Labour Party Enugu State Chapter today picks former Commissioner Chijioke Jonathan Edeoga to fly the party’s governorship flag in 2023.
Edeoga, a former parliamentarian, was a journalist before he trained as a lawyer. He is the immediate past Commissioner for Environment in Enugu State.
Today’s process for substitution of the Labour candidate began at a brief event in Enugu. The choice of Edeoga was ratified through acclamation by party delegates.
To pave the way for his emergence as candidate, INEC-recognized placeholder, Mr. Casmir Agbo, formally stepped down to enable the process.
Agbo, who is also State Party Chairman, has held the placeholder position for three months, waiting for the switch.
INEC gave political parties 12 August 2022 as deadline to conclude governorship candidate withdrawals and submit names of substituted candidates.
Edeoga’s entry changes game
Enugu Metro learnt that the Chairman was bullied to select a candidate from core Nkanu area but resisted the pressure.
“Agbo was pressured to ensure that he helps to consolidate all governorship candidate positions in Nkanu,” a party source said.
The entry of Edeoga sharply divides Enugu East District with potential far-reaching effects on the upcoming governorship elections.
Three of six LGAs in the District now parade strong governorship candidates campaigning for PDP (Nkanu East), APGA and APC (Nkanu West) and Labour (Isi-Uzo).
“Any of the three candidates that manages to get block votes from Nsukka District will easily have an edge,” an analyst said.
Enugu Metro investigation shows that Enugu North District may likely favour its Isi-Uzo cousin, thus giving Hon Edeoga the edge.
The District delivered 56 percent of the winning votes to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in 2019. This may however not represent its relative voting strength in the State.
Nevertheless, if the District favours a candidate, this will leave Greater Awgu as the battleground for all four governorship candidates.
Currently, the three Local Governments Areas of Greater Awgu appear to be a solid PDP base. This position may not change unless APC, APGA or Labour make a strong case to woo them.
Isi-Uzo, Enugu East, and Greater Awgu are regarded as three of the most underdeveloped areas of Enugu State.
Enugu Labour Party picks former Commissioner Jonathan Edeoga for governorship. Share below 👇
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