Stakeholders from the Mbulu Njodo, Mbulu Iyiukwu, and Mbulu Owehe communities in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have raised concerns over what they describe as decades of political marginalization and exclusion from the leadership of the local government council. In a statement released on Friday, the group alleged that the Nike Uno political bloc has dominated the chairmanship position since the council's creation in 1996, to the detriment of other zones in the area.
Allegations of Population Disparity
The stakeholders claimed that although the Mbulu Njodo, Mbulu Iyiukwu, and Mbulu Owehe zones constitute about 75 percent of the population of Enugu East LGA, they have been denied the opportunity to produce a chairman for nearly three decades. The statement, signed by their spokesperson, Chukwuemeka Agbo, highlighted the pervasive discrimination and neglect these zones have suffered at the hands of the Nike Uno political zone.
Historical Power-Sharing Pact Ignored
The group recalled that following the creation of Enugu East LGA in 1996, four geopolitical and administrative zones were established to ensure equitable distribution of political offices, development, and services. A power-sharing arrangement was formalized in a pact signed in 2007 by traditional rulers, political leaders, and stakeholders, agreeing that key political positions would rotate among the four development centers. However, the group lamented that all executive chairmen from 1996 to date have emerged from the Nike Uno zone.
They listed former chairmen including Cornelius Ogbu, Prince Gilbert Nnaji, Eunice Ugwu, Edward Nnaji, Cyril Mbah, Godwin Odo, Mathias Uchenna Anike, Prince Cornelius Nnaji, Prince Alexander Ugwu, Livinus Anike, and the incumbent chairman, Beloved Dan-Anike, all from Nike Uno. The stakeholders warned that continued exclusion could fuel political tension and deepen divisions in the area.
Appeal for Governor's Intervention
The stakeholders appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene and ensure fairness in the zoning of the chairmanship position ahead of future local government elections. They emphasized that the imbalance is a time bomb that threatens the peaceful coexistence that once existed in Nikeland.
