POLITICAL NOTES
At his 57th birthday thanksgiving in May 2019, which also marked his 16th year in the senate, a former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, publicly announced his readiness to leave the senate in 2023, because by then, he would have spent 20 unbroken years in the upper chamber of the legislature.
Of course, he didn’t disclose his next move to the gathering, even though returning to the senate in 2019, was not a walkover either. But as the journey to 2023 inches closer, Ekweremadu, after 20 years in the upper legislative chamber, intends to retire with a governorship bid. He has always had the idea in his head but always failed as well.
Interestingly, Enugu has a peculiar politics as it is with many South-east states, where zoning or rotation for the governorship is taken seriously. Of the three senatorial districts, Enugu East had produced a governor in the person of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, from 1999 to 2007. The West took its turn from 2007 to 2015, when Sullivan Chime served, and now, the Northern hemisphere, is in the saddle with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, effectively representing them.
Therefore, if this arrangement, which has never failed or been compromised is taken into account, the governorship automatically goes back to Enugu East next year, when another election is due. But Ekweremadu intends to upset the apple cart by insisting he would be on the ballot, when clearly it is not the turn of the West, where he hails from and would have represented for 20 years in the senate by 2023.
However, with failed attempts, both in 2007 and 2015, Ekweremadu should have known by now that the system is not only bigger than him, but also effective on the rotation politics, and would not bow to his governorship craving. As an establishment person, who has benefitted immensely for the better part of his adulthood from the system, he should not be found trying to rail against the system that produced him. It’s unfortunate to say the least.
Well, if he still desires to be governor in 2027 after the East must have served one term, and by which time he would be 65 years, all well and good. But his chances are brighter in 2031, when it would be clearly the turn of Enugu West and which time he would be 69. But to think the system would slouch to his poverty of ambition or consider a negotiation, which appears what his move is all about, then, he should wake up from his dream, because has just exposed himself as both greedy and egoistic.
