By Prince Ejeh Josh Esq
Ordinarily, the recent unfounded and craven outbursts by the Enugu state factional chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Mr. Ugo Agballah, against Distinguished Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Ebeano political family which is an umbrella of exemplary and progressive minds across Enugu state is not required to be dignified with any response. Such emotional spasm by a man with a long history of unstable and erratic character is only understandable given the fact that he has abdicated his duties to embark on a wild goose chase.
However, to allow Mr. Agballah have a field day at the expense of innocent good people of the state who would be misled is to encourage his likes to continue to peddle lies, hate speech and campaign of calumny. For the purpose of those who would be compelled, albeit, ignorantly, to attribute genuine meaning to his verbal onslaught on responsible and law-abiding citizens of the state, it’s pertinent to make some clarifications in this short riposte.
Mr. Agballah had on Sunday where he organised few faceless journalists in what he called, “world press conference” resorted to uncouth and unprintable language often associated with motor park elements to lampoon the good people of Enugu state and their leaders in his attempt to distract the general public from his protracted embattled case of forgery the forum of APC Chairmanship candidates in the just concluded council election had levelled on him (See Thisday newspaper of February 14, 2022). Mr. Agballah should dissipate his energy on how to explain his role in the forgery allegation rather than chasing shadows.
It was even not surprising that Mr. Agballah could wake up and launch unprovoked attacks on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, the PDP and its 2023 governorship flagbearer. This is a man who has been fighting everybody within and outside the state over perceived and hallucinatory reasons. While battling to usurp power from the APC in the state, Mr. Agballah understood that the only way to get the nod of some traducers who were not happy with the tremendous progress the state has made under the PDP over the years was to make imaginary enemies out of the party’s leaders. On February 4, 2022, Agballah bared his fang of resentment against the people of Enugu state when he boasted that he would end the reign of PDP across the state. In a subsequent complicity to impose himself on the party, Agballah started parading the state, threatening to pocket the February 2022 council election for the APC. Laughably, even his polling unit was won by a landslide by the PDP. He was nowhere to be found that day after the humiliating defeat. One would imagine how a party with no known office in the state capital let alone local government areas would even make any impact.
The grouse of Mr. Agballah whom Mr. Ben Nwoye, APC’s Caretaker Chairman in Enugu state, and other APC faithful had described as a desperate coup plotter and an alien in their party was that Governor Ugwuanyi was about returning power to the Ebeano political family. He accused the governor of suffering from bewitchment and threatened to fan the ember of violence in the state if power is handed over to Nkanu people. Such is the level of hatred nursed against an innocent race by Mr. Agballah.
It’s interesting that Mr. Agballah who should know better about the Ebeano political establishment having claimed to know everything about Enugu state politics from past decades is displaying severe ignorance of what Ebeano political family stands for. For his benefit—just to refresh his memory as a once self-exorcised member of the family—the Ebeano political formation has been in power in the state since 1999, and God’s willing, it will continue to have its way. It’s a political philosophy weaved around the welfare of the people. Ebeano political family cannot be viewed from a slanted individualistic perspective since the structure belongs to the people, and over the decades it has been serving the common people on the street. It’s an umbrella that has the appeal of the masses. This is why the structure will continue to hold sway.
In 1999, the Ebeano structure produced His Excellency, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani as the first Fourth Republic governor including almost all the elective seats at the national and state house of assemblies. Under the Chimaroke’s dispensation, the state witnessed holistic transformation and development in infrastructure, institutions and human capital development. As a result of Chimaroke’s good governance legacies, the structure presented Mr. Sullivan Chime who continued from where his predecessor stopped. With the immense support of Ebeano political family, Governor Sullivan Chime and other elected officials improved on what Chimaroke left behind through innovation and robust policies. Having been convinced that Ebeano political structure had always flagged the best hands, Governor Ugwuanyi was overwhelmingly supported and voted into power in 2015. Enugu people have been celebrating good governance under the Ugwuanyi’s administration. It therefore now behooves on them to keep clamouring for the continuity of Ebeano political family in the state. The decision by the PDP and the people to overwhelmingly vote Barr. Peter Mbah as the party’s governorship flagbearer was a testimony that the people still have unswerving confidence in the welfarist political family.
Mr. Agballah should understand that he cannot like a tree and avariciously enjoy its fruit and hate its root. Accusing governor Ugwuanyi of bringing back Ebeano political family whereas the family has always been with us is the height of hypocrisy by a drowning, turbulent factionalized political party that remains faceless and rootless in Enugu state. Mr. Agballah cannot like and describe Governor Ugwuanyi as a man of peace while denying the fountain of peace that produced the governor. He should quit approbating and reprobating at every spur. Trying to rejoin the ever accommodating Ebeano political family should not be done through the backdoor. He should come out clean, swallow his pride and humbly indicate his interest to be part of the larger family. However, he should first deal with his case of forgery and explain to the people of Enugu state why the baggage of scandal is always hanging on his neck.
In fact, it will be recalled that Agballah was drafted as the campaign manager of the Chimaroke Nnamani campaign organization after throwing himself on Senator Chimaroke and the party, prevailing on them to allow him even the opportunity to serve in the Ebeano family in 1999. Out of Chimaroke’s benevolence and as usual of his politics of inclusiveness and youthocracy, Agballah was appointed as Commissioner for Works but later resigned amid controversy and public outcry orchestrated by his incompetence. His history of temper tantrums, explosive and unguarded outbursts are quite notorious and known to the good people of Enugu state.
For those that have been closely monitoring Enugu state politics, they would quickly cast back their minds to the fact that the embattled APC factional chairman is notoriously known for his unhinged, unstable and erratic character and serial loses in elections. He contested for governorship in 2003 under APGA and lost abysmally. He dumped the party (not sure where he decamped to) and retreated to the trench. How then can he claim to speak for the majority of Ndi Enugu who do not know him? On whose mandate does he make such magisterial pronouncements? Even his chairmanship of APC is dogged by allegations of blatant fraud, chicanery and knavery which the APC in Enugu state has been calling the appropriate authorities to investigate and prosecute him.
The good people of Enugu state should kindly treat with ignominy and disdain the baseless allegations of Mr. Agballah as someone seeking for relevance and trying to appease his paymasters. If there’s anyone who is trying to inspire violence and terrorism, it should be the maker of that statement. The question is; why has Mr. Agballah declared war against the people of Enugu state by threatening to silence PDP, APGA, NNPP and other political parties apart from the APC? Since the Ebeano political family has been in power, it has maintained political tolerance and freedom for other parties to thrive and play their roles as opposition parties. Why is Mr. Agballah becoming hostile and intolerant to other political parties in the state? Ebeano political family is often synonymous with peace, unity and progress. Next time Mr. Agballah wants to call his press conference, he should address his alleged case of forgery and coup plotting against his purported political party.
