The Enugu Good Governance Group has faulted the claim made by former Labour Party governorship candidate in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, that he defected to the Labour Party because of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as Peoples Democratic Part, PDP’s presidential candidate, insisting he left the PDP to pursue his “desperate personal ambition” to govern Enugu State.
The group equally faulted Edeoga on the claim that he only congratulated, but never pledged his support to the PDP governorship candidate in Enugu, Dr. Peter Mbah on his emergence as Enugu PDP governorship candidate.
The group was reacting to Hon. Edeoga’s interview at the weekend where he said that he reconsidered his position to support Mbah following the failure of the PDP to zone its presidential ticket to the South East in line with the principle of rotational presidency in the party’s constitution.
In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Comrade Odinaka Okechukwu, on Monday, the group said: “The sequence of events clearly shows that Hon. Chijioke Edeoga was very stingy with the truth on why he left the PDP after pledging his support to Dr. Mbah.
“While Atiku Abubakar emerged the presidential candidate of the PDP on 28th May 2022, Edeoga issued a personally signed statement on 6th June 2022, where he not only congratulated Mbah, but equally called on his supporters and Enugu people to support the PDP candidate.
“Edeoga wrote: ‘Peter Mbah has reached out to us and stretched out a hand of fellowship; we are disposed to supporting him. In view of the foregoing, I hereby urge all my supporters and the people of Enugu State at large to rally behind Mr. Peter Mbah for the tasks ahead’.
“So, Atiku’s emergence as PDP’s presidential flagbearer, which happened many days before Edeoga’s declaration of support for Mbah, could not have been a factor in his decision to renege on the support he pledged or jettison a pact he earlier signed along with other aspirants from Enugu East zone to support any among them endorsed by the governor and the party faithful.
“So, clearly, Edeoga joined the Labour Party to pursue his selfish political interest, not to protect any Igbo interest”.
The group likewise, faulted Edeoga’s claim that he decided to pursue the Enugu governorship seat on the platform of another party to do things differently in the state.
“Edeoga cannot predicate his governorship ambition on doing things differently in the provision of good governance when he could not make a difference as council chairman, Member House of Representatives, Special Assistant to the President, Commissioner for local government affairs from 2015 to 2019 and Commissioner for Environment from 2019 until March 2022 when he joined the race for the PDP governorship ticket.
“Besides, as a group promoting good governance in Enugu State, we have toured the immediate communities of the governorship candidates. It is noteworthy that while Dr. Mbah has to his credit kilometres of asphalt road, St. Cecilia Ultra-modern Hospital Owo in Nkanu East, scholarships, skills and entrepreneurial training and health interventions through the Peter Mbah Foundation, the Mgbuji community and entire Eha-Amufu where Edeoga and many of us come from have nothing to show for his 25 years in various political positions” the group stated.
The Enugu Good Governance Group, therefore, urged the people of the state to elect people with a track record of proven achievements, who could take the state to the next level of development and men of their words, who would not renege on their campaign promises.
