2023: There'll be no zoning in Enugu - APC Chair

The Enugu state Caretaker Committee Chairman of All Progressive Congress APC, Dr Ben Nwoye, has disclosed that there will be no zoning for the post of governorship in the state for the purpose of the 2023 general election.

According to Nwoye, the ongoing formal and informal debates in the state about which senatorial zone would produce the next governor of the state was needless since nobody in the history of the state was prevented from the contest on the basis of zoning.

Nwoye made the statement in reaction to Senator Chuka Utazi’s viral video where he claimed that the Enugu North Senatorial zone, otherwise referred to as the Nsukka zone, would retain power beyond 2023.

The APC state Chairman said he was disappointed in Senator Utazi’s unguarded public comment, more so when electioneering campaigns were yet to commence in Nigeria.

“This is purely a breach of the electoral law for political leaders to commence 2023 political campaign at this time when our constitutional democracy recommends four years for a tenure. The same constitutional democracy we operate, allows the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take charge as to when electioneering campaigns commence in the country,” Nwoye cautioned.

On the hot issue of zoning in the state, Nwoye said: “As the APC Chairman in the state, I thought it was wise to state categorically that governance stops where politics begins. We have responsibilities as politicians and as leaders to understand that when someone is elected he should be allowed a space to run his government.

“The worries of an average Enugu person now is how to earn a living, how to put food on his table, and not about where the power will revolve. So, am begging the leaders of Enugu, the political gladiators and political activists who take turns and trying to heat up the polity to slow down a bit.

“The next governor of Enugu state will not emerge based on zoning, or ethnicity, but will be based on experience, exposure and general acceptability. 2023 will not be a time for some people to say it is our turn.

“Nobody has ever been stopped from running for any position in Enugu state as a result of zoning. Those who are researching and presenting academic works should not reconstruct history, they should stick with the facts.”