Enugu North LG poll: Now it’s Ogui’s turn to produce a council chairman, says Ono.

Dr. Joseph Ono, a former campaign spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu in the South East, has said that it is the turn of Ogi Nike community and not Enugu Ngwo to produce the next chairman of Enugu North Local Government Council in February 2024. He said that. Parliamentary elections in Enugu State.

Mr. Ono disclosed this information during a meeting he held with stakeholders from the Ogui-Nike community at Ogui-Nike, Premier Layout, on Monday.

Mr Ono, an indigene of Enugu-Ngwo, has held political positions including representing Enugu North Local Government State Constituency in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007, Commissioner in the Governor’s Office and Chairman of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA). Did. Before running for the governorship election, he later left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and joined Bola Tinubu's 2023 presidential campaign 'New Hope'.

Mr. Ono said he wanted posterity to prove him right in standing on the path of truth, distorting the agreement reached between the two indigenous communities of Ogwi and Ngwo that make up the Enugu North City Council area. He said he had no intention of doing so.

According to Mr. Ono, when he was a former member of the House of Representatives, he (Mr. Ono) warned the previous administration and stakeholders of the dangers of allowing a sitting member of the House of Representatives from Gwo to serve in the House of Representatives for a second four-year term. It is said that he did. He had already served as a member of parliament for four years from 2019 to 2023.

He said the agreement between the two communities was to swap political positions during their respective terms, with Ogi Nike serving as the local government chairman for four years if Enugu Ngwo community retained the House of Representatives seat. He emphasized that the same applies to the government and vice versa. .

He became the first indigenous MP to hold the position after the 1999 general elections, when a political agreement was reached in which an urban resident was elected to the House of Representatives from the Ezeagu local government, and a rotational arrangement was agreed in 2003. I recalled what happened.

Ono said there was a breach of the agreement by the immediate past member of the House of Representatives for Enugu Ngwo, to the detriment of both communities, and that the violator was ultimately defeated at the polls and still pursued his mandate in the electoral tribunal. He said he was still defeated.

“This selfish ambition has led to yet another victory for a non-indigene in the Enugu North state constituency in the House of Representatives in 2023.The question I would like to ask is, what are the fruits and benefits of the rotation agreement that brought me into the House of Representatives in 2019? If the former MP wins a second term in the 2023 elections, will the Enugu Ngwo community still stand for the 2024 local government elections?”

Furthermore, as I recall, in June 2003 during the administration of former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, I had a social gathering with Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the late Sam Ejiofor, the late Igwe Onyoha Nwanjoku, the late Hon. I remember it being held. Among others, John Ukwuanyi has revealed that he supports the Peace and Tranquility Rotation Agreement and rejected the offer to serve a second term in the House of Representatives in 2007 in accordance with the agreement.

“This agreement includes the political position of the local government and the House of Representatives in Enugu North Local Government, excluding the House of Representatives, the Senate and other governments. Your Honor. Mr. Philip Nnamani, a native of Ogui, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2019. Although I wanted to serve a second term, I expressed my opposition and advised the former governor against it, and he took my advice and decided to choose a consensus candidate for Enugu State.

“Irrespective of any narrative that may have been spread and despite strong protests from almost all major stakeholders in Enugu Ngwo, I single-handedly with the immense support of the former Governor Contributed 100 percent to the election of the Congressman. Not a single community opposed his appearance, but the Nike First Nation bought election papers to oppose him.

“I supported him not because he was my cousin, but because I knew he had the ability to represent us in the state legislature, and I supported him with such honor and respect. I am eternally grateful to former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for giving me this. My cousin came up and I supported him because he is from Ngwo, but I asked him about the single term agreement for both sides. I reminded him and he agreed to respect it.

“He went to the House of Representatives and said he wanted to come back in 2023 but I said I would not support his candidacy. Governor Ugwuanyi has already appointed Ngwo Indejin to the SPA and appointed me to the Enugu Capital Special Appointed Regional Chairman and elected Member of Enugu State House of Assembly.Sadly, Ogi-Nike indigenes were not accepted during his second term. There are no non-Indigenous people representing us in Congress.”

Mr. Onoh clarified that he is not seeking any political position and is not interested in any nation-based politics as President Tinubu's current position of promoting new hope does not matter to him. But he added that he hoped peace would reign between the two indigenous communities. His intervention in the political impasse was also to ensure that Governor Peter Mba, with whom he shares a good friendship of over 20 years, experiences good governance without holding grudges against the local government.

“The people of Oguinike did not ask me to say all these things, it is my will. I told them that I would not support them because now it is Ogi Nike's turn. They have chosen to run for the state assembly rather than honoring the agreement. Mr. Enugu-Ngwo will be deputy until 2027. He can fulfill the chairmanship.

“I came here to tell everyone that it is Mr. Okui’s turn to produce the next chairman, and I have told the governor the true position of the situation, so that no one can mislead the governor with the wrong story. You can't fool yourself. Suppose the immediate past MP from Enugu-Ngwo wins a second term in the House of Representatives, will someone from Ngwo come out and say he wants the local government chairman? If violated, there must be consequences for any action contrary to the collective interest of the common good.

“Currently, Mr. Nguo has a position in the current government while Mr. Oguiyi does not have a position. “I have come here because it is your turn to chair your local government for the next four years. , to let everyone know that we can then return to the Round Table in 2027. This is a matter of principle and for posterity,” Ono said. Ogui-Nike community stakeholders.

Reacting, the Chairman of Ogi Nike Community, Mr. Titus Ifesi Arumu, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Ono for adhering to fairness and truth. “Our people will never forget, and when the time comes, we will repay you.”

Also, Barrister Chukunulo Ede, Chairman of Umunevo Ogi Nike Local Government Area, said that Mr. Ogi Nike and Mr. Enugu Nguwo’s grandfathers had entered into an agreement in the past before the Hubert Oruji administration in Enugu North Local Government. I remembered what happened. His agreement continued to work until someone tried to break it, he said.

“God will reward you for walking the path of truth. We will support you in your future political endeavors,” Ede assured Ono.

Source: guardian.ng