A group, the Ebonyi for Good Governance, has warned that the continuous emphasis on the zoning of the governorship in Ebonyi State can create political tension.
In a statement by its Coordinator, Kevin Oji, the group insisted that what should rather be the focus is the character of who becomes the next governor.
“Desperate political forces appear to be diverting attention, stoking the fire of zoning instead of focusing on the best to rule the state,” the group said.
According to the group, the zoning arrangement, if ever exists in Ebonyi, presupposes the presence of a charter of equity envisioned to ensure that every zone within the state is given the opportunity to take a shot at the state’s top job.
This, the group said, was an idea conceived based on fairness, equity, and justice, adding that the issue of zoning was never conclusive.
It said such an idea was conceived by the founding fathers but was not underpinned and ratified by any Charter of Equity duly agreed upon and certified by political leaders from all the three senatorial zones.
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It said the document if ratified, could have been the holy grail owned by every citizen of the state and should have been a guide for political affirmation and interest.
The group said: “The plank of any discussion on zoning at the creation of the state in 1996 was that for political convenience, the two divides of the state, Abakaliki and Afikpo blocs be recognised as equal partners.
“The unwritten understanding then was that if the state capital is cited within any of the geographical locations of the two divides, that the governorship automatically be ceded to the other block.
“If this view was maintained, the emergence of Abakaliki as the state capital, the governor of the state in 1999 would have automatically gone to Afikpo bloc.
“This wonderful arrangement though not signed would have established political stability in the state if followed by same politicians who are now distorting records.
“But unfortunately the idea was instantly killed on arrival by selfish political interests…
“It will, therefore, be absolutely correct to state that zoning has never been practised in the state since the advent of the present democratic experience in 1999.”