Eye witness
A few days before the presidential and National Assembly general elections, the Labour Party Candidate for Ezza South in Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Isaac Mkpuma had advised Christians not to vote against their faith at their polling units.
Mkpuma who gave this advice in an interview with journalists in Abakaliki on Sunday night said that any vote for a Muslim candidate at the Saturday Presidential poll would result in the jettison of the fundamental human right to religion in any part of Nigeria.
“Saturday is the due day for the presidential and National Assembly elections, Ebonyi people should be very careful in their choice of candidates. If you want Ebonyi and Nigeria in general to become a Muslim nation, you vote for another political party other than the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi to be our President. Even when you are a pagan and you want to enjoy your rights of religion, if you vote against the Labour Party President, you will be forced to become Muslim whether you like it or not.”
He recalled that “in 1985, IBB (Ibrahim Badamos Babangida) registered Nigeria with one hundred and fifty million Naira in the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), which according to him, “the OIC has ten years to rule a country and the implication is that after ten years Nigeria will be fully Islamized.”
He further reminded the Christians and other Nigerians who are not muscles that “by 29th May 2023, President Muhammad Buhari will be eight years in office and two years, if you vote for PDP, APC, NNPP and other political parties in which a Muslim man or woman is the presidential candidate and he or she wins the election, Nigeria will be Islamized after two years whether you like it or not.”
The Labour Party State House Assembly Candidate urged Nigerians particularly to vote for the Presidential candidate of his party, Mr Peter Obi, whom he said would carry every citizen of the country by ensuring respect for fundamental human rights, security of the lives and property with economic revival and general welfare for the people regardless of tribe, colour or religion.
Mkpuma who believes much in equity, fairness and social justice, also urged the Nigerians not to sacrifice their votes on altered sentiments but to throw their weight behind the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the Saturday poll following his credibility, character, competence, capacity and wide acceptability across the country.
He recalled that the RUGA was passed into law by the National Assembly and it’s left for the next president to sign it into law.
According to him, “RUGA means that where Fulani herdsmen can have access to live anywhere they found themselves in any part of the country and it may become their home.
“The Fulani herdsmen will be bringing down their cattle to their place just to displace you and after five years they will live there, call the government to give them land for them to build their houses. Once the land is given to them they will be inviting their people from Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and other countries of Africa where the Boko Haram will pack to Nigeria, with arms and other weapons to destabilize people’s peace. After some time they will surround your community for you to denounce your faith to become a Muslim or else you will risk being slaughtered like a goat without any mercy.”
Mkpuma also called on Ebonyi people to vote massively for the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in Ebonyi State, Architect Edward Nkwegu and himself for the Ezza South State Constituency on 11th March polls.
Emphasising the need to sustain zoning and equity in the state governorship position, the Labour Party House Assembly Candidate, said: “It’s God that has all the power, how can somebody (Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii) from the PDP claim to be the grandson of Ezza Nation, he may be right to be the grandson of Ezza nation, but it’s not even the turn of an Ezza man to produce the governorship of Ebonyi State, because for equity to stand, it’s the turn of Ebonyi North to produce the next governor of Ebonyi State.
“An Ezza person on the other side being the elder son of the state is not for him to contest against equity, he should understand that it is the turn of Ebonyi North Senatorial Zone and after the Ebonyi North, it will be the turn of Ebonyi Central, to enable Ezza people to make our rightful choice for the gubernatorial seat in 2031.
“We prefer the candidature of Edward Nkwegu, who we know full well is somebody that has done enough for the people. He is not a violent type. We need somebody whose character is not questionable, not a kidnapper or cultist.
“For now, my people know me and I know them very well. I have not eaten alone, and I will improve the life of my people. They are too poor, suffering poverty and a lot of deprivation, but I will contribute my quota thereby ensuring I represent them effectively in the House, to save them from the bondage, that those who supposedly live a good life should now do so.
“I will embark on robust empowerment for my constituents especially the youth, women and vulnerable people in the villages.
“I will encourage them in trading by giving them incentives and grants. I will encourage them to do agriculture, especially as our gubernatorial candidate had promised to introduce mechanized agriculture, by giving farm inputs, and cash to them to guarantee food security.
“EDON is a renowned Christain, a respected man in the Catholic Church worldwide, he has a listening ear. All Reverend Fathers in our state have testified that he is very answerable to them. With his Regina Pacis Foundation for over 18 years now, he has empowered thousands of the Ebonyi people and beyond, especially the downtrodden.“
He further noted that the “Labour Party has structure because every family in Ebonyi State is the structure of the Labour Party. All over Nigeria, every family is the structure of the Labour Party. Labour Party has a father, mother and child. There is no family without a father, mother and child. We need Edward Nkwegu who is a prosperous entrepreneur, with an outstanding character, and the capacity and capability, to steer the governorship position of the state to the enviable.”