Many rational thinkers and people of goodwill, including traditional and religious leaders, captains of industry, youth and women leaders as well as political observers, have variously championed the need for zoning of political offices in Anambra state among the three senatorial zones in the state. They had maintained that the office of the Governor should be zoned to Anambra-South Senatorial zone for the 2021 gubernatorial election in the state.
Accordingly, the postulation stemmed from the need to enthrone and sustain in Anambra State, a political culture of all inclusive democracy, cost effective electioneering and peaceful, free, fair and credible elections. In fact, the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers had, in a communiqué after its meeting recently, reaffirmed its resolution, as the custodian of peace, justice and equity, that it is the turn of Anambra-South Senatorial zone to produce the next Governor of Anambra State for two consecutive terms.
The council also emphasized that power would rotate to Anambra Central afterwards and then return to Anambra North for the same two consecutive terms of eight years respectively. The communiqué was assented to by Ndi Igwe Anambra from the three senatorial zones.
It would be recalled that recently, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, said it would pick Governor Willie Obiano’s successor from Anambra South Senatorial District. Similarly, other peace loving progressive individuals and groups had, one time or the other, championed the cause for zoning as an effective tool of democratic principle.
Few, if any, can argue against the idea of power rotation and the peace it has brought to most states in Nigeria. Compared with any other idea on political understanding the rotation arrangement towers above the rest. Little wonder why the drafters of the 1999 constitution enshrined the principle of federal character, a variant of this inclusiveness in the constitution.
Since it was first mooted at the federal level of government many a state took up the idea to deal with their peculiar political problems. Among the states was Anambra. However, the eleven and half years unbroken access to power by the Central Senatorial zone was making the other zones squirm in discomfort. The seed of distrust was almost sowed and needed to be uprooted in order not to foul the fairly good political climate in the state.
In fact, APGA took the decision to implement the zoning formula when, in 2010, it resolved that ex-Governor Peter Obi’s successor would come from Anambra North Senatorial District. The agreement was reached and signed at Nteje, in the presence of the Supreme leader of the party, late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, former Governor Obi and former National Chairman of APGA, Senator Victor Umeh among others.
The agreement was necessitated by the need to promote justice, equity and fairness in the state. This was in view of the fact that, as at that period, no person of Anambra North extraction had occupied the office of the governor of Anambra state since her creation in August 1991, unlike their contemporaries in the South and Central Senatorial Districts. Therefore, APGA decided to give sense of belonging to Ndi Anambra North.
Consequently, Governor Obiano has governed from March 17, 2014 to date. During the electioneering for Obiano’s second tenure, APGA promised to field a candidate of Anambra South extraction as its standard bearer in the 2021.
This is because, after the Central and North Districts would have, by 2022, through Senator Chris Ngige, Sir Peter Obi and Chief Willie Obiano, collectively governed Anambra state for 19 years, the South has not been in charge of the Government House, Awka, since 2003, after the Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s administration.
By that arrangement, it is expected that the South senatorial zone would produce the next governor of the state at the expiry of the term of Governor Obiano in March 2022. Those who, for selfish reasons, want to undermine zoning in our state would lack the moral authority to condemn the conspiracy by certain politicians from other geopolitical zones in the country to deny persons of Southeast extraction the office of the President of Nigeria.
This is in view of the aphorism that; “he who goes to equity must go with clean hands”.
SIR NOBERT OBI
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