…Say Peter Obi different from Labour Party and campaigned based on competence

…Challenge Edeoga, others to present records of achievements as commissioner, special adviser and lawmaker and stop being opportunists

Some groups of people in Enugu State have lashed out on Labour Party in Enugu State for dragging churches who say their members should vote for only competent candidate ahead of the March 11 governorship election.

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Chijioke Edeoga, and the state party leadership had called out on different churches, including Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and other pentecostal churches for insisting that their members should vote only candidates with distinguished track records, capacity, competence and leadership excellence as the era of voting based on political parties and sentiment is gone.

Some of the people who spoke with Starlight News in the state, criticized Edeoga for trying to ride on the popularity of Peter Obi who was voted based on competence, challenging him to provide proof of his track records and achievements in office when he was Commissioner for Environment, federal lawmaker and special adviser.

A social media influencer, Dimma Chukwu, said when churches in Enugu State were campaigning for Peter Obi over his competence, Labour Party members were commending those churches for making a wise choice for Nigerians and nobody saw anything bad with that.

But now that the same churches are calling on Enugu voters to vote for Peter Mbah as their next governor on the ground of competence, Labour Party and Edeoga people are saying they’d collected bribe, lashing them as playing double standards and hypocrisy like Pharisees.

Another speaker, Ekene Chidi, accused Enugu State Labour Party for fielding an incompetent governorship candidate who has no single agenda, no manifesto for the state, no programmes except his glaring history of failure in all the offices he had occupied in the past.

“We are now wiser. Labour Party in Enugu State is full of hypocrites. They were happy that churches endorsed Peter Obi for president because he was competent. Now, the same Labour Party is condemning the church for supporting Peter Mbah over his capacity, qualifications, track records and competence,” he said.

While challenging Edeoga and members of the Labour Party to present their candidates' track records, Mr. Abonyi Ndudi who spoke from Nsukka, accused Edeoga of gross incompetence, saying someone who was unable to manage a single ministry cannot manage a state as governor.

“See, I’m an Nsukka man and Chijioke Edeoga is my brother. But I’m not going to vote for him because of his abysmal performance in offices as commissioner. He has no single plan for the state, and Enugu State will collapse under him,” he warned.

An Anglican priest who commented on a Facebook Page, Rev. Okwudiri Onyeka, said Edeoga was their church member, but that they were finding it very difficult to endorse him because of his manifest incompetence and failure in all the offices he held.

“You are aware we endorsed Peter Obi for president as a church. We told our members to vote for him and we gave him all the support he needed because we believed he would perform very well in office.

“But this time around, we have decided to settle for Peter Mbah because of his outstanding entrepreneurial performance and success in business. We are calling on our people not to vote because of sentiment. Political party is just like a vehicle, so, PDP, Labour Party, APGA, APC, YPP, etc are like cars. What matters is the driver. We believe Peter Mbah will be a better driver,” he stated.

A woman who simply identified herself as Dr. Munachiso, commended the church for taking firm position on competence and capacity only, adding that people who want to lead their state should be able to show what they’ve been able to achieve in life and what they have done outside politics.