Why more journalists should enter politics — Comrade Ekpunobi

Comrade Emeka Ekpunobi is a journalist of 21 years standing. Ekpunobi was rooted in buisness reporting until the emergence of the Fourth Republic when he became one of the pioneer reporters of the National Assembly and served for six years as the chairman of the Senate Press Corps.

Now an aspirant for the Onuimo State Constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, he explains in this interview his experience, purpose and plans.

Coming from journalism to politics, how has the experience been?

It has not been an easy journey so far. In all, it has been a wonderful experience, joining active partisan politics specially now that everybody is yearning for positive change .As a trained journalist, I joined politics to make a difference in the way and manner our so called professional politicians play the game.

We want to add value to the system. And having practiced as a journalist for over 21 years and having reported the parliament and by extension Nigerian politics for over 17 years I thought the best place to start would be to seek the mandate of the good people of Onuimo in Imo state to represent them in the state assembly.

I have covered the affairs of the National Assembly since 1999 and served as the chairman of the Senate Press Corps for over six years. All these exposed me to the workings of the parliament. So you can see that I have the experience.

I joined politics after  a year long sustained pressure from my people. My joining politics since 2013 was indeed a popular demand from both the young and old  in my area who are genuinely convinced that I have the pedigree and character to give them quality representation in the state Assembly.

I caved in after a visit of some traditional rulers and others leaders in my clan to me. I was also encouraged by the fact that it was the turn of my clan to produce the next member of the state House of Assembly.

They were all in agreement that it was the turn of my area, (UmuduruEgbe Aguru) to produce the next lawmaker for the local government. We have four clans that make up the local government and none had gone twice since we started the new dispensation in 1999. It was a strong agreement that even some people who wanted to truncate in the past failed.

What is the situation today?

Initially, we thought the incumbent would not put up a fight in 2015 , having benefitted from this zoning arrangement. We made several consultations, even with him on the need to sustain this noble arrangement.

The incumbent did not give  us any reason then to suspect that he will go against our turn because my people were largely instrumental to him wining the election in 2011 when his then predecessor wanted to go for second term.

It was the vote of my people who were then delegates at the PDP primary that saw him through. In fact it was the prompt intervention of one of the PDP chieftains from my clan, Chief Robert Asuzu that changed the game.

We thought the incumbent would reciprocate this gesture now that it is our turn. But we got it all wrong . Today the same man we helped is the PDP candidate for the state Assembly election. Well it is not over until it is over. All I know is that the peace we enjoy in Onuimo today is due to zoning and respect for it. We have a way of distributing some of these elective positions. It reduces tension because we know which clan takes what at every election year.

What happened at the primary?

Yes I ran for the PDP primary with him with two others and I lost to him by only one vote in mysterious circumstances. Don’t forget that he was also a delegate for the primary and so voted for himself. He had 15 and 1 got 14 .How the wining vote came is today, history.

Today you are the APGA candidate, what are your chances?

I have a very good chance  to win the election in February 28, because APGA is on ground. The idea to cross over to APGA was not mine alone, it was a collective decision. My people so much believe that we can still remedy the sad situation using another platform other than PDP.

We have the sympathy of many people in the local government. We have the support of many APC and PDP members who still believe in zoning .

Interview By Joseph Erunke for Vanguard