…says 25-years political career disastrous

Some former and serving political officeholders in Isi Uzo local government area under the aegis of Isi Uzo Political Front (IPF) have described the flag-off of the electioneering campaign of the Labour Party governorship candidate in Enugu State, Mr Chijioke Edeoga, on Wednesday as a triumph of unmitigated failure, saying the scanty gathering was an embarrassment to Isi Uzo people.

The group in a statement signed by the President, Chief Gabriel Ogene, said it was disgraceful that after all the sustained media hype and publicity blitzkrieg, Edeoga could not mobilize enough crowd to fill the 20 canopies at the arena, saying the poor turnout portended yet another electoral humiliation awaiting him and similar to the one he suffered earlier in May at the governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he polled a miserly 9 of the 810 total votes cast.

The group disclosed that they were unhappy when Edeoga conceded defeat to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship flag bearer, Mr Peter Mbah, saying his dying political career would have been revived by a reconciliation between him and Mbah.

The statement read in parts:

“We as astute politicians and grassroots mobilizers ourselves felt greatly embarrassed by the show of shame. It was disgraceful that after all the sustained media hype and publicity blitzkrieg, the so-called governorship campaign flag-off ended as a non-event and a triumph of unmitigated failure.

“We knew Edeoga’s touted popularity in Isi Uzo was always the contrivance of his media operatives and spin doctors but never knew his support base even in his Mgbuji community had depleted so badly. We were there to see things for ourselves. We practically took a headcount of those present at the rally and if we want to be generous, it was a crowd of 400 persons scattered in 20 canopies, if that number qualifies as a crowd.

“Is it that Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga could not indeed rent enough crowds from Eha Amufu Ward 3 alone, the venue of his overhyped campaign flag-off? What it means is that Edeoga has no funds to prosecute his wobbly campaign. When a Labour Party national leader Comrade, Kennedy Iyere, raised an alarm that Edeoga was a political dependent and had no funds to rent a campaign office, let alone fund his campaign, Edeoga promptly launched acerbic attacks on him.

“But the truth is coming out. The recent revelations on the withdrawal of financial support promised him by the likes of Dr Samuel Onyishi of Peace Mass Transit, Senator Chukwuka Utazi and others is already haunting his campaign.

“How could 400 persons be mobilized for a governorship campaign flag off? Who does that? The campaign flag-off of a popular councillorship candidate could have done better.

“When we read news reports that Edeoga was desperately shopping for crowds from the neighboring Ebonyi and Kogi states, we thought it was a mere social media fake news. However, how we wish that Edeoga was indeed able to fill the arena by whatever means and at least save our people from this ridicule”, it said.

The group said it was not surprised by the boycott of the rally by most active politicians and community leaders in the council area, saying it amounted to his total rejection at home.

Insisting that Edeoga was reaping what he sowed, the group said the Isi Uzo born LP guber candidate had nothing tangible to show for his 25 years political career as a council chairman, member of the House of Representatives, Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan and two-term Commissioner and prominent member of the kitchen cabinet of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

“If truth be told, Edeoga’s 25 years long political career since his election as the chairman of Isi Uzo LGA has been an unmitigated disaster for our people. All we have to remember for his era are abandoned projects. Edeoga could not attract a kilometer of road in his long years at the commanding heights of national politics and governance.

“When he conceded defeat to Barr Peter Mbah, we knew it was a stunt to revive his dying political career. Luckily for us, his true character of desperation, treachery and sense of entitlement soon manifested when he ditched all the pacts he signed with Mbah in the presence of PDP leaders and high ranking traditional rulers, only to scamper to the Labour Party, hoping to ride on the Obident movement to renewed political relevance.

“For us in Isi Uzo who have been victims of his selfishness, high-handedness, divide and conquer machinations, blatant avarice and disgraceful records of representation by whatever performance benchmarks applied, the only way to remove this albatross on our necks is for him to be retired permanently through a crushing defeat in the 2003 elections,” the statement added.