LATEST UPDATE: Enough of family politics in Enugu –Commissioner
…Says ‘enough is enough’
Enugu State commissioner for Inter- Ministerial Affairs Pastor Beloved Dan Anike has spoken out against attempts to hijack and dominate political positions meant for the generality of the people. Excerpts:
You had the ambition to run for the House of Representatives in Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, why are you no longer running?
I have been a commissioner in Enugu State since 2011. I have served as Commissioner for Transport and redeployed to the Ministry of Inter-Ministerial Affairs. I have served my people well which triggered the ambition to run for the House of Representatives. As it stands, my primary consultation will start with the hierarchy of the party in the state.
On consulting the hierarchy of the party, they advised me to jettison the idea to allow the incumbent holder of the office, Kinsley Ebenyi, to have second term. I have to abide by it. The seat belongs to Enugu-East/Isi- Uzo Federal Constituency. Enugu-East has been there for eight years and Isi-Uzo has also been there for eight years.
In Enugu State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is one family. We do not violate party’s position. We believe in talking to ourselves to reduce conflict that may arise from election into various offices. That was why I heed the advice of the leadership of the party to hold-on my ambition.
We learnt the Chairman of Enugu-East Local Government Area, Mr. Cornelius Nnaji, picked the nomination form to contest for the same position?
Enugu-East LG actually met, contending that Isi-Uzo LG has been there for eight years and Enugu-East has also been there for eight years. Isi-Uzo people are saying that the agreement they had with both council areas in 2009 stipulates for one term each. It was during the time of Mr. Gil Nnaji that the one term agreement broke because he served from 2003-2011.
The party looked into the matter and felt that Ebenyi who is currently serving his first term should be given an opportunity to go for a second term. When I indicated, I convened a meeting with the Enugu-East people in the presence of the council chairman, Nnaji. But he went ahead and picked the form to run for House of Representatives. He should have waited to exhaust his tenure as local government chairman before aspiring to run.
What I am opposing is that if he wants to resign as chairman and run, there are eligible people in the council area that are professionals in different fields who are ably qualified to occupy such position. It should not be only him. Elective offices are not about the occupier of the seat. Giving the fact that he is also from the same family that produced the last House of Representatives member, in the person of Gil Nnaji, who is currently serving as a senator and wants to go back to the Senate. We will now have the two brothers as senator and House of Representatives member. The leadership of the party has declared that Isi-Uzo should be given a fair chance to go for a second term and that is where I stand.
You people have never complained, why now?
The issue is that in the past, the chairman had not been in the same political group with his elder brother. Going by his pedigree, we never campaigned for him to become a council chairman on the basis of family politics. It was based on what we thought he could deliver and represent. But this representation now, is what is putting us back.
My intention has never been to oppose him but to run for the House of Representatives seat. But I cannot run on my own because our caucus has taken a stand. I have to abide by the party decision to allow for fairness.
What if there are forces in the party leadership backing him?
In this state we respect zoning. Like I am leading the campaign for the emergence of the governor’s successor from the Enugu- North Senatorial District, the leadership of the party made it known that they are zoning the governorship to Enugu-North. Likewise, the leadership of the party has made it known that they are zoning it to Isi-Uzo.
My position is what I want to make clear; that the position of Nike people is that we have eligible people who can fill any position, whether in the state, house of reps and anywhere. I am talking for my generation. There are people more qualified than myself. I told Nike people that it must not be me and it must not be Cornelius.
If they do not want me, we can fish for other people if it is zoned to Enugu-East. But it should not be Cornelius. He is a serving council chairman and has their mandate for which he was elected. Whatever he has promised the people during his campaigns, he should fulfil that promise. He should not abandon the projects he started for the people so that at the end of his four-year term, we will be able to judge him based on his performance which will qualify him for another position. And not when he has abandoned the mandate for which he was sworn-in to another office. Who should we hold responsible? If he hands over to his deputy, his deputy was not sworn-in to the seat. The person we know is Cornelius. He should face what we have elected him for and finish the job.
Politics should not be seen as self-serving rather it is for the collective good of the people. As a council chairman, you hold the mantle for the people. You are the leader of the party at the council level. So it should not be because you are the chairman, you now use it to trade-in higher position. By 2019, the coast will be clear for anybody who wants to run in Enugu-East Local Government.
Are you looking at reverting to the party?
Ans: As I am talking to you now, the party is aware of his ambition. He did not get his form from the moon. He bought the nomination form through the party. They must have advised him to jettison his interest. The party cannot deny him the right to run that is why they sold the form to him.
I equally have the right to go against the party position and resign my position as commissioner to contest. But if it is not in the collective interest of the people I may likely not succeed and that is why the chairman will not succeed. Once your interest is against the overall interest of the party and the people, you are bound to fail. So, he will also see it at the end of the day that he will not succeed.
What is your next line of action?
My interest in politics is to deliver service to the people. It’s not all about my person. The space is large enough for all us to cohabit. People should not push the other down in order to attain a particular height. Being that we are in the family of PDP, the issue is already settled. A tree cannot make a forest.
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…Says ‘enough is enough’
Enugu State commissioner for Inter- Ministerial Affairs Pastor Beloved Dan Anike has spoken out against attempts to hijack and dominate political positions meant for the generality of the people. Excerpts:
You had the ambition to run for the House of Representatives in Enugu-East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, why are you no longer running?
I have been a commissioner in Enugu State since 2011. I have served as Commissioner for Transport and redeployed to the Ministry of Inter-Ministerial Affairs. I have served my people well which triggered the ambition to run for the House of Representatives. As it stands, my primary consultation will start with the hierarchy of the party in the state.
On consulting the hierarchy of the party, they advised me to jettison the idea to allow the incumbent holder of the office, Kinsley Ebenyi, to have second term. I have to abide by it. The seat belongs to Enugu-East/Isi- Uzo Federal Constituency. Enugu-East has been there for eight years and Isi-Uzo has also been there for eight years.
In Enugu State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is one family. We do not violate party’s position. We believe in talking to ourselves to reduce conflict that may arise from election into various offices. That was why I heed the advice of the leadership of the party to hold-on my ambition.
We learnt the Chairman of Enugu-East Local Government Area, Mr. Cornelius Nnaji, picked the nomination form to contest for the same position?
Enugu-East LG actually met, contending that Isi-Uzo LG has been there for eight years and Enugu-East has also been there for eight years. Isi-Uzo people are saying that the agreement they had with both council areas in 2009 stipulates for one term each. It was during the time of Mr. Gil Nnaji that the one term agreement broke because he served from 2003-2011.
The party looked into the matter and felt that Ebenyi who is currently serving his first term should be given an opportunity to go for a second term. When I indicated, I convened a meeting with the Enugu-East people in the presence of the council chairman, Nnaji. But he went ahead and picked the form to run for House of Representatives. He should have waited to exhaust his tenure as local government chairman before aspiring to run.
What I am opposing is that if he wants to resign as chairman and run, there are eligible people in the council area that are professionals in different fields who are ably qualified to occupy such position. It should not be only him. Elective offices are not about the occupier of the seat. Giving the fact that he is also from the same family that produced the last House of Representatives member, in the person of Gil Nnaji, who is currently serving as a senator and wants to go back to the Senate. We will now have the two brothers as senator and House of Representatives member. The leadership of the party has declared that Isi-Uzo should be given a fair chance to go for a second term and that is where I stand.
You people have never complained, why now?
The issue is that in the past, the chairman had not been in the same political group with his elder brother. Going by his pedigree, we never campaigned for him to become a council chairman on the basis of family politics. It was based on what we thought he could deliver and represent. But this representation now, is what is putting us back.
My intention has never been to oppose him but to run for the House of Representatives seat. But I cannot run on my own because our caucus has taken a stand. I have to abide by the party decision to allow for fairness.
What if there are forces in the party leadership backing him?
In this state we respect zoning. Like I am leading the campaign for the emergence of the governor’s successor from the Enugu- North Senatorial District, the leadership of the party made it known that they are zoning the governorship to Enugu-North. Likewise, the leadership of the party has made it known that they are zoning it to Isi-Uzo.
My position is what I want to make clear; that the position of Nike people is that we have eligible people who can fill any position, whether in the state, house of reps and anywhere. I am talking for my generation. There are people more qualified than myself. I told Nike people that it must not be me and it must not be Cornelius.
If they do not want me, we can fish for other people if it is zoned to Enugu-East. But it should not be Cornelius. He is a serving council chairman and has their mandate for which he was elected. Whatever he has promised the people during his campaigns, he should fulfil that promise. He should not abandon the projects he started for the people so that at the end of his four-year term, we will be able to judge him based on his performance which will qualify him for another position. And not when he has abandoned the mandate for which he was sworn-in to another office. Who should we hold responsible? If he hands over to his deputy, his deputy was not sworn-in to the seat. The person we know is Cornelius. He should face what we have elected him for and finish the job.
Politics should not be seen as self-serving rather it is for the collective good of the people. As a council chairman, you hold the mantle for the people. You are the leader of the party at the council level. So it should not be because you are the chairman, you now use it to trade-in higher position. By 2019, the coast will be clear for anybody who wants to run in Enugu-East Local Government.
Are you looking at reverting to the party?
Ans: As I am talking to you now, the party is aware of his ambition. He did not get his form from the moon. He bought the nomination form through the party. They must have advised him to jettison his interest. The party cannot deny him the right to run that is why they sold the form to him.
I equally have the right to go against the party position and resign my position as commissioner to contest. But if it is not in the collective interest of the people I may likely not succeed and that is why the chairman will not succeed. Once your interest is against the overall interest of the party and the people, you are bound to fail. So, he will also see it at the end of the day that he will not succeed.
What is your next line of action?
My interest in politics is to deliver service to the people. It’s not all about my person. The space is large enough for all us to cohabit. People should not push the other down in order to attain a particular height. Being that we are in the family of PDP, the issue is already settled. A tree cannot make a forest.
Thanks for Reading The LATEST UPDATE: Enough of family politics in Enugu –Commissioner
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