By Joe Ehiahuruike
Let’s be clear from the outset: *there is no recognized body known as the “Ikemba Ezinihitte Forum.”* What you have is a faceless group of failed politicians hiding behind a fictitious name to launder their personal agenda as “public interest.”
The statement titled _“2027 Ezinihitte Mbaise Assembly Seat Still Turn of Ezi Centre”_ is not about zoning, fairness, or peace. It is a sponsored hatchet job by those who contested for the LGA Chairmanship, lost woefully, and are already scheming to contest again in 2027.
This is personal interest, not the interest of Ezi East people. The authors are not speaking for Ezi East. They are speaking for themselves and their paymasters. They skim for any talking point that can serve their comeback, not the collective good of the people. If they truly believed in equity, they wouldn’t have waited until after their defeat to suddenly remember “zoning agreements.”
You cannot share what is not yet available. The article talks about “allowing Ezi Centre to take the House of Assembly position” as if it’s already won and waiting to be parcelled out. That’s dishonest. 2027 elections have not been held. No one has won. To insist that Ezi Centre must “complete an eight-year slot” is to presume victory and deny other blocs their right to contest and be chosen by the people. Zoning is a guide, not a crown. The people decide.
This arrangement creates the very power concentration it claims to oppose.
The statement contradicts itself. It admits the group opposed the council chairman emerging from Ezi Centre, arguing it “rightly belongs to Ezi East.” But it then insists Ezi Centre must retain the House of Assembly seat.
If Ezi Centre holds both the LGA Chairmanship and the State House of Assembly seat, then political power is permanently domiciled in one place. That is the exact concentration of power the 1990s arrangement was designed to prevent. You cannot preach against dominance while engineering it.
Selective history is not history. The article cherry-picks tenures to fit its narrative. Political agreements in Ezinihitte Mbaise were built on mutual adjustment, not on forcing one bloc to wait indefinitely while another occupies two offices at once. If we must respect history, we must respect it wholly — including the principle of preventing the dominance of one bloc over others.
Ezinihitte Mbaise is bigger than a handful of disgruntled politicians looking for a soft landing. The people of Ezi East will not be blackmailed with the word “zoning” while power is quietly consolidated elsewhere.
We reject this sponsored statement and the phantom “Ikemba Ezinihitte Forum” behind it. We reject the idea that one bloc can hold both the LGA Chairmanship and the Assembly seat. In 2027, every qualified son and daughter of Ezinihitte Mbaise has the right to contest. Let the best candidate win.
Political parties and the electorate should see this for what it is: a desperate move by yesterday’s losers to secure tomorrow’s advantage.
Chief -Ehiahuruike is from Ife Community and member of Concerned Ezinihitte Citizens
