As 2027 general election is gathering momentum a Youths Organization known as Ebonyi South Youth Assembly (ESYA) has queried the involvement of Nigerian Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido and socialite and businessman, Paschal Okechukwu Chibuike, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest in determining who becomes governor of the state informing him that only Ebonyi people will determine their governor through ballot not celebrities influencers or social media campaigns.
The Youths Assembly were reacting to a social media comments by the duo of Davido and Cubana Priest that the People Democratic Party PDP Guber Candidate Chief Chukwuma Odii will defeat the incumbent Chief Francis Nwifuru in 2027 general election.
Davido had reportedly described Anyichuks as his “next project” in Ebonyi ahead of the 2027 governorship election while Cubana Chief Priest said that Governor Francis Nwifuru has performed below expectations.
Reacting in a statement which Guardian obtained a copy in Abakaliki on Sunday the National President of the Ebonyi South Youth Assembly, Odii Njoku, said that ordinary they would have kept quite because the two lacked the knowledge of what is happening in the state but for avoidance of doubts and to put the records straight they should not assume that political dynamics in Ebonyi State could be influenced in the same manner as in other states.
Odii Njoku made it clear Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru will win convincingly in next year general election because he has performed far above expectations noting that the election will be won through the ballot box and not through the influence of celebrities or social media campaigns.
Njoku said Ebonyi State is different from Osun State and Imo states wondering how can Cubana Priest who could not win an ordinary primary election for the House of Representatives seat of Orsu/Orlu/Oru East Federal Constituency in Imo State will now determine who becomes a governor in Ebonyi state.
According to him, Ebonyians, particularly youths, are satisfied with the administration of Governor Nwifuru, which he said had continued to place the interests and welfare of young people at the centre of its development agenda.
The ESYA president pointed to the Governor’s People’s Charter of Needs as one of the administration’s major initiatives, arguing that the projects and policies being implemented across the state would speak for the governor as the 2027 election approaches.
Njoku further claimed that the people of Ebonyi State would resist any attempt to influence their political choices through financial inducement, celebrity endorsements or social media campaigns, insisting that the electorate had the constitutional right to choose their preferred candidate.
He added that they should have reliaied on issues based evidence to score the performance of the governor rather than hear say noting that such actions have not only under scored their reasonings determining performance but exposed their ignorances.
“Have they visited Ebonyi state to inspect some of the numerous projects executed by governor Nwifuru and armed themselves with first class information about the state rather than reliaing on what they have not verified if it is true or not” Njoku said.
“Have they not heard that Nwifuru is building two Universities and both have commerced academic activities, have they not heard that Nwifuru has sent over 1000 Ebonyi graduates to study in different universities across the globe, have they not heard that Agila and Ngbon communal crisis has been resolved, have they not heard that Nwifuru wife built houses for windows in all the 13 LGAs, have not also heard that all the internal roads in Abakaliki urban, Nwofe, Oferekpe have been constructed, then what stop them from visiting the state to ascertain if it is true or not” he asked Davido and Cubana Priest.
“Still are they not aware that Nwifuru cleared over 800 million owned to state university staffs, raised the subvention from 150 million to 280 million, increased their salary, paid over 12 billion naira gratuity of civil servants from 1996 till date, what of the abandoned Ebonyi world trade center that has reached 99% completion” Odii Njoku added.
“What of the digitalization of learning process in all the secondary schools in the state, what of the two kilometers of roads in all the 177 wards, what of housing estates in Ishielu and in Abakaliki, what of traditional rulers duplex in every community, clean water is running, the upgrading of all the general hospitals and health centers, empowerment of youths, the lists is numerous”.
He advised them to emulate IYKON Global Foundation for Child, Youth Care and Human Rights Defence in dwelling on issues based evidence before commenting on any issues that requires evidence not social media content and comments.
He described Anyichuks as a politician whose campaign, according to him, had been largely driven by Facebook and other social media platforms, while urging opposition politicians to engage the people directly with concrete programmes and policies.
The youth leader called on Ebonyi youths to remain focused and issue-based in their political engagements, saying the 2027 election should be about development, accountability, competence and the future of the state rather than personality clashes or celebrity endorsements.
Njoku also urged Davido and Cubana Priest to refrain from comments that could generate tension or inflame political sentiments in Ebonyi State, stressing that political disagreements should not be allowed to degenerate into hate speech or actions capable of threatening the peace of the state.
He advised them to concentrate on political developments in their home states and allow Ebonyians to independently decide who would emerge as governor in the 2027 governorship election, insisting that the people of Ebonyi would not surrender their political choice to external influence.