Finally Ikpeazu Succumbs to Kinsmen, Prevails on PDP to Scrap Governorship Zoning

Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has finally bowed to pressure from his kinsmen in their clamour to retain power at the end of his tenure in 2023, as the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has now paved the way by scrapping its zoning arrangement. The state PDP at the weekend announced that its governorship ticket has been zoned to both Abia North and Abia Central senatorial districts, thereby accommodating the Ngwa bloc in the governorship race, and in essence, throwing it open. The zoning principle of the ruling party, which has been observed since 1999, favoured Abia North, but Ikpeazu was subjected to intense pressure by his kinsmen, who threatened fire and brimstone in their quest to retain power. It was gathered that the governor, in order to resolve his dilemma over the desires of his kinsmen and the party's zoning arrangement, had to prevail on his party leadership to adopt "double zoning" arrangement thereby playing safe. In a statement signed by the state Chairman of PDP, Hon Alwell Asiforo Okere, which was read to journalists by the state Publicity Secretary, Chief Fabian Nwankwo, the ruling party claimed that its decision was based on the outcome of consultations with party leaders and stakeholders across the state. However, Nwankwo, while explaining the reason for the curious zoning arrangement, alluded to the pressure from the Ngwa bloc, saying each of Abia North and Abia Central "has high number of governorship aspirants." According to him, the party was trying to find the best way it could be fair to all, adding that delegates at the primaries would eventually decide the zone from where the governorship standard bearer would emerge. To confirm that the state PDP could no longer sustain its zoning arrangement, the party spokesman announced that governorship aspirants from outside Abia North and Abia Central were free to vie for the governorship ticket. The issue of which zone should produce Ikpeazu's successor has generated feisty debate among the PDP faithful across the zones with the government displaying manifest sensitivity as the debate raged on. Last week, the former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, was sacked as the chairman of the Governing Council of Abia State University, Uturu (ABSU) for expressing his position on the zoning issue. Ikpeazu promptly replaced him with Chief Mba Okoronkwo Ukariwo. Wabara, who is the secretary of PDP Board of Trustees(BoT), had reportedly warned of dire consequences should Abia State PDP give its governorship ticket to any of Ikpeazu's kinsmen, insisting that such action would certainly make the ruling party lose the 2023 governorship poll. He had stated that "power should move back to Abia North where it started from in 1999", adding that "Abia is not ready for Ngwa back-to-back stuff." Wabara further warned that Abia State PDP was playing with the kind of fire that consumed the party in Plateau State and made PDP lose to then opposition APC in 2015. Also, former state governor, Senator Theodore Orji, has come under attack for supporting power shift to Abia North in line with the PDP zoning principle and the Abia State Charter of Equity.