Stakeholders from Eha-Amufu in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State have dismissed allegations that their community is monopolising political positions in the council, insisting that the emergence of Chief Brendan Ani as the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship candidate for the forthcoming local government election aligns with established power-sharing arrangements and principles of equity.
The stakeholders made their position known in separate statements issued on their behalf by Ifeanyi Ogenyi, Esq in response to a press conference by a group known as Isi-Uzo Patriots, which criticised the zoning of the APC chairmanship ticket to Eha-Amufu West Development Centre and alleged political imbalance in the local government.
They commended Governor Peter Mbah, the APC leadership in Enugu State and party members in Isi-Uzo for supporting Ani’s emergence during the party’s primaries, describing the outcome as a fair recognition of a community that had, according to them, been excluded from producing a council chairman for nearly three decades.
According to the stakeholders, the narrative that the nomination has sparked anger and division in Isi-Uzo was “misleading” and based on selective interpretation of demographic and electoral data.
They accused some critics of relying heavily on voter registration and turnout figures from the 2023 general elections to diminish Eha-Amufu’s political weight, while ignoring what they described as the “severe security disruptions” that affected the area prior to the polls.
The stakeholders stated that Eha-Amufu endured repeated attacks by suspected herdsmen between 2020 and 2022, leading to loss of lives, displacement of residents and disruption of normal political participation.
Defending the zoning arrangement, they referenced a 2007 political agreement allegedly reached by representatives of the five communities in Isi-Uzo—Eha-Amufu, Ikem, Neke, Mbu and Umualor.
They explained that the agreement reportedly split the local government into two political blocs, Eha-Amufu and Igbo-Ano, and recognised Eha-Amufu’s demographic strength based on population, land mass, voter registration and education figures at the time.
Quoting from the position, they maintained that “Eha-Amufu accounted for about 60 per cent of the population, 55 per cent of land mass and 52 per cent of registered voters,” insisting these figures justify rotational equity in leadership selection.
The stakeholders argued that political offices in Isi-Uzo have not always strictly followed zoning arrangements, recalling earlier periods when key positions were concentrated in certain communities without similar backlash.
They also faulted renewed calls for a return to the old three-development-centre structure, describing such demands as “politically motivated and coming late in the day,” given that stakeholders had long adopted the current framework.
They further noted that the creation of a second development centre in Eha-Amufu in 2015 was intended to reflect demographic realities and improve fairness in political representation.
On current political structure, they maintained that positions are spread across the four development centres, insisting that Eha-Amufu West Development Centre presently holds neither elective nor appointive office.
The stakeholders pointed to what they described as the existing concentration of key offices in Isi-Uzo Central, including the State House of Assembly seat, a commissioner position, and other strategic appointments in the state government.
In their view, denying Eha-Amufu West the chairmanship position would worsen imbalance rather than correct it, arguing that “equity demands inclusion, not exclusion.”
They further alleged that some of the critics of the APC primary outcome had previously opposed the party and only became vocal after the emergence of Ani as the chairmanship candidate.
Reaffirming their stance, they stressed that Eha-Amufu is not in conflict with any other community in Isi-Uzo and urged residents to resist attempts to inflame tensions or distort historical agreements for political advantage.
The stakeholders called for unity across the local government, urging all actors to prioritise peace and collective development while reaffirming support for Governor Peter Mbah’s administration and the APC ahead of the forthcoming local government election.
(The Whistler)
