By Cajetan Mmuta
The Congress for Civil Society Groups, Abia chapter, has said that power must shift to the North Senatorial district in line with the principle of rotation of power in the State.
Coordinator of the group, Comrade Damian Ogudike, stated this during an interactive session with newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State on Saturday.
He said that power must shift to Abia North in the spirit of justice, equity and fair play.
According to the group, power moving to Abia north was sacrosant , noting that it is the only way to ensure peace , justice and fairness in the state .
He said that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu from Abia North in 1999 took the first slot, followed by Theodore Orji from Central Senatorial zone and now Dr. Victor Ikpeazu from Abia South Senatorial zone.
He said that by May 2023, Dr. Ikpeazu eight years tenure would elapse marking the end of Abia South, thereby completing the circle of rotation among the three zones.
Ogudike said that with the completion of the circles ,the slot automatically move back to Abia North Senatorial zone .
He regretted that , some politicians from both South and Central zones are indicating their interests to contest the Governorship position of the State,instead of supporting those from north .
He noted that prominent among the politicians who have declared their interest were the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe from South, and the son of the former Governor who is the current Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly from Central among others.
He also urged politicians outside the North Senatorial zone to shelve their governorship ambitions to allow peace to reign in the State.
He appealed to all political parties in the state to maintain the zoning tradition already established in the state for the 2023 governorship seat .
“We therefore called on all stakeholders in Abia State and persons of goodwill to join hands with us to ensure that the rotation of highest political office in the State Is maintained in the State to ensure peace and development of the State” he stated
Ogudike argued that if Ndigbo is seeking for the highest political office in the land to be zoned to south east for the sake of equity, fairness and justice, Abia state should not jettison rotation of governorship position.
He contended that the established zoning formula has brought peace and create conducive environment for the rapid political and socio -economic development .
All the States in South East where the key political actors are respect zoning arrangement, have always experienced peace and development. We can see this in Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi States .So, virtually in the entire South East even in other States of the Federation, they follow zoning principle to maintain peace in their States. We cannot on our own invite crisis by jettisoning zoning formula” he said .
