Ebonyi guber: I’m confident of defeating Umahi –Ogbuoji

You’re not in tune with reality, says governor

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, has said that he is upbeat ahead of the March 2 governorship election given the groundswell support his ambition has received from critical stakeholders in the state.

Ogbuoji would be squaring up against the incumbent governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but the senator, who currently represents Ebonyi South, is of the view that incumbency factor will play no role in the election.
Speaking with New Telegraph, the APC governorship candidate said he is confident of winning the election as the people of the state are behind him.

“I am confident of winning the March 2 governorship election in Ebonyi State because the people of the state, irrespective of political leanings, are with me,” he said.

Asked whether the incumbency factor will not work against him given that he would be contesting against a sitting governor, Ogbuoji said: “Going by the indices in the state at the moment, the margin of defeat is going to be 60/40 in favour of the APC as incumbency factor will not play any role in the election like it did in the 2015 elections.

“The people of Ebonyi deserve a change. We know what they want and our programmes fit into their needs. APC has received massive support across the state. I’m confident that the March 2 governorship election is for APC to win.”

Senator Ogbuoji, who accused Umahi of running a government of deceit further said: “The Ebonyi election is purely issue based as people are evaluating what they used to have before now like education which used to be free and of high standard, but has gone down today.

“When you talk about commercial activities, there is no middle class in the state, which would have driven that. Ebonyi State pays the least in terms of salaries among the states of the South-East. The local government system is almost dead as no local government has operated a budget since 2015.

“There is no Tenders Board in Ebonyi State as we speak. All contracts in the state are awarded to companies belonging to Governor Umahi. The Ebonyi rice they are boasting of is actually rice coming from Kebbi State that is re-bagged in Abakaliki.

“So, what we have today in Ebonyi is a movement to remove Umahi from power. The people are tired of Umahi and they are not going to vote for him. We may not be as rich as the governor because he has access to the state’s treasury, but with groundswell support, we will defeat him.”

Asked whether the zoning arrangement in the state will not affect his chances, Ogbuoji said: “I am going to do only four years. I am not going to seek for a second term as I have assured Ebonyi people and I want to be quoted on that.”

The senator, who is Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, added that he understands the politics of the state, having been pioneer chairman of a local government area, chairman of the state Secondary Education Board (SEB), commissioner and two-term senator.

But Governor Umahi, who responded to the APC candidate’s claim through his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, said it is the height of self-deceit for Senator Ogbuoji to think that he will defeat him in the gubernatorial contest.

He said: “Ogbuoji is not in tune with reality as regards Ebonyi State politics. He belongs to the old order and lacks knowledge of workings of government. Nobody is with him as more than 70 per cent of Ebonyians don’t even know his name, so how is he going to win the election? For him to think that he will win the March 2 election shows that he is under illusion, as Ebonyi people don’t want to return to Egypt.

“Come to Ebonyi State and see governance in action under Governor Umahi. He has transformed every sector of the state’s economy and this will speak for him during the election.”

Among political leaders in Ebonyi State rooting for Ogbuoji, New Telegraph learnt, is the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onuh. The minister is a former governor of Abia State from which Ebonyi was carved out.

Others are the immediate past governor of the state, Chief Martin Elechi, who is now a chieftain of the APC after dumping the PDP through which he was elected governor for two terms and Senator Julius Ucha.

On the other hand, Umahi has the support of the Speaker, Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Francis Nwifuru and members of the state caucus of the National Assembly led by a former governor of the state, Senator Sam Egwu.

Ogbuoji and Umahi hail from the same senatorial district, but from different local government areas. The senator was elected on the platform of PDP, but defected to the APC and defeated seven other aspirants during the party’s governorship primaries last year.

Besides Ogbuoji, the APC leadership in the state is optimistic that the party will clear all elective positions in the state in the forthcoming polls.

Already, the party has commenced campaigns across the state, while the PDP is yet to flag-off its campaigns. The ruling party in the state has scheduled January 17, for the commencement of its campaigns.

Umahi is said to have done well, especially in areas of infrastructure and agriculture, but our correspondent learnt that as it stands, the PDP and APC stand a 50-50 chance of winning the forthcoming governorship election.

Ebonyi State has been under PDP since 1999, with the party winning over 90 per cent of elective positions in the past five general elections.