…says Edeoga should respect the Rule of Law as a former law maker:
…calls Labour Party to conduct fresh primary
Prominent civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Tuesday, slammed immediate past Commissioner for Environment Enugu State Honourable Chijioke Edeoga and warned him to stop parading himself as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Enugu State after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja nullified the nomination last week.
HURIWA said it is doing this criticism because of its avowed commitment to consistently act as watchdogs for the society to ensure that prominent citizens abide by the Principle of Rule of law and to stop Nigeria from sliding into anarchy and lawlessness.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, described Mr. Edeoga’s apparent total disrespect for a binding decision of the Federal High court which annuled his emergence as winner of the Labour Party’s gubernotorial primary after he lost out at the PDP’s Governorship primary election in Enugu State just as the Rights group said his granting of a media interview as Labour Party’s Enugu governorship candidate days after he has been impeached legally is unfortunate, reprehensible and unlawful.
The group also blasted Edeoga for attacking Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi by describing the present state of roads within Nsukka township and other parts of the state as the worst in the history of the state even as the Rights group wondered if he would have made that statement if he had emerged as the Governorship candidate of the PDP- the party that practically made him and brought him to limelight including the last 7 unbroken years that he served Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as his commissioner and a trusted ally.
Edeoga, a former commissioner for environment under Governor Ugwuanyi, had contested the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost to Peter Mbah. He would later join the Labour Party following his defeat even after he reportedly agreed to work for the emergence of the PDP’s candidate who defeated him in a transparent Primary election.
Commenting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “Chijioke Edeoga’s conduct is highly reprehensible in all entirety, both morally and politically. How an individual who was a cabinet member of an administration for about seven years would turn back and rubbish everything done by the same administration all in the name of politics is a question begging for answers. This might be termed by analysts as a gross challenge of character and this is irritating.
“Chijioke Edeoga claim the roads are bad in Enugu. Let us assume but not concede he is right, then, should we then conclude that he is guilty by association given that he worked closely for 7 years under the same administration and had represented the governor in many national and local public events? Given that he occupied a top job that touches also on road infrastructure, is he Chijioke Edeoga indicting himself for alleged unexecuted projects and uncompleted ones because he occupied a strategic role as environment commissioner under the Ugwuanyi government for about seven years? This his new found role as an independent critic of his political boss only because he couldn’t be railroaded as the successor of his boss in the office of governor of Enugu State, is to say the least self serving and an attempt at scoring cheap and unearned publicity.”
“Now, that his candidacy has been voided lawfully by a competent court of law, HURIWA calls on Labour Party to call the emergency party member and the new ‘opportunistic critic’ to order to quit parading himself as the party’s governorship candidate in Enugu for now so the sanctity of the judicial system of government in line with the provision of section 6 of the Constitutionof the Federal Republic of Nigeria is adhered to and upheld by all and sundry. Political parties should not give their platforms to men and women manifesting tendencies that aren’t too far from lawlessness. Or does the Labour Party lack character, consistency and credibility? If he back-stabbed Ugwuanyi, who says he won’t do the same for his new-found party? This is indeed shocking”
November 15, 2022
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko
National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA.