The plot by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s Ukwa Ngwa political bloc for the governor to hand over to his kinsman at the end of his tenure in 2023 has continued to thicken as youths from the zone demand exclusive governorship tickets for Ukwa Ngwa across parties.

The youths under the aegis of Supreme Council of Ukwa Ngwa Youths at the weekend escalated the Ukwa Ngwa sectional succession bid by warning political parties against giving governorship tickets to candidates outside the political bloc of the incumbent Abia governor.

President of the apex Ukwa Ngwa youth body, Dannie Ubani handed down the warning at Aba during the Ukwa Ngwa socio -economic and political conclave with the theme, ‘Ike Nkwu 2022’.

Ukwa-Ngwa political bloc comprising nine local governments spread across Abia South and part of Abia Central Senatorial districts has been staking their claim to remain in government house for 16 years at a stretch.

Ubani claimed that the old Bende political bloc comprising eight local governments spread across Abia North and part of Abia Central senatorial districts had occupied government house for 16 years from 1999 to 2015 when Ukwa Ngwa man came to power.

He insisted that the Ukwa Ngwa must complete the same number of years that the old Bende bloc stayed in power to be at par hence any political party that failed to give its governorship ticket to Ukwa Ngwa would not get their support.

“We are making a clarion call and demand that for any political party to have the prospects, the hope and the promises of winning the next governorship election in Abia State, such political parties should show their seriousness by committing themselves to the ideals of fairness, justice and fair play by zoning their governorship ticket exclusively to Ukwa Ngwa land,” he said.

The youth leader said that though the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the ruling party, the people of Ukwa Ngwa bloc would not discriminate against any party so long as their kinsman is flying the party’s flag.

According to him, any party that deprives the Ukwa Ngwa the opportunity of retaining the governorship seat should just forget about receiving “the mass support and votes from Ukwa Ngwa people”, adding, “The rule of the game is this – you rub my back, I rub yours”.

“Any party that doesn’t place their governorship ticket at the exclusive preserve the Ukwa Ngwas, would have automatically lost the election,”.

Explaining the theme of the political conclave, Ubani said: “We are engaging in a moment of introspection; stock taking. We want to evaluate and analyze where we are coming from and where we are, so as to project into the realm of where we need to be”.

Professor Maduike Ezeibe, who delivered the keynote address represented by Professor Sam Erugo, commended Governor Ikpeazu for changing the face of Ukwa Ngwa land since 2015 through infrastructural development.

However, Ezeibe noted that even with the achievements already recorded by the Ikpeazu administration, more still need to be done, especially in the empowerment of Ukwa Ngwa people and creation of opportunities for youths. (THISDAY)

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