There is now uneasy calm in All Progressives Congress (APC) Enugu State chapter, following a brawl between the National Vice Chairman for South-East, Emma Eneukwu and the
gubernatorial candidate in the last April election, Okey Ezea.
The two Enugu APC bigwigs reportedly got involved in the scuffle during an argument over who gets the ministerial slot of the State in the incoming Federal Executive Council of President-elect, General Muhamadu Buhari (rtd). According to inside sources, the incident occurred at a meeting of South-East leaders of APC in Abuja on Thursday, presided over by the re-elected Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
The scuffle however reverberated in Enugu where Ezea circulated a text message to party members, alleging that he was slapped by Eneukwu because he told South-East leaders
that Nsukka zone has not produced Minister since 1999. The text message reads: “Emma Eneukwu slapped me today because I told South-East leaders that Nsukka has not been
Minister since 1999. He did this before Rochas, Ngige, Izunaso, J.O.J, Gen. Eze, Ucha etc. I just said the truth and requested Justice and equity in the affairs of our party,and Enugu State. Emma wants to be Minister by violence. Emma from Udi LGA which has Minister since 2007 including the incumbent, Chinedu Nebo. We must fight injustice and oppression. APC is change.” When our correspondent contacted Ezea on phone, he confirmed that the text message actually emanated from him.
Ezea explained that he tried to explain at the meeting that there existed an unwritten constitution in Enugu State that any zone that produced the Governor, gets the Minister.
He recalled that it was on that basis that during the era of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani from 1999 to 2007, Enugu East senatorial zone produced Minister and in the current era of
Sullivan Chime, Enugu West held the Ministerial slot from 2007 till date.
Ezea said equity now demands that since the Governors comes from Nsukka (Enugu North senatorial zone), the Minister should come from the same zone. The APC governorship candidate said while he was trying to make this clarification before Ngige, Okorocha and others, the National Vice Chairman of South-East raised his hand to slap him, but he used his left hand to block the slap. Ezea said he was not making a case for Nsukka so that he
would benefit from it as he vied for governorship and not minister.
But, when contacted on phone, Eneukwu said there was no such incident “I am surprised about that. Nothing like that happened. I am very surprised. That story is alien to me. I don’t know about it. May be it is a calculated attempt to mar my image. I didn’t attack anybody. I am not a thug. I don’t fight” Eneukwu said.
Asked what transpired at the said meeting he said: “We went to see Buhari. That was all I knew. Nobody was talking about appointment. We will not be talking about appointment
when the party has not decided on the positions that should come to the zone. We have not known the positions allocated to the zone. As long as I know that we die on earth, I did not attack anybody. I think it is calculated to mar my image.”