From Emmanuel Uzor, Abakaliki

Recently, former governor of Ebonyi state, Chief Martin Elechi followed other politicians especially from the South East geo political zone to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Though his defection did not come as a surprise owing to his role and stance in the last general election where he personally sponsored a governorship candidate in Ebonyi state on the platform of Labour Party, LP as against his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, many had expected the elder statesman to keep to his word especially having announced his retirement from partisan politics few weeks before his defection.

The former governor in what looked like a twist of fate had earlier in his country home, Echialike, Ikwo in Ikwo council of Ebonyi state announced his official retirement from partisan politics, giving old age as reason.

He was quoted to have said that his decision to quit partisan politics was informed by his desire to play the role of a father in the politics of the state, having served out his two terms as the second democratically elected governor of the state.

In the said interview, the former governor said he had chosen to sit as a father without any political interests to be able to direct the affairs of the state for all political actors to live in peace and work towards collective interests of the state which he said was of immense importance, above political affiliations.

However, majority of the people of the state were stunned at the wake of the event when the same former governor in a brazen manner pitched his tent with the ruling APC in an occasion by the opposition to launch a movement that would take on the Ebonyi governor, David Umahi ahead of 2019 governorship election.

Many political watchers also believed that the former governor may have committed political suicide by openly declaring for APC, a party regarded as dead in the state especially with the intractable crisis and power play among two major political players- Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and Senator Julius Ucha .

The two camps within APC have been very pronounced and this has led to the party breaking into factions.

Speaking during his official defection to APC in his country home, Elechi said he was forced to defect from the PDP to APC because he felt that the former have no regards for the rule of law and did not adhere to the tenets of democracy.

He said he has personal relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari whom he said saved his life some time ago and chronicled how he was humiliated out of PDP even as a serving governor and how he lost the party structure to strong politicians in Abuja which resulted in his deputy taking over the structure of the party and eventually winning the election against his (Elechi) wish.

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The septuagenarian, who worshipped with party leaders in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital, at a thanksgiving church service for the quick recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari, said “I knew Buhari 49 years ago when I started the movement for the creation of Ebonyi as he intervened during my arrest with nine other comrades, by officers of the defunct Nigerian Security Organization (NSO).

“I was interrogated while standing for nine hours and he as the Brigade Major in Abakaliki at that time, ordered our immediate release. I thank God for his health as he had favoured the people of Abakaliki and will triumph in his onerous task of rescuing the country from misrule. He is the person Nigerians are waiting for as the Boko Haram and corruption issues could have been indescribable if God had not brought him to power. “I was elected governor on two occasions under PDP platform as it used to be the pride of Africa, but was suddenly ravaged by self-inflicted crises and afflictions. I would have attacked anyone who said Ebonyi belongs to APC, but currently, me, identify with PDP–God forbid.”

Alhaji Kashim Imam had while receiving the former governor into APC, invited the South East to adopt and identify with the APC as the party that would assuage their fears, while Emma Enukwu, who said he was mandated by the APC National Chairman, John Oyegun, to ensure that Elechi registers with the party, described him as a big fish that the party must be proud of catching.

Meanwhile, Ebonyi State prominent citizens felt betrayed by the elderstates’ man show of openly castigating the party that gave him the platform to be elected a governor for eight years even against all odds of his seeming political unpopularity in 2007 when the likes of Senators Julius Ucha and Emmanuel Agboti were favorites for the position.

The Ebonyi State Council of elders led by the former Minister for Culture and Tourism and Nigerian Ambassador to Greece, Amb. Frank Ogbuewu chided Elechi for what they described as show of shame and described the old man as a political liability and waste to his new found love, APC.

Ogbuewu, flanked by the former deputy governor under Elechi’s first term, Prof Chigozie Ogbu and former Minister for Health, Chief Fide Nwankwo described Elechi as a “feather weight political hen that was merely looking for relevance after losing out woefully in the 2015 governorship election as the only incumbent governor who failed to install his successor”.

The Chairman of the Elders’ council further said the former governor left the party long time ago after his alleged failed bid to foist his successor and brother-in-law, Edward Nkwegu (Edon), who later ran on the platform of Labour Party, LP in the 2015 general election, on the state. Ogbuewu said the former governor had never supported the party especially after losing grip of the PDP structure at the last election, adding “we are here to tell you that Elechi has never been with the party.  He left PDP long time ago when he supported Labour Party candidate. So the reason he gave as part of his reasons for defecting to APC were pure lies”

The Ebonyi Elders council further accused him of trying to renege on the earlier zoning arrangement for power shift to the Ebonyi South having gone round North and Central senatorial zones by sponsoring his brother-in-law who hails from Izzi in Ebonyi North as against the choice of the people.

Daily Sun gathered that Martin Elechi was also a proponent of power shift, but along the line, he ran into trouble when he announced to the chagrin of major political stakeholders including the then Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim that he would impose the then Minister for Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu on the state as against the earlier agreement that his deputy, now Governor David Umahi would succeeded him.

The intractable crisis that ensued later led to Elechi losing grip of the party after he refused to jettison his choice.

Speaking on the development in the state, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, the State Commissioner for Information and State Orientation posited that the dream of the opposition party to oust Governor Umahi in 2019 remains a long and unrealizable dream, owing to the fact that the governor has performed and cannot be shoved aside despite power or pressure coming from the nation’s seat of power, in Abuja.