As the battle for who becomes the Chairman of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta state gathers momentum, the state Commissioner for Education (Technical), Joan Onyemaechi, has resigned from the cabinet of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to fight for the second tenure ticket for her younger brother, Jude Chuwkuwinke, who is contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second tenure.
The Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) last week announced the timetable for the conduct of the council polls scheduled for Saturday, July 13, 2024.
Following the agitation for equity and fairness by the people of Nsukwa clan in the local government council under the umbrella of “Equity Crusaders” to be allowed to produce the next council chairman in the council election in the state, the commissioner is said to have vowed never to allow anyone occupy the seat but his younger brother, Jude Chuwkuwinke, who is contesting for a second tenure.
It was gathered that the seat of the council chairman rotates among the three clans in the council, namely Ogwashi Uku, Ubulu-Ukwu and Nsukwa and the immediate past council chairman and younger brother of the commissioner whose tenure ended in March 2024 is allegedly being imposed on the people by the commissioner.
The people of Nsukwa clan had insisted that it was their turn to produce the next council chairman and urged the education (technical) commissioner not to use her influence and closeness to the corridor of power to disrupt the zoning formula.
In her reaction, Onyemaechi described the agitation and accusations as baseless, saying that she refused to be blackmailed by those who see politics as their farmland.
She said, “I refuse to be blackmailed by those who see politics as their farmland. I perfectly understand what it means to have power and to be in power.
“Nobody can blackmail me because I am an appointee of government and my brother at the same time is contesting for the office of chairman in our local government area.
“I am not the first person who had been favoured to be in government and at the same time having a relation who is also in government.”
Addressing her church congregation during a church service at her church in Asaba on Sunday, Onyemaechi announced her resignation from the cabinet of Governor Oborevwori as commissioner for education (technical) to pave the way for her younger brother who is contesting the council chairmanship position.
Onyemaechi disclosed that following the bickering and jealousy being faced by her family over her brother’s second-term bid, she decided to tender her resignation in the interest of her brother and clan.
She said: “Praise thy Lord, I just want to put it on record, I came to minister today to you here as a former commissioner of the Ministry of Technical Education. In my local government, my younger brother is the council chairman, he’s done one tenure and he is returning for the second tenure and the position is zoned to my clan.
“And there are people agitating and fighting that why am I the one always favoured in government? That I am a commissioner, why should my brother return as a council chairman for a second tenure?
“And when something is zoned to your clan, you have to be very careful and we have three clans. The Nsukwa clan has done their two tenures, Ogwashi-uku did her two tenures, so it came to Ubulu and incidentally, my younger brother is the council chairman.
“And for us to complete our second tenure, they said why should brother and sister occupy two positions and for me I was given the opportunity and privilege to rise politically so I must allow another person to rise as well.
“So, I have decided not because he’s my brother because if it were another person I would do the same by resigning for such a person’s interest. And since the position is zoned to our clan and they said because of my own position, my brother will not be allowed to do his second tenure, so I went to my boss, the governor, and appealed to him that I wanted to resign so that my brother can go back to the council to do his second tenure which is due to my clan.
“So I have resigned as commissioner to enable my brother to complete his second tenure.”
Onyemaechi was a former House of Assembly member, House of Representatives member and former Director General of the Asaba Capital Territory Agency in former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration before she was appointed as the Commissioner for Education (Technical) by Governor Oborevwori.
