidate, rather than being disguised, is being advertised with blatant. In a recent viral video, Chief Okey Ezea, the LP’s senatorial candidate for Enugu North zone, stated so with much gusto.
“Again, by picking a running mate from Enugu West, instead of Nsukka zone, he further confirmed that he is an Enugu North or Nsukka candidate”, one of the sources stated.
However, insider sources said that reality is now dawning on Edeoga, as he is set to announce his withdrawal rather than lose scandalously to Mbah again as he did during the PDP governorship primary election, only to renege on an MoU by all Enugu East zone aspirants to support any among them endorsed by Ugwuanyi.
“As a member of the Edeoga and Enugu Labour Party inner caucus, I can confess to you that things are going south or downhill by the day. Not only that the governorship project has not really taken off as we projected, it has lost the little momentum we managed to muster.
“Even if the Labour Party wins the Enugu governorship election by any stroke of luck, how are we sure that Odengene will not eventually trump him as the party’s candidate?
“Besides, the appellate courts might even rule that we failed to conduct a valid governorship primary within the time frame stipulated in our electoral laws and rule that we cannot field a candidate as we saw in Zamfara PDP and some other positions in some states.
“Things are just so complicated right now and barring any change of mind, Edeoga will soon announce his withdrawal from the governorship race.
“He will send emissaries to Dr. Mbah during the Christmas break as efforts to see Gburugburu (Governor Ugwuanyi) for quite a while now has not materialised because the governor is not forthcoming”, the source revealed.
