Chukwuma Nwadugo, the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) for the 2023 elections in Ebonyi State, has sated the reason he worked for the victory of the Labour Party governorship candidate, Edward Nkwegu, as against the Peoples Democratic Party’s Engr David Umahi, in 2015.
Nwadugo disclosed this during an interview with The Punch in Abakaliki, on Sunday, he said, “I was all out because I wanted to correct an impression- an impression about a father telling his son what to do and the son will look at the father’s face and say, “No,” that he would do a different thing.
“I was in government at that moment, and of course which was the PDP. There was a very serious problem that came up just before the primaries; in fact, during the nomination.
“My boss, the then Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, had a candidate in mind, that he was prepared to present to the party and to Ebonyi people for the election, as somebody himself as an old man had accessed, checked and watched both in character, performance and past antecedents.
“He believed that this was a man that if he took over from him, Ebonyi State will be great and even greater than when he held sway as governor. So when we saw that the PDP could not work with that and we saw that it was obvious that his deputy, then Umahi, was bent on doing his own bidding against that of his boss (Elechi).
“It was at this point that we said No , that this old man must not suffer this type of shame and that after all the selfless work he had done for the state from when he became governor till 2015, (that’s after eight years) and someone will now arm-twist him and ensure that a different candidate, which is not his own choice is planted against his wish.
Speaking further he said, “When I sensed and saw what was playing out, for the purpose of loyalty for my boss, Chief Martin Elechi, and because I have seen that my boss had the best of intentions for the state, I decided and said this would not happen and that I would march that very development with action.
“And then consequently, I seriously supported the Labour Party as against the PDP to enable emerge and form the government. And I was aware that the person I was supporting was also the person my boss, Elechi, was supporting.
“And so, there was need for me to constantly give support to my boss and this was for the single fact that I saw reason in the direction he (my boss) was going politically. That was why I did what I did and I did it intentionally and personally. I have no regret about it, even till tomorrow. I needed to show that the right thing was done and that was why my boss, Chief Elechi, thought us.
“He used to tell us it’s not right until it’s right. And I knew it was not right for my boss to tell me this is the way and I will tell him straight in his face that it was not the way. It’s not our culture and it does not say anything good about us as a people.
The AA candidate said, “There was even a time the former governor, Chief Elechi wept and said Ebonyi people would regret the actions they were about to take in 2015, in future. The man saw ahead of time.”
