Abia Guber: Ohuabunwa throws weight behind power shift to Abia North.

Chinwe Ugele, Umuahia

Senator Mao Ohuabunwa has lent his voice on the agitation for power shift to Abia North by 2023.

He believes it will help unite the state.

According to the former Leader ECOWAS Parliament, rotation of power will not only guarantee and sustain the prevailing peace in Abia polity but also ensure mutual trust among all three Senatorial zones in the state.

“We need peace in the state to enable the Governor concentrate and finish well. So, my take is that the party must resolve this issue immediately as time is of essence,” Ohuabunwa said.

He reasoned that since power started from Abia North in 1999, and has gone round all three districts, it would only be proper that “power rotates back to the zone where it first started”.

Senator Ohuabunwa spoke when members of Unity Forum, a political pressure group from Abia North visited him to solicit his support for the governorship agitation, and urge him to put behind him “the sad experiences of 2019.”

The former Leader House of Representatives, who is also a member of the National Executive Council NEC, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP called on the political class and elders of the state to support zoning arrangement.

Senator Ohuabunwa commended all advocates of power shift to Abia North including former Gov. Theodore Orji and urged other stakeholders in the Abia project to rise to the occasion.

He accepted the plea by Unity Forum as well as Abia North youths for him to lead the campaign for power shift to Abia North in 2023, saying it is in the best interest of all.

Speaking earlier, leader of the delegation and former Housing, James Okpara, described Senator Ohuabunwa as an indispensable missile in the political arsenal of Abia North, and assured him of the zone’s support and trust in him.

The group had also urged him to join the 2023 senatorial race, lamenting that “Abia North has been voiceless at the Senate” since his exit in 2019.

Some eminent personalities on the delegation included: former Military Administator of Cross River State, Navy Capt. Chris Osondu; former member representing Ohafia South State consituency, Hon. Mba Ukaha; Chairman of Umunneochi Local Government Area, Chief Chris Mmadu; and former Commissioner for Lands, Chief Mrs Loveth Ofoegbu.

Others were former member representing Bende North state constituency, Chief Princewill Onyegbu; former Chairman, PDP Abia State, Dr . Ndidi Okereke; PDP Zonal Vice Chairman, Abia North, Elder Amah Abraham; former Commissioner for Joint Projects, Chief JJ Okoro; and former Commissioner for Boundaries, Mr. Mascot Obike.

On the delegation also were former Commissioner , Civil Service Commission, Chief Onyema Agbai; former Permanent Secretary, Mrs Dim Anochie; House of Assembly aspirant for Ohafia North constituency, Edward Okocha; and a host of others.