Stakeholders in Ebonyi have drummed support for Chief Ifeanyi Odii, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 11 governorship election.
They declared their support in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abakaliki.
According to them, a critical assessment of the candidates of the leading political parties in the governorship race, the candidate of the PDP stood out as the best option.
They urged the Ebonyi electorate to eschew sectional and parochial politics, urging, ”they should vote for a candidate that will deliver good governance and democratic dividends for the people.
”Anybody who will occupy the governorship position on May 29 should be a leader with a broad mindset, must have a developmental agenda and be accepted by every section of the state.”
Also speaking, Chief Abia Onyike, a chieftain of PDP emphasised that the state needed a leader who would pursue the developmental process and restore Ebonyi to the path of economic greatness.
According to Onyike, many people in Ebonyi believed that Odii has the capacity, character and capability to deliver good governance, if elected.
He said that those calling for power shift or zoning were living in the past saying, ”what should be paramount will be the emergence of credible leaders, irrespective of the zone the leader hails from.
“A lot of people in Ebonyi believe that Odii is that singular individual who will not introduce politics of discrimination or dichotomy in the governance of the state.
“In the last 17 to 20 years, he has been in the public domain providing the infrastructure; scholarships, housing, medicare and other kinds of empowerment to the people of the state,”Onyike said.
Onyike, a one-time Commissioner for Information in Ebonyi urged those still championing the zoning campaign to rise above the parochial considerations.
Similarly, Dr Paul Okorie, from the Ebonyi South senatorial zone and former commissioner for Works, Transportation and Housing stated that the issue of zoning or power rotation was just a convention and never enshrined in any document.
“Zoning only exists in our hearts; there is no written arrangement, so, the zoning we are talking about is in our hearts.
“From 1999 to 2003, Ebonyi North senatorial zone held sway and from there it moved to Central which held it between 2007 and 2015 before it got to Ebonyi South which held it from May 29, 2015, to terminate by May 29 of 2023.
” In 2015, when it was thought that it was the turn of the South to produce a governor, I supported Chief Edward Nkwegu, a candidate of the Labour Party (LP) who was from the North.
“I have always believed that power should be given to the leader who can deliver good governance and democracy dividends.
” Our people need a governor that will guarantee justice, equity, fair play, and an enabling environment for businesses to thrive,”Okorie said.
Also, Mr Boniface Igwe, a businessman and chieftain of the LP urged the electorate to go for the best candidate not minding the zone or political affiliation of the candidate.
Igwe further called on the Ebonyi electorate to vote wisely in the March governorship election.
He urged: “We have to look beyond parochial and sectional party politics in choosing the next set of political leaders in the 2023 general elections.
“Although I’m a card-carrying member of the LP, going through the manifesto of the PDP governorship candidate, his character and the things he has done without occupying any political position, I think he is the right man for the Ebonyi top seat,” Igwe said.